My god - the PLA support material actually removes! Cleanly and easily. Simplify3D has impressed me. Pity it’s not FOSS, but if you need it then it is probably worth the price. @Joshua_Rowley
@Sanjay_Mortimer1 I was thinking, it would be nice to have a dual hot-end that could support two different materials with similar melting points (if they are available) for main printing and support - as a single mechanical assembly. Something along the lines of a half-Kraken but without the need for water cooling.
@Neil_Darlow Don’t worry, @Joshua_Rowley and I have been thinking that too for a few months now. Sooon!
@Sanjay_Mortimer1 Simplify3d has its quirks. But isn’t the support material difference almost ridiculous.
Yeah, the way in which some of the proprietary system manage support material seems to be vastly superior to current OSS methods. S3D and the UP! software both seem to generate vastly superior supports to Cura or Slic3r.
I don’t know if it’s a methodology/strategy issue or a matter of better sane defaults. Probably a combination of the two - S3D seems to arrange it’s supports in such a way that only the extents of round cross section of extrudate contact and adhere, whereas slic3r and Cura both seem to just stack sparse material below overhangs.
S3D does good job but its way overpriced IMHO. Try out new beta kisslicer, those with dual extrusion will appreciate its abillity to generate solid support below overhangs. Also with the latest beta seam hiding just got superior to all ive ever tried…and the pro version is 30% of the S3D pricing…just doesent get any better than that.
I can see the advantage of point-contact for support material but I don’t believe that same material solutions are optimal. That is why I asked about a dual extruder for use with different materials. What I’m looking for is a peelable support which leaves the printed surface intact.
@Neil_Darlow did you see the prints we did with the Kraken on our blog using 2 material peelable support? We did ABS/HIPS and PLA/PETG both of which worked really well. http://e3d-online.com/index.php?route=extras/blog/getblog&blog_id=20
Uhg, so torn. I have a print I have to kick out in less than a month, in PLA, that is giving me serious support issues. I have back-tracked a number of you guys reviews on S3D. I have been a repetier/ slic3r user since day one and can get about anything out of it I need. This particular print has an area that slicer doesn’t need to add support but always does. Very annoying. Hard to justify 140USD for this one print.
Did note that the new repetier has a revamped curaengine. Going to try this evening.
Also, I did note and download Slic3r 1.1.6 stable, it now offers pillars as a support option. There are a number of things to play with for support that are new as well, just missing the option to move and delete/ add pillars.
Going to strap on my new V6 tonight and hammer out this 17 hour print with one slicer or another!
Pillars in Slic3r convinced me not to buy S3D. They’re so much better than prior methods.
You guys should take a look at Craftware. I don’t think it’s OSS but it’s free and seems to have almost all of S3D’s features.
Craftware certainly looks interesting @Nick_Parker - this is the first I’ve heard of it. Will try and take it for a spin tomorrow and report back.
Yeah somebody posted it in here a week or so ago but it didn’t get much attention. I downloaded it but haven’t run a print off yet.
Have you tried manual/auto support in meshmixer?
We have run a couple prints on the LulzBot at work from craftware. They didn’t come out so hot. I’m not sure if I did the setting wrong or the software was wrong. Going to try more later.