How to eliminate artifacts in round holes (without supports)
Sorry if this has been asked a lot. I couldn't find a specific mention of this problem. I often add these round holes to reduce the amount of filament used. It mostly prints okay, but there's always a bit of stuff at the top.
I would rather not use supports, because it would necessitate many supports in an item such as the attached. It would use more filament, and add a lot of time to processing the print after it's done, so I just put up with these bits of overhang.
Is there a "trick" to getting rid of these, other than supports? Or maybe there's some kind of minimalistic support that I should be using, that is just enough for this situation.
I've thought of switching to diagonal slats that would probably not need supports but would use less filament. But it would be nice to know if there's a solution to the round/oval problem.
Thanks for any ideas.
-Terry
RE: How to eliminate artifacts in round holes (without supports)
You are essentially printing a very steep overhang when you get to the top of the hole. One common technique if you know what orientation the part is going to be printed at is to make the top of the hole sloped, like the roof of a house. That makes the overhang manageable.
Of course if you are just adding those to reduce filament then you could also choose another shape such as a diamond or a hexagon etc instead.
The other thing with your existing problem is you just ream them to round with a drill bit/reamer or use a deburring tool. Reamer/drill would be easier of the 2 options.
RE: How to eliminate artifacts in round holes (without supports)
Thanks, good suggestions.
I tried a Dremel but it didn't do a neat job. Maybe a different bit....
You are essentially printing a very steep overhang when you get to the top of the hole. One common technique if you know what orientation the part is going to be printed at is to make the top of the hole sloped, like the roof of a house. That makes the overhang manageable.
Of course if you are just adding those to reduce filament then you could also choose another shape such as a diamond or a hexagon etc instead.
The other thing with your existing problem is you just ream them to round with a drill bit/reamer or use a deburring tool. Reamer/drill would be easier of the 2 options.
RE: How to eliminate artifacts in round holes (without supports)
What kind of filament is this? You might try turning on thick bridges, and under filament settings/cooling, turn on dynamic fan speeds and put the 0%, 25%, and 50% overlap fan speeds to 100%. Or as Neophyl suggested, make the top of the circle something like a 45 degree slope instead of a circle; or when it gets to about a 45 degree slope make it a straight bridge across so there's no overhang to deal with.
RE: How to eliminate artifacts in round holes (without supports)
I'm trying this approach, as suggested by neophyl. Yes this is PLA. I would like to try the custom settings that you have mentioned. I never do anything but the defaults so this will be educational 😀
Thanks,
Terry
