FFCP 2016 advice needed for supporting a model

[huntleybill]

I am making this part from Ninjaflex. I am using S3D. As you can see in the pictures the area the supports are in show an uneven area with holes and lumps etc. This area is supposed to be 2 mm thick. When I set up S3D, I just checked the box to add support. I made no other changes.

Can you please advise on how to make this supported area fill in better and cleaner? The extruder temp is 235. Are my supports not big enough? Are they the wrong supports?
Thank you for your time.

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[Todd-67]

It's hard ro tell not seeing a bit more. care to share the file for the model? The supports can be added automatically or manually. It does a pretty good job in automatic opperation but sometimes you have problem areas or want to tweak them a bit.

[huntleybill]

Actually, I spend some time researching and found that changing a few settings and speed corrected the gobs. Now i'm having a hell of a time getting the supports separated from the model. They should change the name to Ninja-superglue!!

[Todd-67]

This is a rather large part all the way out to the perimeter of the build plate. leveling is going to be critical. I use automotive feeler gauges as the give a very positive read on the exact height.

I think most of your issues have to deal with the supports and how they are applied automatically by the software. In the first image you can see how dense there are in the lip along the x axis while they are too sparse on the the y axis.


auto-supports.JPG

By using the custom support option you can take control of how much support goes where.
support-dialog-box.JPG

By varying the size of the support resolution and placing them manually you can customize them so you don't have an overkill mess in the x and not enough in the y. This is an example of the power of S3D.
supports-added-manually.JPG

If you look at the section below it shows where the supports are going and that they are not excessive.
corner-section showing supports.JPG

I would slice the model down to just a corner like I am showing and experiment around with some quick prints to see what works rather than wasting time and material trying to print the entire thing while you are figuring out the settings.

Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes.

[huntleybill]

Wow Todd...This is fantastic. Practicing with just a corner would save a lot of time. Except, i don't know how to "slice the model down to just a corner". Is that also something S3D can do?

[Todd-67]

Here is the corner showing the supports and resultant print. I had natural ABS in the printer and this sucker is small so its hard to capture the detail. I just snapped the supports off quickly with a small screwdriver so the best of care was not taken. Looking at the part in my hand it is pretty clean.

[huntleybill]

That is PERFECT Todd! Now, can you show me how to get that result using Ninjaflex? With Ninjaflex supports?

[Todd-67]

I wish I could but I don't have any here at the moment. When I need flexible stuff I usually make a master model and cast urethane with a silicone mold. I print a large amount of ABS so I have spools of that everywhere. I am expanding into Nylon now. I don't care for PLA. Next buy I may throw a roll of ninjaflex in to play with.

You do pose an interesting question though..... Using a ridged support material with the dual extrusion process may make support material a snap... no pun intended.

[huntleybill]

I am hoping that a solid material helps with support. My experience using dual extruders with ninja-flex has been nothing but a pile of stringy spaghetti. Everyone keeps telling me that S3D does a great job using dual extruders with 2 different materials. I really hope I can get dual extruders to work well. A lot of the stuff I need to print depends on it. I bought the FFCP because all the reviews talked about was the high quality prints with different materials etc.

[huntleybill]

I got it!!! It worked great. First off thank you to Sebastian and Todd for all your help and advice!

The FFCP CAN run ninjaflex very well but you will need to do a couple of modifications.

First you need to put in Sebastian's PTFE modification. I also changed the drive gear I got on Amazon. (5mm 40T Extruder Driver Feeder Gear Bore for Makerbot Mk7 Mk8 3D Printer) I have yet to have this extruder jam using NinjaFlex. The first time I tried to print, I had forgotten to reduce the speed and extruded a small test at the stock 3600 mm/min. The model looked bad but the extruder never jammed!

Second: I replaced the blue pad with glass. No matter what I did, Ninjaflex would not easily come off. I ruined all three of my blue pads trying to get NF off that stuff.

As for the slicer settings, I used S3D. (these settings assume your machine is calibrated.)
Nozzle temp worked best at 240 degrees.
Layer Height: 2mm
Build platform temp: 40 degrees. (put hairspray on glass if needed)
Default printing speed 1800 mm/min

The best thing is, I used one extruder to build the model and the same extruder to apply the supports. Yes, I said Ninjaflex supporting Ninjaflex. A needle nose pliers and the supports came right off.

Tell me what you think :-)
Oh...forgot to mention the picture shows the supports still in place. This was fresh off the printer.

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