Longest print duration your printer will handle (Page 2 of 2)

In two words: Big Time. For me at least on the 1.0 Pro.

The theory as I understood it was that it holds the piece down better, but I was kind of skeptical of that. How can it hold the piece down better when you have these thin lines holding it instead of the whole surface  i.e. less surface area. But it works.

What I suspect is really going on is that the raft allows ventilation in and around and under the piece allowing the material to cool on all surfaces at the same rate and that is what prevents the piece from warping.

rafts are great for reducing warping, and if you use s3d you get really good smooth bottom surfaces with out marks (or at least I do)

However it is not as smooth as if you print on the glass.
here are two samples of the bottom of a print. The test cube was done with a raft, and the wall directly on glass.

I use Slic3r.  I cannot get it to generate the zig-zag rafts like was pictures in the orange print. 

It just prints a solid layer (almost like a thicker brim) that is impossible to remove.

I tried that.  It only gives me 0.2 and 0 (absorbable) as options.

I just wanted to thank everyone that replied on this thread. This was my first post on Solidforum and the response was absolutely incredible. I have you know, thanks to this thread, I now have tested the raft vs the abs juice. In a pinch the raft works, but I've had incredible success with abs juice.

I now also keep a fire extinguisher near by the printer just in case. All the talk about fire, abs juice containing acetone, vapors, and the heated extruder, the fire extinguisher helps me sleep.

I have gotten all the materials for a firmware hack and an octopie webcam print setup and am looking forward to getting Simplify 3D at some time in the not so distant future. I will also likely upgrade my heating element and all this will be in effort to maximize speed. I have 4 rolls of filament to burn through (10 to 15 days at my pace) before I upgrade the machine.

When I do upgrade the machine It will likely be a full force modify and I may go so far as to get faster moters and the whole shebang. When I do, I'll start a new thread detailing a maximum speed xyz set up.

Again, thank you for all the help. Please continue to use this thread to share stories of your most time consuming prints. I love to hear about the failures and the successes and everything that come in between.

Thanks for the heads up. I really appreciate the proper order I should upgrade in. Thank you.