Support materials "tips and tricks" needed
I3 mk3 is my first printer and I'm printing only PLA for now.
Great prints using slic3r and Prusa profiles, with only minor changes (infill for example).
But I have problems with support material.
I have tested printing this:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1011980
With standard "detail" setting the print was ok, but I could not manage to remove support materials generated by slic3r without breaking the print itself: too much overlapping layers of support sheets and too difficult do remove from the final print without damaging something.
Done a 2nd try setting no support in slic3r but using meshmixer to add support to the stl file. Meshmixer generates tree support that is a lot easier to remove and can also be configured (even if I have not still better understood how). Using this method I managed to free my miniature from the support without braking it. Did some tests with bigger or more complex stls (I'd like to print a little static model of an airplane) but I find quite difficult to manage meshmixer supports and I always have to add them to stl file since I prefer to use slic3r to slice and not meshmixer itself, that is not configured for prusa i3.
What is the best software overall to manage supports?
Is it possible to configure slic3r in order to generate tree-style supports like meshmixer and not sheet-layered-style ones?
But above all: how can I understand by just watching my stl or gcode if supports support enough and are also easy enough to remove?
Are there any geometry or such rules when you manage with supports?
Maybe multi-material upgrade could be a definitive solution and maybe one day I'll upgrade, but before that I want to learn well how to manage my printer for what it is now.