I downloaded the rook stl and printed it. After removing the support, it left the surface of the model uneven with the bits and pieces of the support structure stuck on it. If i use a file or sand paper to file it down, it would leave scratches on the surrounding area and leave the model a bit ugly. How do you guys remove the suppport structure without damaging the model itself? Alternatively how do you repair a model with bits and pieces of support stuck on it?
Hi Symios,
You’ll definitely notice your model with bumps after removing supports. Here at HQ, we generally mitigate this by turning down the touchpoint size and reducing the density of supports - although this does increase the risk that the part might fail.
Once the part is printed and the supports have been removed (a pair of wire snips works really well for this), I recommend sanding down the bumps with 220 grit sandpaper, or a soft nail file. At that point, you can either use finer grit sandpaper to remove scuffs, or brush and polish with a light coat of mineral oil to fill in the sanding marks as well.
Some great details on parts finishing are available on some of our other user’s posts, as well as in the our knowledge base here:
https://support.formlabs.com/forums/22066536-Advanced-Finishing-Steps
Painting and sanding is definitely an art that some of our advanced users have worked hard to master, and hopefully they’ll also chime in here. Good luck with printing and finishing!