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Created by Emil Pop on 13 April, 2018

So in this experiment I went for ABS supports for a cabage roll (Sarmale) machine I designed in 5 bits, this bit is the place where you form the cabbage before rolling, so you place in it the cabbage leaf (or vine leaf) and the stuffing prior to pushing the handle to roll it in final form.


There is a pretty complex geometry to print including bridging, and that requires supports.

I have chosen for this piece tower supports of 2.5 mm size per side,

that at the top before printing get slighlty enlarged at each layer untill they get to touch eacother forming a platform to print the part on.

I went for the towers for practicality, they are feeble hence easy to remove.

Well they were too feeble at that height and collapsed half way up providing zero support for bridging.

To patch up I took another support from a previous print (never throw away printed materials, fails or supports, they can help with issues) and cut stripes of it that I went to solder with the hot soldering gun to the part here and there and kept them at printing level, not too high not to low, just well enough to provide a platform so the machine keeps building the supports needed for the bridging.

I also decided that towers that thin are not an option when I have to go 10 or 20 mm high before closing the top to print on the bridge.

SImply because they are disconected from eachother and can move around makes them a no go.

Next prints are with cruss cross intersected hexagon supports, I kind of hate them, hard to remove, but in the end I need the part well build while I sleep tight at night, no more setting the allrm clock to go off every 3 hours to check on the print throughout the night and next day be a zombie.

I always need to balance my tradce, what I give up and for what gain.

Giving up sleep is a bad idea.