Thank you Angus I am 59 and new to this 3d printing milarky and I have watched many of your videos they have always been enlightening and informative, I thank you for that. To me the hardest decision is when to and when not to use support material this video has helped me a lot you are indeed a 3d printing GURU once again many thanks.
Also, remember superglue. You don't have to print everything in one piece. As you've said, you can split some models in half, or for example if you want to print something like a model of the Jesus statue in Rio with the 90° overhanging arms, you change your model and print the arms separately and glue them on later. You could even add a little notch to your model so that the parts fit together perfectly later on.
overhangs like this are why i LOVE kisslicer. it will adjust layer heights to ensure that there is a 50% overlap of previous layer to ensure you can get maximum overhang and details with minimal support needs (althought usually also uses supports unless you set the overhang angle pretty low)
UA-cam is your best friend for tutorials on it. Outside of the wizards I have barely really had to tweak any settings. I have multiple profiles for various support needs, and materials, but other than that just adjusting the retraction length and speed is about the only thing I tweaked. I run a .5 nozzle, my layers are 25%, max of 70%, with 25% first layer. Most things like this are based on nozzle diameter so it adjusts smartly if you change your nozzle without needing to adjust other settings. As long as your not printing too hot the supports come off very cleanly also with default settings. And the thin wall and extrusion control surpasses any slicer I have used so can get pretty crazy details without a small nozzle.
The lessons you teach are extremely practical. I have several videos saved in a section labelled "3D Printer Knowledge" Your videos currently make up the majority of my collection. Thank you for giving me great advice.
I have the mechanical/electrical side of 3d printers down now, but I thank you for your ideas, information, and input concerning the printing side of the equation. I get more hard, usable information from your channel than another other two channels combined.
Another tip, as a bonus to the sacrificial bridging technique: If you have the space around your model, you can model in pillars that make your cantilevered overhangs into bridges. It can be tricky with more complicated models, but with practice, it's super useful. Just support the free end of an overhang with a "bridge pillar" for the first layer of the bridge and break the pillar away after printing.
Ya missed a very powerful tool in support-free land: including supports in the model itself! SR-71 model, ran out of ideas how to print it without support-hell. So I stood the model up on end, added a few narrow 'blades' attached to the engine nacelles and fuselage. The blades flared out where they met the build-plate. Printed the model, no supports. After printing, cut off the blades, have cool model.
Definitely a hugely powerful way of negating supports! I've been working on a lot of models recently and trying to make them as easy as possible (no supports or post processing) which inspired this video, but another detailing designed in supports is a good idea. Like the good old days!
The bridging idea is very similar to what you are describing, Greg. Angus edited the original STL file by adding one thin, solid layer to the STL. He easily cut it off later just like you. :)
@@sambenao7 That's genius! But yeah I don't know, I just use auto-generated support in those cases. Especially tree support, it's usually very clever and also looks amazing. I sometimes keep it, if I manage to break it off intact. Sometimes I suspect I make weird design decisions, just to get some nice support structures. I shall not presume to be an expert though, it's possible there may be situations where self made support can be more ideal.
Thank you. I find this technical stuff fascinating from both an architectural and physics based point of view. I appreciate you walking us through this.
Why I enjoy your videos: there are always some hidden tips that i wasn't aware of (like the orientation app in meshmixer). Been using this for years, yet never knew this feature right under my nose! Keep up the good work and I'll try and keep up, haha
I've watched a fair few of your videos... over a fair while of time. This video kicks arse! I'm loving seeing you learn more and more. Have heart and forge on👊🏻🍀🍀🍀😎
Not always doable, but designing parts that won't require support is always my goal, once you get into the mind set it starts to become a more organic process.
Great suggestions. I've found that changing the outline direction to outside-in (Simplify3d term) can make a big difference in how far I can push overhangs.
Thanks as always, Angus! A suggestion for more topics....I'd really like to learn more about industrial 3D printing. What's happening in that space? Any show and tell, factory tours, and conferences would be amazing :D
I almost didn't watch, thinking this would be to basic for me. But man Angus, you have some really creative 3D printing ideas. I can't wait to try some of this stuff out
Thanks! A perfect video to ease my head; currently printing some parts that really ask a lot of FDM in general let alone my little limpy printer! (The Z axis bearing housings are cracking up: my only options are to either wait a month for replacements, or forcefully print some insane geometry [holes in X,Y and Z directions! W/ extra overhangs and slots!] and hope my printer handles making it's replacement parts...) At least now I know how I can get through this with less headaches, and more serviceable parts!
Thanks for posting Angus. I've also found the print patten affects the overhangs too, e.g. a straight back and forth fill pattern works much better than say, a spiral type fill.
There's one more tip you didn't mentioned. Some models require dense infill in order to support overhanging layers, increasing the number of perimeters to 3-5 would work just like increasing the extrusion width. And it will allow to print on low infills with great quality on sharp overhangs (45 degrees +) with smooth outer face surface.
I enjoyed the video. It will really help me with my design. I have been a subscriber for a while and I like it when you review filament? Have you ever thought about getting some PLA from Mad Maker Filament? I have had great success with their products and I would like more people to know about their products.
Regarding overhang angle: of course, if you can change your nozzle, you could slap on a 0.8mm nozzle and go to 0.1mm layer height (or even finer, perhaps) and not only could you push the overhangs, the surface finish wouldn't suffer as much.
Great video as always Angus! If you're looking for another topic in a similar space I have a suggestion! Design Tips for fast & efficient 3D Printing Models (FDM); Using less material or shapes/featured that go well with how the layers build up. Thanks for your amazing content!
This has for a long time been something that irked me a bit about many models shared in thingiverse, models that with just a little bit thought could be printed with no supports. Of course it is bad to complain about free stuff, but things like this is really something that denotes experience in 3d printing and a "fdm mindset" in modeling. Great video angus, make more like these please. Splitting for a clean bottom surface does not have to be done in meshmixer btw, at least S3d this can be done simply by lowering the model slightly so it is "cut" by the bed and the result is the same. I have a few more tricks to add to this, one is like greg gallacci mentiones to make "supports" in the model itself. A variation of that can be designed as absolute minimal up to required height and greater surface close to where it is supposed to work, removing lots of excess support material. Bit hard to explain in words. Another trick is to use bridging smarter where there are angles in the bridge. Still hard to explain in words, but the essence is to separate by one or two layer heights so it first will bridge one way and then have support for a second orientation. Useful for holes as well. It is finding solutions like this that makes 3d printing and modeling just a little more fun for me.
I ordered my Ender 3 v2 this week and I had design for additive manufacturing at university. It baffles me, how many things on thingiverse are obviously not designed with additive manufacturing in mind. Obviously most people cant cope with the idea of building up parts from nothing and stick to subtractive manufacturing when desinging stuff.
It is possible to print with an overhang of 60 degrees. At least, with PETG, I was able to print a spring, with an overhang of 65 degrees. I just needed to give it time to cool down, so I printed a column on the side, which did not do anything, except allowing the very small cross section of the spring, to cool down. Sometimes, you might want to incorporate support material in the design itself. I also noticed, Fusion360 can generate support. And it looks like it's doing that pretty well, compared to other slicers. If you have experience with this, let me know what you think about Fusion360
thanks heaps for this Angus i used to take for granted i needed supports but my model today made me think hmmm if thats 45 i won't need supps. thanks heaps again mate
Hi Angus, thanks for the video! In the future, could you please try to put the face cam in the upper right? You tend to cover up the menus in the software you're using, and it makes it hard to associate tools with a location in the interface. Also, in relation to giving yourself a good first layer, what's your thoughts on modifying the model versus moving the model below the build plate in your slicer? Thanks!!
I'd recommend putting your camera pip on the right so you don't cover up the options and we can see what you're doing in the options and menus. good video!
Hmm I may have to do a little testing. Doing a few prints with a "bridge" they are 2 inches high, and no more than 2 inches wide and of course printing out support for the whole thing when its only a couple of mms of detail seems a huge waste. So I will cut up the model and do a test print (literally just the bridge portion) to see if my printer and settings can handle it. Worth the time doing the test print, if it ultimately saves time (and material) as each print takes 8+ hours. Although I could modify the models to have a 40° "over hang" to help bridge it. Again a great idea from watching your video!
The circular cooling ducts that surround the printhead on thingiverse for various printers are fantastic for bridging. My cheapass printer is killer on bridging now.
As a beginner I add automatic supports and brim to every printed model, unless it is said in a description, that the model is printed without supports. Did print one without supports, as it was said, and it worked. But if you have to tinker with slicer settings to avoid using supports, then you better not say 'no supports required' in the description of the model.
Great tips... My only concern is when most people design, they aren't designing to see how easy it is to print, they're designing for a function (example.... A lot of people print quadcopter parts, and some angles like this 45 degree here just wouldnt make sense/be possible)... In this instance, it absolutely has to be function over form =)
Hi, I'm very new to 3D printing. I want to 3D print a PC case, which will require quite a few "plates" to make a very long and flat surface. I plan on designing them so that they interlock, but my concern is with the whole surface bending under weight attached to it. Would embedding steel rods (1/8" in a 4mm plate), or aluminium bars be a good way of strengthening the object?
I designed a model that's 9 spheres inside one another with very minimum support and all spheres can rotate independently in all axis. And the idea here is that, for PLA at least, printing bottomless is very viable as long as the first layer layout size is large enough to make the model not tip
I've had huge success with printing at lower temps, slower speeds, then using a support roof like the ones in Cura. I've used support roofs after trying dozens of different support methods. But I think the take away from this video should be to avoid needing supports, and to think about the shape of your object/
Good stuff as usual. Despite not being all that relevant to my world of printing, still can't help but watch! You going to put that giant diamond on a ring for Lady Muse? ;)
Angus, glad to see you, I really miss this kind of videos I love the idea on using another software than simplify3d because free are getting good, but are you planning on doing other simplify tutorials? :) Greetings
No need to add 45 degree over hang if you rotate that part to where the two edges make a 45 degree triangle. some slicer programs count backwards from verticle; that is why people state 70 degree coverage when it really is only 20 degree coverage.
It would be really helpful and informative if you showed us how these fail if you don't follow your suggestions. Especially on your 'sacrificial bridging' example. To those of us who haven't tried this stuff and failed at it yet, it'd be good to see the issue you're avoiding - how it fails without that extra layer - as well as how well it comes out when you do use your trick.
Overhang analysis in Cura 3. Cura, Solid view, Supports enabled, specify overhang angle in Supports. Overhangs greater than or equal to specified angle shown in red. Doesn't work in X-ray or Layer view.
Hi Angus, thank you for the videos you post, I have gotten many ideas and a lot of inspiration from them. Can you tell me what brand, type is the black filament with white spots, it’s at the beginning of this video? Thx Peter
Great video. Definitely going to improve my thinking. I only question the addition of things like bevels that fundamentally alter the design and in itself is "support" material. I'm saying that the definition of "supports" can be strictly used and lets us get away with adding things to our models that are, if we're honest, supports.
I'd like to see a guide on getting the best underside flat surface from bridging or support material. Can it be done to look almost as good as a top layer?
What a coincidence. I was printing several different face masks to sell and lowered the perimeter to 1 to make the mask as thin and light weight as I could for comfortableness. The 1st layer height to .15, layer height to .2. extrusion width to .45 except for a couple individual ext widths that were .42 and .45. Well the print turned out very smooth except for when the layers started to angle and a few layers were all unraveled but then after that beautiful layers. I don't know what happened either I walked into the room and a gust of cool air from the AC must have reached the printer (corner of my room) and caused the plastic to cool. I keep my windows open for air circulation which (desert heat) and doesn't affect the plastic cooling. It was as if my Prusa Mk3 was saying i screwed up a few layers but got back on track and check it out. I couldn't believe how the layers regained their foundation and didn't become uneven post the messed up layers. That was the first time I had a print that had a hiccup but regained its footing and came out nice. I cannot use the print to sell even though I blow dried the print and was able to press the layers against the clean layers to make it somewhat decent. Anyhow, how I see how lowering layer height and increasing extruder width helped. I am going to see if I can code some gcode to slow the printer speed down for those messed up layers, because I have my speeds kicked up for fast print. And it could have been the extruder. Maybe there was a catch in the spool filament that may have slowed down the extruder of trying to extrude filament. I do not know until I exhaust my tweaks. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks again for the great video.
Thank you this video answer a question that I’ve had for a long time. My printer always seemed like it was under extruding by showing what I thought look like pot marks in the layers. I’ve been using Cura and I now realize the default width from my .4 nozzle has been .4 in the layer width. Thank you
I'm curious. Many people 3D print fractals, but I'm wondering about how to print a decently sized Menger sponge with no supports without printing 20 parts and gluing them together to make a larger one. If a printer can handle 45 degree overhangs, how would a printer handle a Menger Sponge sliced at a diagonal so that it's two halves but it's absolutely *filled* with 45 degree overhangs? Could be an interesting stress test that simultaneously tests detail and overhang capability.
The images I see of Menger Sponge appear to show an object that should print quite well using bridging, as there appear to be no cantilevers, but straight bridges supported on both ends. But if you orient onto a corner to print at 45 degree angle, will you mess up one corner or just split the whole model in half or something to have 2 parts? Seems better to optimize your printer for good bridging to solve this problem.
Cool video, never heard of sacrificial bridging before so I’ll have to give it a try next time I make a model, out of curiousity, why did you skip 45-60 degree angling conventional models? That tuning fork model for example, assuming you could not add a chamfer because the over hang was intended to slot into something, you could angle the entire model, add just enough support under and around the edge with a brim maybe and get away without as many supports and potentially stronger part because the layers are angled 45 degrees to potential forces, hmm guess it doesn’t follow your title of not using supports i guess, thing is that I’m right now printing a plastic case for a gem stone that is a simple oval like extrusion with some over hangs on the top and lots of lopoid pattern (swiss cheese holes) all over, a nightmare of a model for printing but it is most effectively printed not on the flat side of an oval where gaps and layers might be most easily visible and put unneccesary strain on a necklace ring but at 45 degrees like a resin printer might slice its model, that actually brings up a good video subject, why resin prints are sliced at different angles from fdm machines, anyways, keep up the interesting projects and content!
Good stuff! I'm guessing that material probably also has some effect; specifically I'm still using abs which has more expansion/contraction with cooling. I suspect that slowing print speed might improve overhang (if it goes too fast, the extruded filament just shrivels up and doesn't adhere to the previous layer well) but I haven't specifically investigated it - been too busy printing desired parts to try your style of systematic experimentation. Any thoughts on this?
I love your diamond design. It's very simple, but still very interesting and using no infill is a very intelligent design decision. I'm also obligated to tell you that I have a friend who is a huge Amethyst from Steven Universe ran and would kill for that purple print. XD Although, I don't have access to 3d printed yet, I'd appreciate if you could please tell me the material as well as where I can find the model, so I can jot it down for future reference.
I think I am very good at thinking about models in 3D and visualize support. I even designed a model for a print in place two part model radio box. I sadly got he hinge too tiny but it worked once. I dislike support as well and try to avoid it as much as possible. But I would need more help with getting the least amount of support on a model that work. It depends on the slicer but I was printing an inverse sphere recently and therefore I set the supports to 54° degrees
Great video as always. I see your using ideamaker. I’ve been considering switching to it from cura. I was wondering if you have a profile to share for the Prusa MK3.
Was the single layer added to support the holes added in the slicing processor or was the part itself 3D modeled with an extremely thing layer of material there?
Thank you Angus I am 59 and new to this 3d printing milarky and I have watched many of your videos they have always been enlightening and informative, I thank you for that. To me the hardest decision is when to and when not to use support material this video has helped me a lot you are indeed a 3d printing GURU once again many thanks.
Holy cow! Your example of bridging at 2:30 is something this noob had no idea was possible!
Also, remember superglue. You don't have to print everything in one piece. As you've said, you can split some models in half, or for example if you want to print something like a model of the Jesus statue in Rio with the 90° overhanging arms, you change your model and print the arms separately and glue them on later. You could even add a little notch to your model so that the parts fit together perfectly later on.
overhangs like this are why i LOVE kisslicer. it will adjust layer heights to ensure that there is a 50% overlap of previous layer to ensure you can get maximum overhang and details with minimal support needs (althought usually also uses supports unless you set the overhang angle pretty low)
this seems like is has a mild learning curve. Gonna have to learn it after some coffee. Thanks for introducing me to this
UA-cam is your best friend for tutorials on it. Outside of the wizards I have barely really had to tweak any settings. I have multiple profiles for various support needs, and materials, but other than that just adjusting the retraction length and speed is about the only thing I tweaked. I run a .5 nozzle, my layers are 25%, max of 70%, with 25% first layer. Most things like this are based on nozzle diameter so it adjusts smartly if you change your nozzle without needing to adjust other settings.
As long as your not printing too hot the supports come off very cleanly also with default settings. And the thin wall and extrusion control surpasses any slicer I have used so can get pretty crazy details without a small nozzle.
prusa and cura both have adaptive layer heights too
The world is a better place with people like you around. Thanks for sharing this super useful tips.
The lessons you teach are extremely practical. I have several videos saved in a section labelled "3D Printer Knowledge"
Your videos currently make up the majority of my collection. Thank you for giving me great advice.
I have the mechanical/electrical side of 3d printers down now, but I thank you for your ideas, information, and input concerning the printing side of the equation. I get more hard, usable information from your channel than another other two channels combined.
Another tip, as a bonus to the sacrificial bridging technique: If you have the space around your model, you can model in pillars that make your cantilevered overhangs into bridges. It can be tricky with more complicated models, but with practice, it's super useful. Just support the free end of an overhang with a "bridge pillar" for the first layer of the bridge and break the pillar away after printing.
Ya missed a very powerful tool in support-free land: including supports in the model itself!
SR-71 model, ran out of ideas how to print it without support-hell.
So I stood the model up on end, added a few narrow 'blades' attached to the engine nacelles and fuselage.
The blades flared out where they met the build-plate.
Printed the model, no supports. After printing, cut off the blades, have cool model.
Definitely a hugely powerful way of negating supports! I've been working on a lot of models recently and trying to make them as easy as possible (no supports or post processing) which inspired this video, but another detailing designed in supports is a good idea. Like the good old days!
The bridging idea is very similar to what you are describing, Greg.
Angus edited the original STL file by adding one thin, solid layer to the STL. He easily cut it off later just like you. :)
So instead of using supports you USE SUPPORTS?
@@sambenao7 That's genius!
But yeah I don't know, I just use auto-generated support in those cases. Especially tree support, it's usually very clever and also looks amazing. I sometimes keep it, if I manage to break it off intact. Sometimes I suspect I make weird design decisions, just to get some nice support structures.
I shall not presume to be an expert though, it's possible there may be situations where self made support can be more ideal.
Thank you. I find this technical stuff fascinating from both an architectural and physics based point of view. I appreciate you walking us through this.
9:46 I really like the "sacrificial bridging" tip. Thank you for sharing.
Alex from Québec, Canada
I think this is the best 3d printing video I've seen
Never knew "bridging" was actually possible (on the practical scale). Wow, thanks!
👍
Why I enjoy your videos: there are always some hidden tips that i wasn't aware of (like the orientation app in meshmixer). Been using this for years, yet never knew this feature right under my nose! Keep up the good work and I'll try and keep up, haha
Few years? Bro I am watching YT vids for tips like that and you showed it after few years? :O We want more! :)
I've watched a fair few of your videos... over a fair while of time. This video kicks arse! I'm loving seeing you learn more and more. Have heart and forge on👊🏻🍀🍀🍀😎
You should say what printer you used to create the models you showed at the end....🤓 dollars or not👊🏻🍀🍀🍀
Not always doable, but designing parts that won't require support is always my goal, once you get into the mind set it starts to become a more organic process.
I always learn something watching your vids Angus. Thanks for all the great content!
Cheers! Really appreciate it.
Great tip on the bridging for holes.
Great suggestions. I've found that changing the outline direction to outside-in (Simplify3d term) can make a big difference in how far I can push overhangs.
Thanks as always, Angus! A suggestion for more topics....I'd really like to learn more about industrial 3D printing. What's happening in that space? Any show and tell, factory tours, and conferences would be amazing :D
I almost didn't watch, thinking this would be to basic for me. But man Angus, you have some really creative 3D printing ideas. I can't wait to try some of this stuff out
Thanks! A perfect video to ease my head; currently printing some parts that really ask a lot of FDM in general let alone my little limpy printer! (The Z axis bearing housings are cracking up: my only options are to either wait a month for replacements, or forcefully print some insane geometry [holes in X,Y and Z directions! W/ extra overhangs and slots!] and hope my printer handles making it's replacement parts...)
At least now I know how I can get through this with less headaches, and more serviceable parts!
Thanks for posting Angus. I've also found the print patten affects the overhangs too, e.g. a straight back and forth fill pattern works much better than say, a spiral type fill.
There's one more tip you didn't mentioned.
Some models require dense infill in order to support overhanging layers, increasing the number of perimeters to 3-5 would work just like increasing the extrusion width.
And it will allow to print on low infills with great quality on sharp overhangs (45 degrees +) with smooth outer face surface.
Informative and nicely done as usual, with tantalizing hints of forthcoming projects. Will you make the diamond model available?
Cheers! Yep will release it eventually, needs some further tweaks.
Love it Angus! increasing the Width blew me away! Love it!
So many great tips my friend. I'm still very new and I can use all the help I can get.
Thanks Angus! It really helped me!!!
Glad it helped!
I definitely reinvented the bridge supports. Just gave that tip to Joel a on his drawer handle video. :-) I guess common sense is convergent.
We experienced 3d printers already know this. Still I think it's not talked about enough. A+ 👍
I enjoyed the video. It will really help me with my design. I have been a subscriber for a while and I like it when you review filament? Have you ever thought about getting some PLA from Mad Maker Filament? I have had great success with their products and I would like more people to know about their products.
Regarding overhang angle: of course, if you can change your nozzle, you could slap on a 0.8mm nozzle and go to 0.1mm layer height (or even finer, perhaps) and not only could you push the overhangs, the surface finish wouldn't suffer as much.
Good stuff, very useful, quite practical. About to pull the trigger on an Ender 3, wish me luck.
Great video as always Angus! If you're looking for another topic in a similar space I have a suggestion! Design Tips for fast & efficient 3D Printing Models (FDM); Using less material or shapes/featured that go well with how the layers build up.
Thanks for your amazing content!
This has for a long time been something that irked me a bit about many models shared in thingiverse, models that with just a little bit thought could be printed with no supports. Of course it is bad to complain about free stuff, but things like this is really something that denotes experience in 3d printing and a "fdm mindset" in modeling.
Great video angus, make more like these please.
Splitting for a clean bottom surface does not have to be done in meshmixer btw, at least S3d this can be done simply by lowering the model slightly so it is "cut" by the bed and the result is the same.
I have a few more tricks to add to this, one is like greg gallacci mentiones to make "supports" in the model itself. A variation of that can be designed as absolute minimal up to required height and greater surface close to where it is supposed to work, removing lots of excess support material. Bit hard to explain in words.
Another trick is to use bridging smarter where there are angles in the bridge. Still hard to explain in words, but the essence is to separate by one or two layer heights so it first will bridge one way and then have support for a second orientation. Useful for holes as well.
It is finding solutions like this that makes 3d printing and modeling just a little more fun for me.
really good information presented very well. congratulations for your channel!
I ordered my Ender 3 v2 this week and I had design for additive manufacturing at university. It baffles me, how many things on thingiverse are obviously not designed with additive manufacturing in mind. Obviously most people cant cope with the idea of building up parts from nothing and stick to subtractive manufacturing when desinging stuff.
Have a friend that designed/printed a jule (vape) protective case w extra cartridge for xtra pod. He took to vape shops and cleaned up. 😉
Love ur vids
I always love these! Please Please keep these coming more often!
So I need to turn my printer upside down?
this is exactly why I want a resin printer.
It is possible to print with an overhang of 60 degrees.
At least, with PETG, I was able to print a spring, with an overhang
of 65 degrees. I just needed to give it time to cool down,
so I printed a column on the side, which did not do anything, except
allowing the very small cross section of the spring, to cool down.
Sometimes, you might want to incorporate support material in the design itself.
I also noticed, Fusion360 can generate support.
And it looks like it's doing that pretty well, compared to other slicers.
If you have experience with this, let me know what you think about Fusion360
once again good video Angus
thanks heaps for this Angus i used to take for granted i needed supports but my model today made me think hmmm if thats 45 i won't need supps. thanks heaps again mate
your videos are very informative thank you for the work you do.
Hi Angus, thanks for the video! In the future, could you please try to put the face cam in the upper right? You tend to cover up the menus in the software you're using, and it makes it hard to associate tools with a location in the interface.
Also, in relation to giving yourself a good first layer, what's your thoughts on modifying the model versus moving the model below the build plate in your slicer?
Thanks!!
Another great tips video, thanks!
Aww, you look like such a baby. Only 5 short years ago. You have really grown up bud!
Man the background music sounds like my ringtone, thought someone was calling me all the time
Great ideas. Gives me hope on a few prints I am working on at the moment.
I'd recommend putting your camera pip on the right so you don't cover up the options and we can see what you're doing in the options and menus. good video!
Hmm I may have to do a little testing.
Doing a few prints with a "bridge" they are 2 inches high, and no more than 2 inches wide and of course printing out support for the whole thing when its only a couple of mms of detail seems a huge waste.
So I will cut up the model and do a test print (literally just the bridge portion) to see if my printer and settings can handle it.
Worth the time doing the test print, if it ultimately saves time (and material) as each print takes 8+ hours.
Although I could modify the models to have a 40° "over hang" to help bridge it. Again a great idea from watching your video!
The circular cooling ducts that surround the printhead on thingiverse for various printers are fantastic for bridging. My cheapass printer is killer on bridging now.
As a beginner I add automatic supports and brim to every printed model, unless it is said in a description, that the model is printed without supports. Did print one without supports, as it was said, and it worked. But if you have to tinker with slicer settings to avoid using supports, then you better not say 'no supports required' in the description of the model.
Great tips. Thanks Angus!
Great video! Definitely going to try the last hack.
Thanks Angus, really cool examples and explanations. Cheers
Great video Angus 👍
Great video!
Can you do a video on how to design a model that needs supports best to enable good print results!
Great info. Thanks!
Great tips... My only concern is when most people design, they aren't designing to see how easy it is to print, they're designing for a function (example.... A lot of people print quadcopter parts, and some angles like this 45 degree here just wouldnt make sense/be possible)... In this instance, it absolutely has to be function over form =)
Hi Angus,
Excellent tips. :-)
Hi, I'm very new to 3D printing. I want to 3D print a PC case, which will require quite a few "plates" to make a very long and flat surface. I plan on designing them so that they interlock, but my concern is with the whole surface bending under weight attached to it. Would embedding steel rods (1/8" in a 4mm plate), or aluminium bars be a good way of strengthening the object?
I designed a model that's 9 spheres inside one another with very minimum support and all spheres can rotate independently in all axis. And the idea here is that, for PLA at least, printing bottomless is very viable as long as the first layer layout size is large enough to make the model not tip
Great tips my friend
Maybe run a bridge for the overhangs, it's making a step on your test sample if you designed single thread behind then backstep and start the angle?
The sacrificial bridge I first saw it on Prusa printer parts.
I've had huge success with printing at lower temps, slower speeds, then using a support roof like the ones in Cura.
I've used support roofs after trying dozens of different support methods.
But I think the take away from this video should be to avoid needing supports, and to think about the shape of your object/
Excellent video once again, thanks Angus :)
I wonder how 3d printing in space (zero-g) would fair with no supports since you aren't fighting gravity, necessarily.
Thanks for this. Helpful as always.
Good stuff as usual. Despite not being all that relevant to my world of printing, still can't help but watch! You going to put that giant diamond on a ring for Lady Muse? ;)
What do you print with, Welbot?
I have a top down DLP from Gizmo3d, and at present, I'm using FunToDo Industrial resin
Angus, glad to see you, I really miss this kind of videos I love the idea on using another software than simplify3d because free are getting good, but are you planning on doing other simplify tutorials? :)
Greetings
Invaluable tips as always Angus.
No need to add 45 degree over hang if you rotate that part to where the two edges make a 45 degree triangle. some slicer programs count backwards from verticle; that is why people state 70 degree coverage when it really is only 20 degree coverage.
It would be really helpful and informative if you showed us how these fail if you don't follow your suggestions. Especially on your 'sacrificial bridging' example. To those of us who haven't tried this stuff and failed at it yet, it'd be good to see the issue you're avoiding - how it fails without that extra layer - as well as how well it comes out when you do use your trick.
is that a nathan wilson puzzle in the background
Maybe ;P
Overhang analysis in Cura 3.
Cura, Solid view, Supports enabled, specify overhang angle in Supports.
Overhangs greater than or equal to specified angle shown in red.
Doesn't work in X-ray or Layer view.
Hi Angus, thank you for the videos you post, I have gotten many ideas and a lot of inspiration from them. Can you tell me what brand, type is the black filament with white spots, it’s at the beginning of this video? Thx Peter
Great video. Definitely going to improve my thinking.
I only question the addition of things like bevels that fundamentally alter the design and in itself is "support" material. I'm saying that the definition of "supports" can be strictly used and lets us get away with adding things to our models that are, if we're honest, supports.
the sacrificial first layer is actually a pretty old technique. it has been used in some of the original RepRap designs.
Lmao hi, I'm suprised my phone didn't give me my notification! But I am glad that I found this quick
You're great, just wanted to say that.
Thank you for your excellent advice!
Good content
I'd like to see a guide on getting the best underside flat surface from bridging or support material. Can it be done to look almost as good as a top layer?
What a coincidence. I was printing several different face masks to sell and lowered the perimeter to 1 to make the mask as thin and light weight as I could for comfortableness. The 1st layer height to .15, layer height to .2. extrusion width to .45 except for a couple individual ext widths that were .42 and .45. Well the print turned out very smooth except for when the layers started to angle and a few layers were all unraveled but then after that beautiful layers. I don't know what happened either I walked into the room and a gust of cool air from the AC must have reached the printer (corner of my room) and caused the plastic to cool. I keep my windows open for air circulation which (desert heat) and doesn't affect the plastic cooling. It was as if my Prusa Mk3 was saying i screwed up a few layers but got back on track and check it out. I couldn't believe how the layers regained their foundation and didn't become uneven post the messed up layers. That was the first time I had a print that had a hiccup but regained its footing and came out nice. I cannot use the print to sell even though I blow dried the print and was able to press the layers against the clean layers to make it somewhat decent. Anyhow, how I see how lowering layer height and increasing extruder width helped. I am going to see if I can code some gcode to slow the printer speed down for those messed up layers, because I have my speeds kicked up for fast print. And it could have been the extruder. Maybe there was a catch in the spool filament that may have slowed down the extruder of trying to extrude filament. I do not know until I exhaust my tweaks. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks again for the great video.
Thank you this video answer a question that I’ve had for a long time. My printer always seemed like it was under extruding by showing what I thought look like pot marks in the layers. I’ve been using Cura and I now realize the default width from my .4 nozzle has been .4 in the layer width.
Thank you
I think 3d printer could print non-horizontal bridges, but I don't know any software which can generate needed gcode.
awesome video
Wow, Interesting idears :-)
I'm curious. Many people 3D print fractals, but I'm wondering about how to print a decently sized Menger sponge with no supports without printing 20 parts and gluing them together to make a larger one. If a printer can handle 45 degree overhangs, how would a printer handle a Menger Sponge sliced at a diagonal so that it's two halves but it's absolutely *filled* with 45 degree overhangs? Could be an interesting stress test that simultaneously tests detail and overhang capability.
The images I see of Menger Sponge appear to show an object that should print quite well using bridging, as there appear to be no cantilevers, but straight bridges supported on both ends. But if you orient onto a corner to print at 45 degree angle, will you mess up one corner or just split the whole model in half or something to have 2 parts? Seems better to optimize your printer for good bridging to solve this problem.
great info
Cool video, never heard of sacrificial bridging before so I’ll have to give it a try next time I make a model, out of curiousity, why did you skip 45-60 degree angling conventional models? That tuning fork model for example, assuming you could not add a chamfer because the over hang was intended to slot into something, you could angle the entire model, add just enough support under and around the edge with a brim maybe and get away without as many supports and potentially stronger part because the layers are angled 45 degrees to potential forces, hmm guess it doesn’t follow your title of not using supports i guess, thing is that I’m right now printing a plastic case for a gem stone that is a simple oval like extrusion with some over hangs on the top and lots of lopoid pattern (swiss cheese holes) all over, a nightmare of a model for printing but it is most effectively printed not on the flat side of an oval where gaps and layers might be most easily visible and put unneccesary strain on a necklace ring but at 45 degrees like a resin printer might slice its model, that actually brings up a good video subject, why resin prints are sliced at different angles from fdm machines, anyways, keep up the interesting projects and content!
Good stuff! I'm guessing that material probably also has some effect; specifically I'm still using abs which has more expansion/contraction with cooling. I suspect that slowing print speed might improve overhang (if it goes too fast, the extruded filament just shrivels up and doesn't adhere to the previous layer well) but I haven't specifically investigated it - been too busy printing desired parts to try your style of systematic experimentation. Any thoughts on this?
I love your diamond design. It's very simple, but still very interesting and using no infill is a very intelligent design decision.
I'm also obligated to tell you that I have a friend who is a huge Amethyst from Steven Universe ran and would kill for that purple print. XD
Although, I don't have access to 3d printed yet, I'd appreciate if you could please tell me the material as well as where I can find the model, so I can jot it down for future reference.
Hah oh yeah! It's very similar. It's called polyalchemy elixir, nightshade purple.
Maker's Muse Thank you!
Overhangs can also be greater than 135 deg.
I think I am very good at thinking about models in 3D and visualize support.
I even designed a model for a print in place two part model radio box. I sadly got he hinge too tiny but it worked once.
I dislike support as well and try to avoid it as much as possible. But I would need more help with getting the least amount of support on a model that work. It depends on the slicer but I was printing an inverse sphere recently and therefore I set the supports to 54° degrees
I need to make a quick dry filament for 3d printers
Great video as always. I see your using ideamaker. I’ve been considering switching to it from cura. I was wondering if you have a profile to share for the Prusa MK3.
Was the single layer added to support the holes added in the slicing processor or was the part itself 3D modeled with an extremely thing layer of material there?