Searching for a better model support (Page 1 of 2)

I just finished printing the model above, and I can tell you it works fine, however it's not easy to remove.  unlike the Slic3r or Cura settings that let you define the offset from the support to the model, this touches the model in the areas it supports, and even though the area is small, it pretty hard to remove with your bare hands.  I had to use a pair of needle nose pliers, and small cutters to get the stuff off, and then you need to clean the area up.

The again, this might also be a result of this new filament I'm trying.  I printed this using some Afinia premium filament I bought from Radio Shack, and this stuff is pretty weird.  I wants to be printed between 260°-270°C, which is very high for ABS, and while it lays down a beautiful top surface, the sides look "rough" and "dry".  I really don't like this stuff.

Yes I have, and I love the fact that you can manually add or subtract support bars, and resizes then in real time to fit the area, but it doesn't export the STL with supports, and the slicer produced some strange results at times.

Still one of the nicest, well thought out slicers out there.  I need to check if they have any updates (I have beta 1.06).

Thanks for reminding me of that, I had forgotten all about it.

That means slicing the file with Craftware, which, when I was trying it a year ago, didn't produce reliable G-Code.

Having said that, I just downloaded the latest version of Craftware, so I'll give it a try.  We'll see if anything has changed.

It's way easier to remove. You need to adjust your settings. You can also add or remove supports too. You can set the offset and tip size so try again.

I don't agree. I haven't used simplify 3d but from what I see on the site the meshmixer support system is way better. You can even add and remove your own supports. It also allows you to orient the model for best possible printing which drastically improves the quality. The supports also break away with incredibly nice results.

I have changed some of the parameters in mesh mixer, and the one parameter that yielded the best results was the size of the contact tip and the number of layers for the tip (which basically controls the tip taper angle).  I have yet to find a way to manually add or remove struts/branches.

I can control the size of the strut, the shape (the number of faces determines the shape), the size of the base, the size of the tip, the size of the taper, the density of support struts & branches and the tolerance (how close to the model it can get).  I found that increasing the tolerance umber, sometimes leaves areas that need support, unsupported.

I'm currently using an older version of Meshmixer, so I'll download the latest version to see what's different.

Still working on refining it, but here's an explanation of what I've figured out so far (at least for the important stuff that isn't self-explanatory)-

Y-offset = z-offset - This is useful if you have a non-flat bottom so you get a good surface that's totally supported. I like 0.6mm and I end up using Kisslicer's supports up to the first few mm to get all the low parts that meshmixer doesn't get at the moment.

Density - how closely packed the support tips are. 91 was too much and made supports too hard to remove and I actually broke the model trying to remove it. I can't recall what the default was, maybe 71is and was easy to remove except it sags a little more which is expected.

Post Diameter - I like 2mm posts, but they need to be reinforced by other supports (easy to do and depending on the height) and I will post a picture later of exactly what I'm talking about. Also I found using a 0.3mm Z-lift makes the end quality better and less likely to break off the supports or thin items.

Tip Diameter - I played with a little and needs more experimenting along with Solid Min Offset so the slicer only leaves a one layer gap.

Solid Min Offset - This offsets the model and trims the supports. The default 0.02mm seems to be too small, but you don't want it to far off either because the supports actually partially attaches to the model.

Easy, youtube and the Features page. $150 is a lot for software that doesn't even have a demo version and meshmixer is FREE (even though I would pay for it if they charged).

One thing I mentioned that apparently everyone overlooked is that meshmixer optimally orients the model for best printing depending on a 4 factors. That actually makes a huge difference (more so in non-flat objects).

I use RH with Slic3r and always adjust/orient model for best print-ability and strength

I'm sure I could but there's nothing it really offers that the others don't.

Yeah, well... about that...  It's nice that it TRIES to do something like that, but its algorithms leave a lot to be desired.

Here is a a sample of what it does.  The model on the left is in it's normal orientation, with supports for all the overhangs.  Then on the right is the orientation it decided to put it in when you click Optimze Orientation. 

What it apparently does, it optimizes the orientation so it can generate the shortest, simplest and arguably strongest supports.  Without any consideration to the model itself and how it would affect the surface quality.  Not exactly what I would do.

Here is another example.  This time using a piece with flat surfaces (Solidoodle 3 "X" carriage, end block).  This piece should be clearly oriented flat on it's back, and the only thing needing support (barely) is the inside of the large bearing hole.  ON the left, the piece as it should be oriented, and it generate supports pretty much as expected.  On the right is the orientation MeshMixer chose. 

I think it's reasoning here was to print everything at printable +/- 45° angle, but then it didn't take in consideration the fact that the support now need to be rigid enough to support the weight of the object and the fact that the surface quality would suffer.

All things considered, I wouldn't let Meshmixer make the decision to orient an object for "better support and printability".  It's decisions are questionable at best.