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Support Strategy
Support material is added during the printing
process in order to support the overhanging
parts of your design. Both the objects in the
image are not printable without support (as
some of the angles are more than 45 degrees).
If you would print these designs without sup-
port material, the print material would just
fall on the bed. You can build two types of sup-
port structures; breakaway support and solu-
ble support.
Breakaway support is a support type that
adds support material in the same material
and color as the material you use to print your object. In this image the support material is printed
with the second extruder. After the print is finished you have to breakaway the support structure
manually. Using breakaway support simplifies the slicing and printing process, however, it is not
suitable when the support is in places you can not reach. It will be difficult to remove if your print
is small.
Soluble support is only possible if you have two extruders (with your Creatr HS you are the lucky
owner of a dual extrusion 3D printer). The advantage of soluble support is that you can dissolve
your support structure after printing, and it hardly leaves any marks on the surface of your print.
At this moment, we support two types of support material:
•
PVA, to be used to support a PLA print. PVA is solvable in ordinary tab water. The soluble sup-
port material needs to be inserted in the second extruder. PVA is the safest material to dissolve
since you only need water.
•
HIPS, to be used to support an ABS print. HIPS can be solved using D-Limonene.
TIP: If you take care of a few things before or after using PVA or HIPS, you will ensure
the highest quality of your prints. Before using PVA or HIPS to print, make sure you ex-
trude the PVA or HIPS generously to flush away any remaining material in the nozzle.
TIP: After using PVA or HIPS, make sure you unload the filament after the print. Also,
clean out the nozzle thoroughly by loading another material (PLA or ABS for example)
through the nozzle and having it extrude. This will minimize the amount of residue left
over in your nozzle.
After your Creatr HS is finished printing, you need to remove your print [including the support ma-
terial] from the bed. Place your object together with the support material in the correct solvent for
your support material and the support structures will dissolve. You do need some patience for this,
as it might take up to a few hours to dissolve.
NOTE: we sometimes get feedback from clients that want to speed up the dissolving of
PVA by using hotter water. Hot water might damage your print.
24
Creating your own printable file: from STL to gcode
Structure with support overhang
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