I printed a phone case adapter for a 3D sensor on Preform 2.5.0 a few weeks ago without any problem. The case broke from hard use so I went to re-print it. I did not keep the original .form file so I re-generated supports and with the same orientation I had a few weeks ago. Both times, I left the defaults for supports the same except for setting the point size to 0.4mm. Without checking the generated supports this time (shame on me), I printed it and found that the supports were created touching the object in several places (the problems are on both large sides of the case, but the pic below highlights only those on one side).
I remember threads about this a few months ago, but I hadn’t seen it myself until just now.
Although I did it unknowingly, I had kept as many variables identical in both prints so I can’t help but think it is related to the Preform version. Thoughts?
…and the tall post on the right looks like it’s doing a lot…
Yes - this is a serious problem that has existed forever - especially (but not only) when printing something vertically.
@Formlabs
It’s VERY important to be able to move the generated posts in X&Y AFTER generation to correct for this error. You need to give users more control. Sure, have it try to do the right thing, but let the user correct it when it doesn’t - and it ‘doesn’t’ a lot…
Most likely in the software the supports aren’t actually touching the print, but if it is close enough it will still stick to the surface because of the diffusion of the laser in the resin. For that object, i would tilt it slightly to one corner and tilt it slightly so that the back side is angled down a little bit and that would be a more optimal print orientation.
The point is you have no control over this. They try hard to do the right thing automatically, but sometimes that is not good enough. They need to allow the user to control things, to override the automatic decision, have the final say in how the print gets readied for the printer.
The smart thing would be to remember the override, and bring that data back inhouse to help them improve their algorithms. Let the users teach the system to be better.
Thanks, all! Yes, since they were touching or close enough to touching that they stuck, I had to cut them off, but I then tried sanding and buffing. I think I got something out that works, but isn’t pretty.
Also, yeah, I could see being able to edit the supports a little bit, kinda like editing the points now. That would be a great feature.
I use Meshmixer for a lot of prep, but I haven’t played with their supports tool much, but it seems to create similar supports. I think I’ll look into that.
