Support settings?

[k6lcm]

Wondering how you were able to get such clean support removal for the indents in the top. In Cura using PETG on my Neptune 4 Plus, my "normal" supports are frozen in place and trees make for a sloppy finish. I tried enabling "support interfaces" but that didn't help. Any tips for slicer settings to get the results shown in the photo?

Great project, BTW!

[k6lcm]

I also tried in PLA but experienced the same issue.

[ThorstenBr]

Thanks! :) I didn't do anything special: I printed with PLA (Verbatim) with standard settings (with Cura, printing on an Ender3v2).

You can see how the supports looked like in this photo, with the regular mesh. Also, the support on the right shows some tell tale signs, how I removed it: I jammed a screw driver in between the layers of the support mesh, somewhere in the middle. I pushed the screw driver in almost horizontally, so not to scratch the part it self, until I could apply enough lifting force. Then it popped right off. That had worked really well for me every time.

https://github.com/ThorstenBr/FloppyEmuDiskIIEnclosure/blob/main/resources/3D_Print2.jpg

[k6lcm]

Ok. I'll mess with some settings on my Neptune 4 and report back. I know supports can be tricky but yours looks very clean. I think I just need some more breathing room between the support and the model so I can get a small tool in there.

[ThorstenBr]

The trick for me was not to get in between the part and the support - but just between the support layers. So the lowest layer of the support mesh (making contact with the part) remained completely in tact, when it popped off:

Good luck! :)

[k6lcm]

After doing some reading, I played around a bit with "Support Z Distance" and "Support Density" in Cura. Increasing the Support Z Distance to 0.2 gave it just enough gap between the model and the support that it was much easier to remove. Setting the support density up from 15% to 25% led to a smoother surface on the model underneath. You could probably play with these two settings to get it even smoother but I am happy with my final results (far right in the photo). Hopefully this is helpful to someone who is struggling with this issue. I think it is going to vary based on printer, slicer and material.