Support is too wide for a hole in a thin wall.
Hi, I would like to add support for round holes in a hollow box, but the support should stay away from the inside of the box.
This is my design. Before the hollow box is closed, I pause the printer and I drop the two slim gears in the box. After finishing the box, the other gears are added with some glue at the square part of the axle. The box has to be as thin as possible. The "invisible" gears inside are what this design is about.
I can not print it without support and I am not able yet to create support in my design.
The support by the slicer is too wide, it is inside the box and I can not throw the slim gears in it.
Is there a way for a support that is not wider than the wall of the box? Or can I tell the support to stay away from the inside of the box?
Best Answer by Neophyl:
See your issue now.
Personally I would try printing those holes without any support whatsoever. Then afterwards just a slight ream with a deburring tool on the top edges. That would true them up to round. Only take a few seconds too.
I've attached a modified project with the support about as thin as it will go but again I don't think the support will be doing much with the support gap anyway. And if you go closer they are likely to weld to the part.
Its usually better to use the option For support enforcers only and then paint the specific areas you want to support. I've painted only a small area on the outside edge which reduces the amount it does towards the inside. Painting allows you much more control. Examine the project and have a play around with the support painting tool.
You could also redesign your part to use a teardrop shape. This a common technique for 3dprintng. I've included a modified example in the same project (along with a stl). As the gears are in front of the holes you would hardly notice on the larger ones.
RE: Support is too wide for a hole in a thin wall.
From that picture you cant see where the support is 'inside' the box. Could you please save your project file in Prusa Slicer (File>Save Project As) and then take the resulting 3mf file and ZIP it up and attach it here. Must be zipped or the forum wont attach it.
With a project we can slice and examine the preview. A project contains not only the objects but more importantly a copy of all the settings you are using as well as anything else like modifiers etc. It is the best way to see what.s going on and debug things.
RE: Support is too wide for a hole in a thin wall.
The zip file is attached.
It is not printed in one go, I print the slim gears first of course.
This picture shows the tolerances (the box is green, the internal gear is blue):
RE: Support is too wide for a hole in a thin wall.
See your issue now.
Personally I would try printing those holes without any support whatsoever. Then afterwards just a slight ream with a deburring tool on the top edges. That would true them up to round. Only take a few seconds too.
I've attached a modified project with the support about as thin as it will go but again I don't think the support will be doing much with the support gap anyway. And if you go closer they are likely to weld to the part.
Its usually better to use the option For support enforcers only and then paint the specific areas you want to support. I've painted only a small area on the outside edge which reduces the amount it does towards the inside. Painting allows you much more control. Examine the project and have a play around with the support painting tool.
You could also redesign your part to use a teardrop shape. This a common technique for 3dprintng. I've included a modified example in the same project (along with a stl). As the gears are in front of the holes you would hardly notice on the larger ones.
RE: Support is too wide for a hole in a thin wall.
Thank you!
With Paint-on supports and your settings for the support I was finally able to make thin supports.
The axle sticks out at the bottom, therefor I prefer a round circle.
I rather keep the holes in the front round as well, since the covering shape can be anything.
One front gear is the real shape. It can be any shape, even a svg file of a dinosaur. The other front gear is the complementary shape. Its shape is calculated in OpenSCAD when I render the design.