I am trying to print out a character bust and after 7 hours no luck. The supports had seemed to print out, but nothing within them. Any idea what the problem could be? The model checks out fine in the software and no errors had occurred.
Helllo @Duane_Rutkowski,
Have you gone through each layer before you started printing? It seems some parts of your model are floating in “limbo” and not supported when printing the first layer. Atleast, that is what gives you this result 
Hey Alex, yes I have tried seeing every layer and it all checks out. I had dragged the slider on the right and everything was getting built at level when simulated, not sure why it didn’t work when the print started.
You might want to try to reorient the part before printing that is a large flat base at the very beginning of the print and it only adds unnecessary stress to the print this could be the main reason for failure but it could also be the laser but I am going to go out on a limb and say orientation. You should also consider drain holes to avoid a vacuum effect on the print if there are none on there, as well as wall thickness for shelling or hollowing the print.
Remember the printing process has to peel each layer off the PDMS layer so the greater the surface area that it needs to peel the more stress you put on the print and on the resin tray.
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That’s what I wanted to recommend at first too, but considering the size of the object, he probably won’t be able to, without separating the parts in several prints. Though printing it at a slight angle will always help!
Something this large I would print in smaller pieces. It’s also alot of resin wasted if it keeps failing
+1 for the suggestion of printing on an angle if at all possible (maybe shrink the model for a test)
What resin are you running? I’ve had a bunch of odd failures with Maker Juice resins. The Formlabs resins are performing much better for me and worth the extra price to avoid failed prints and resin stuck to the tray. For now worth the extra $$
Thank you for the replay guys. I am using the black resin from fromlabs, nothing from Maker Juice. I will definitely give it another go at the angle. Would a drain hole be recommended or not really?
Yes, the top part i in definite need of a drain hole. I don’t know if the middle part is hollow, cup-shaped or solid? but if it’s hollow, it will need a drain hole as well. And if you ARE able to print it in separate parts, really do! That will give you the space to angle the flat base at a steep angle which will reduce the peel forces immensely! furthermore, you could re-orient the top part 180 degrees (but of course at an angle) which will make you lose the drain hole.
Should I make sure all geometry is clean? I do have the shapes together, and then combined so its airtight, but is the internal geometry posing a problem? Should I just boolean everything together so its flush and hollow within? Again, thank you for the help and for answering all these questions, last thing I want to do is waste this expensive material.
@Duane_Rutkowski, could you be a little more elaborate, or explain it differently? I have no idea what you’re trying to ask, to be honest…
Alex
Ok, back doing some of the mentioned suggestions. I had positioned the models at an angle and also with a hole to drip and this is what happened. I had figured the first was a fluke, but this had happened twice in a row so I would like to figure out what is going on.Does anyone have an idea why I am having what looks to be collapsed head in both these prints? Thank you in advance.
Hi, would you like to try to hollow your part before send for printing?
I had a similar looking failure wasting 3 liters troubleshooting on designs that were bombproof. I describe the appearance of the failure as a “point” that doesn’t print then the next layers progressively expand the “point” until there is a conic (very roughly) void where resin should have cured. It took a new printer to fix. My samples ranged from downloaded geometric designs that are so popular, to several busts, to a bracket needed to hold extruded aluminum at 3 different angles. FormLabs took the most complex and printed my preform output fine. Then they sent me a new printer and a liter of resin. No explanation of the root cause of the problem or why the new printer worked. I dread this happening again now that the warrantee is expired.
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