Recomomendations for cleaning out supports
I'm doing some very intricate models that require lots of supports. For example there are interior spaces that need supports. They're visible, of course, but hard to get to. For "external" support I've discovered that needle nose pliers to very well at letting you grab and hold a clump of supports and get them out. But the ones that I can't get at with the pliers give me problems. I was thinking that maybe an ice pick would do that job, or perhaps something like that but with a tiny hook at the end or something like that.
What tricks/techniques do you folks use for cleaning out hard-to-get-at supports Thanks! /bernie\
RE: Recomomendations for cleaning out supports
Well, for one make sure PrusaSlicer is set to Removable Supports. Provided profiles default to .01, soluble.
There are some other settings that affect top layer of support and X-Y separation.
RE: Recomomendations for cleaning out supports
@robert-rmm200
What settings are those? MY supports seem to break off cleanly so maybe it is OK but I didn't see a "removeable supports" setting. I also don't understand what other settings. I see "XY separation between an object and its support" - it's set to 50%. Dunno about anything else.
RE: Recomomendations for cleaning out supports
In Prusa Slicer, under Print settings, Contact Z distance should be set to .2 (detachable). .1 is for soluble.
RE: Recomomendations for cleaning out supports
Robert is quite correct that the default contact z distance of 0.1 makes supports difficult to remove and you should use 0.2 or 0.25 to make it easier.
However the original post is about getting to support in difficult to reach areas. For those areas I use a set of dental picks. You can buy a set cheaply on eBay and they have various shapes to allow access you hard to reach areas, corner etc.
RE: Recomomendations for cleaning out supports
@neophyl
Ah, thanks *dental picks* -- great idea! And I'll change the Z parameter, too. Thanks
RE: Recomomendations for cleaning out supports
I realize nobody really cares, but the dental picks worked a trick and did the job. Here is what my model looked like coming off the printer:
RE: Recomomendations for cleaning out supports
.. and here is what it looks like after about 2 hrs of picking away the supports;