Support Interface Tolerance Test

I avoid using supports at all costs unless it's absolutely necessary, but dialing in the settings for your support interfaces makes using them a little less frustrating. I made this small model to test multiple different support applications. These include:

- From build plate to flat surface

-From build plate to steep overhang

-From model surface to flat surface

-From model surface to steep overhang

-Inside a “window” structure

Import the model to your slicer and adjust the support settings in the OBJECT'S parameter settings (this keeps you from forgetting the starting point of your global settings when you start changing values and forget where you started). You can do one at a time or clone it and assign different settings to each object to test a range of settings at the same time.

I suggest starting with “bigger” values first (i.e. top and bottom z distance). It's easier to start with supports coming off too easily and work your way down than it is to dig out fused supports right off the rip.

The most important values to be looking at are:

*Top/bottom Z distance- smaller gap= better part surface quality but harder to remove. Larger gap= less surface quality but easy support removal. 

*Interface spacing- smaller/no spacing allows for a better surface finish, but also creates more surface area for supported part to bond to and fuse together.

THESE ARE THE FOUR MOST OVERLOOKED SETTINGS THAT MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN SUPPORT QUALITY/REMOVAL! 

1. SUPPORT INTERFACE SPEED- in the speed settings there is a setting for interface speed. THE SLOWER THE BETTER! Printing the interface slowly allows more time for it to cool, thus less likely to bond to the layer to be printed on top of it. My typical setting is 30mm/s
2. SUPPORT INTERFACE COOLING- in the cooling section of the filament profile, there is a setting for interface cooling speed. The default in Orca is typically -1 which makes it default to the overhang settings. I set this to 100% on all filaments except those highly prone to warping (ABS ASA PA PC PP etc). For those i set it to 50-80% depending on how much interface there is in the specific model being printed.
3. OVERHANG/BRIDGING SPEED- the first layer that goes on top of the support interface is a bridge. In the speed settings this will be the setting for EXTERNAL bridge. Just like the interface, going slow allows better cooling and less bonding. My typical setting is 30mm/s
4. FORCE COOLING FOR OVERHANGS AND BRIDGES- this setting is right above the interface cooling speed setting in the filament profile (orca). if you already have this enabled and set to 100% speed for any percentage of overhang, don't worry about it. If you don't have it enabled, check the box to enable and set the speed to 100% (50%-80% for materials prone to warp) and the overhang to at least 75% to activate it while printing the first layer on top of the interface.

All of these speed and cooling settings combined will allow you to use smaller interface spacing and smaller Z distances because the layers are less likely to fuse together. This creates supports that are easy to remove while leaving the part surface much cleaner and better looking.

Hopefully this helps!