Low Quality on Horizontal Prints

[Xeroza]

 Hi! I'm a student at CVTC taking a design and drafting course, we've been using the Form 2 a lot lately and discovered a small problem.  After the PreForm 2.18.0 update on October 3rd, it allowed for Horizontal Printing on the Form 2. However, we've discovered that on the horizontal oriented prints, the quality on the surface attached to the support material, printed on the highest quality setting, isn't as high of a quality as if the print was orientated diagonally. We are trying to figure this out as a class, and I'm here on the forums to see if anyone has a solution, or if we have to wait for a new software update on the PreForm fixing this issue.

                                                               Thank you!
                                                                              - Andrew

[Zachary_Brackin]

You should not print parts aligned horizontally with the platform, the layers will not have enough support and they’ll deteriorate as the tray moves to release the layer from the bottom of the platform. To avoid this, you need to angle the part so that it starts at a corner and then builds up.

[DKirch]

Hey there @Xeroza!

Thanks so much for taking the time to post! I answered this question very recently on the forums, so I’m just going to post my response from there.

To oversimplify things a bit, the reason we suggest an angle on printed parts is so that the part can act as it’s own growing support structure.

Let’s imagine we’re printing a simple cube with one face pointing down, exactly parallel to the Build Platform. Once the printer works it’s way through the supports, it will get to the first layer of the cube. Now you have a 25-100 micron thick layer of resin, the width of a human hair, being held up by just a few very small support touchpoints. The areas between these supports will inevitably sag, just through the force of gravity, and now you have a warped face. This effect will be similar, maybe slightly less pronounced, on the topside of the model(the side without supports).

When you print at an angle, the part will usually build out of a corner, which means the part is supporting itself as it gradually builds upwards throughout the print.

I hope this explanation was helpful, but please don’t hesitate to ask if you have additional questions you’d like me to address here!