Support Material - Pillar Supports?
 
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Robulus
(@robulus)
Active Member
Support Material - Pillar Supports?

I have a Prusa MK2.5S and PrusaSlicer 2.2.0

In PrusaSlicer, if I select "Original Prusa SL1" as my printer, I see Support Pillar parameters such as diameter, connection mode, etc.  Is there a way to cause PrusaSlicer to generate these kind of supports for my MK2.5S?

Thanks!  🙂

Posted : 22/12/2020 8:48 pm
Area51
(@area51)
Member
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

Welcome to the forum.

In PrusaSlicer support trees (Pillars) is only used for resin printing (SL1), not FDM printing MK2->MK3S+.

Maybe in the future that will be implemented in PS, but current version doesn't support this support type.

Have a look at my models on Printables.com 😉

Posted : 23/12/2020 11:54 am
Robulus
(@robulus)
Active Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

I have found a workaround...   

  1. produce the pillar supports in the resin mode of PrusaSlicer
  2. then export as STL including supports
  3. import resulting STL in MK2.5S mode of PrusaSlicer
  4. print

It's a little cumbersome, but it works.

Now I'm going to look for a way to formally request enabling this feature for non-resin printing.  🙂

Cheers!  😊 

Posted : 23/12/2020 12:44 pm
JoanTabb
(@joantabb)
Veteran Member Moderator
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

Make your request on the Prusa Slicer Git Hub Page!  Please

I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK

Posted : 23/12/2020 8:27 pm
Neophyl
(@neophyl)
Illustrious Member
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

I think the request already exists over at github.  

Yep found it -  https://github.com/prusa3d/PrusaSlicer/issues/1514   - its been around since Dec 2018

Posted : 24/12/2020 11:27 am
Robulus
(@robulus)
Active Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

@neophyl

It's certainly a popular thread, and I can see why. 

I'd really like to see this functionality, despite the "major changes" suggested.  I'm now printing pieces for other people and the FDM supports are just too difficult to work with when printing pieces with appendages.  I've broken more arms and legs than I would like.  😥

Posted : 24/12/2020 12:28 pm
JoanTabb
(@joantabb)
Veteran Member Moderator
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

Sometimes it is a good idea to print at an angle rather than straight up...  supports often part more easily, also play with Contact Z distance, there are usually two settings and the default is not the detachable one.... 
regards Joan

I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK

Posted : 24/12/2020 1:33 pm
stewartr
(@stewartr)
Eminent Member
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

Meshmixer is very good at generating 'tree' supports, and is a very useful (and free:-) tool in general, especially if you use an MMU and need to select different areas for colour changes from a single STL file. https://www.meshmixer.com

Posted : 24/12/2020 11:26 pm
gorillamotors
(@gorillamotors)
Trusted Member
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

I just started using tree supports using mesh mixer. Prusa slicer did not like the stl files created in mesh mixer so I exported the files as *.3mf files. Prusa accepted the *.3mf files OK. Is there a way with Prusa slicer to edit print processes (using multiple processes like in Simplify3d) to change the printer settings for each file like Simplify3d?

Posted : 28/12/2020 4:49 pm
JoanTabb
(@joantabb)
Veteran Member Moderator
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

@gorillamotors

can you supply examples of what you have and what you hope to achieve?

 

regards Joan

I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK

Posted : 29/12/2020 12:47 pm
gorillamotors
(@gorillamotors)
Trusted Member
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

@joantabb

I was hoping that you would chime in here. You have answered all my questions in the past. I accidently found out how to solve my problem. Thanks again.

Posted : 29/12/2020 1:24 pm
JoanTabb
(@joantabb)
Veteran Member Moderator
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

@gorillamotors

Good luck, I am pleased you found the answer. 
regards Joan

I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK

Posted : 29/12/2020 8:57 pm
jsw
 jsw
(@jsw)
Famed Member
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

One thing not mentioned may be of help.  In Cura, there's a type of support (forget the exact term and I'm not on the machine I use for slicing) where there is a thinner central 'trunk' which then expands outward as the supported layer is approached.

Posted : 29/12/2020 11:07 pm
stewartr
(@stewartr)
Eminent Member
RE: Support Material - Pillar Supports?

On a personal note; I try and keep my toolset minimal and simple (FreeCAD, Blender (okay, I know - but you eventually have to go there!), Meshmixer and PrusaSlicer). Meshmixer does exactly what you say, although it takes a bit of getting used to, and allows manual addition and deletion of support branches with the mouse. Throw an MMU into the hardware config and Meshmixer is useful for 'painting' an area of a single STL for printing in a different colour. It's a tool that does lots of useful stuff (analysis, correction, basic editing and sculpting etc.) and if you don't want to learn too many UI conventions then it's pretty much a one-stop for post processing before the slicer.

This post was modified 3 years ago by stewartr
Posted : 30/12/2020 12:28 am
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