n2ri wrote:

tall prints come loose if bottom is small and top is wide.

I have never had such an issue using hairspray on hot glass. With hairspray on hot glass and a good base layer the part is literally glued in place until the bed cools. It is even hard to remove the part by force while the bed is hot.

I have had tall (long prints) warp loose even on wide models and it dont matter what tacky goo is used I tried em all. best was warm glass with glue stick. but Solidoodle  beds have a small heater in center that dont keep even uniform heat over entire bed so hot spots tend to scorch edge of ABS warping it until print head can knock model loose easy.
its why I use method I posted to prevent model damage. I also use wide brim around model for added stay points and keep tall models narrow at top for less leverage pushing it sideways. also try placing model so edges are not close to center hot zone and lay tall models on side diagonally to cut print time by like 50% so warping may never start.
also since I stuck my glass to print bed with hairspray I cant use hairspray for surface as it tends to gum up everything on printer with over-spray since it fogs and drifts with any draft. only use spray on tacky with glass away from printer if it clips to bed & is removable each print. glue stick cleans off easy with a bit of rubbing alcohol and damp paper towel for reapplication every few prints. and model pops loose when glass cools so glue stick rarely needs redone.

n2ri wrote:

spaced 2-3 times thickness of perimeter walls so support dont become incorporated into print yet cradles object through printin

How do I put space between model and support? Which setting is that?

no, the space between lines of support.

spaced 2-3 times thickness of perimeter walls so support dont become incorporated into print yet cradles object through printin

How do I put space between model and support? Which setting is that?

I print on glass so that shaves off height right there. Not sure if that brings be below the 6", or if the height is a bit more generous than the XY.

you should know exactly how tall you can go..

lower the bed manually until it will not go any lower and find out exactly what the Z height is.
If your slicing software has a place to enter that value, do so
If it does not, you still should know exactly what it is - make a note of it somewhere.

personally, i do not lower the bed anymore than where it ends up when the print is finished. I have not found a need to do this.
I have an ending script that homes the X & Y axis, so the hotend is out of the way, but that is it. That is all I have ever needed.

For something like this maraca - you do not want to use the built in slicer supports. it will put them inside the bulb, regardless of the settings.
Add supports to the outside of the model in a program like Meshmixer, save the new supported model with a different name (ie: maraca_with_supports) then import & slice with support settings turned off.

this is an example of Meshmixer supports..

These are quite easy to remove, and leave very little evidence they were there.

tall prints come loose if bottom is small and top is wide.

I have never had such an issue using hairspray on hot glass. With hairspray on hot glass and a good base layer the part is literally glued in place until the bed cools. It is even hard to remove the part by force while the bed is hot.

tip; I found support perimeters can be dialed down about 2/3 nozzle orifice diameter and it stretches to aprox thinner easier to remove and still hold model even if not 100% adhere enough still does.
also make sure to check the box for 1st layer is thicker to get stuck to bed well as in default slicer settings

Rocketman wrote:

Do they make filament 3D printers with more than 3 limit switches? When I do tall objects it isn't uncommon for it to grind into the floor of the cage when lowering the plate at the end of the print.

They do, you can probably add one but it will require mod ding the firmware. You can also set a soft limit in your firmware.

But the correct fix is to know the max height your machine can do and not to exceed it. Most slicers tell you the expected height of a print although you should know it.

If you have your slicer set up correctly then it's print area should be the same as your printer so you can see when an object exceeds the print volume on one of the axis.

I print on glass so that shaves off height right there. Not sure if that brings be below the 6", or if the height is a bit more generous than the XY.

Do they make filament 3D printers with more than 3 limit switches? When I do tall objects it isn't uncommon for it to grind into the floor of the cage when lowering the plate at the end of the print.

They do, you can probably add one but it will require mod ding the firmware. You can also set a soft limit in your firmware.

But the correct fix is to know the max height your machine can do and not to exceed it. Most slicers tell you the expected height of a print although you should know it.

If you have your slicer set up correctly then it's print area should be the same as your printer so you can see when an object exceeds the print volume on one of the axis.

Also what makes the difference between a seam that seems a little like a crack versus like a series of dots?