Is it Cura’s stock settings, the program it’s self, or the FDM process in general that gives me such a horrible looking print that needs support? I have never been able to get a quality layer that is printed off of a support system. I usually have to grind it pretty, that is if it’s possible in that area.
Whilst I believe Cura’s not bad, it’s generally accepted that Simplify3D does the best support (I’m sure others will respond if they disagree). With S3D you still need to do some cleanup usually (in my experience), but that’s often just scraping it with a thumb-nail or the edge of a pair of tweezers for example.
A really good part cooling fan duct helps with the first layer over supports. I can span over 15 mm with less than 0.1mm of sag. It will not be as smooth as the rest of the surfaces unless you are using solid layers of soluble support under it but you can get a pretty good surface over lines of breakaway support. The geometry of the supported layer will make a difference. Curves will generally end up with little straight sections between the support locations so you need something more dense under those parts to keep it smoother on the perimeter.
This is the quality I’m getting off my printer using Cura as the slicer. There is a close up of the supported surface in the album.
@Jeff_Parish Wow, those look good. I’ve run the support density at 90% before and still didnt get the same result. I’m not sure it’s a cooling fan issue since the layers do not seem to be connected for the first 2 or so. That’s why I’m leaning on settings. What were yours for those results? And what version of cura?
@Michael_Boquist Thank you. If I do not use a good part cooling system the supported surface is all bumpy and droopy between the supports. Generally my support density ranges from 15 - 30%. Depends on the geometry I’m supporting. The samples in the album I believe are 20 or 30? The only time I have gone higher is with soluble support. Using Cura version 15.2.1. XY offset distance are defaults. Z is set to .1. Overhang angle is set to 60 and layer thickness on the print is 0.1mm most of the time. Print speed is 40 mm/sec.