Printing With Supports

Overview

Nylon is a rugged, durable material that is effective at creating fixtures, handles, levers and other parts that need to be strong. Many nylon parts require additional support and INF material works well as support material for nylon. Nylon material has four (4) options for supporting parts and some may be combined for optimal results.

NOTE: Nylon material is not the preferred material for detailed parts.

Nylon parts may warp when they contain large, flat, overhanging features or long rectangular, round beams. For best printing results, add supports to your build file.

CubePro software provides four (4) options for adding supports:

• Nylon Supports
• INF Supports
• Nylon and INF (Auto-Combination Supports)
• Manual Supports - These supports can be combined with any of the other three options.

Nylon Supports

Nylon supports are effective, general purpose supports that require post-processing to cut and clean the support attachment points. These supports provide the most support for preventing warp, and of the other options, require the most post-processing to remove them.

Select a NYL option from the Support Material drop down menu in the Build Settings utility.

Printing A Large Flat Radius Feature

Parts with large radius features need more supports than flat angles. Because of nylon printing properties, it requires more support than PLA and ABS. If not properly supported, the nozzle can break if the print begins to curl and warp.

Use the Advanced menu in the Build Settings utility to set the Support Angle to 75˚ or the appropriate angle for supporting your part. 

Verify the part in the software after it has been built to confirm that the support angle is correct.

INF Supports

INF material is effective for supporting nylon parts containing inner chambers, moving parts and multiple small overhanging features. For larger overhanging features or other parts that are subject to becoming warped, Manual Supports should be used to help anchor corners. In addition, Manual Supports should be used with INF Supports to maintain the smooth down-facing surfaces of parts as well as detailed and intricate features of parts requiring support. In addition, INF supports provide smoother bottom surfaces than standard nylon supports.

Select INF from the Support Material drop down menu in the Build Settings utility.

Combination Supports

Introduction

When printing nylon parts while using INF support material, the CubePro software provides an option to automatically add nylon supports to the INF supports. This reduces warpage when printing parts with large overhangs and is also effective when printing thin parts. This auto-combination support creates nylon anchors to prevent warping while providing support for down-facing surfaces using INF support material.

• Warping of curved and angled parts can also be prevented by using both manual supports and INF supports together.
• Combination supports anchor parts very well while still providing good bottom surfaces.
• These supports are not recommended for moving part assemblies.

Procedure

1. To use the combination of automatic nylon support with INF supports, select Settings > Build Settings.
2. Select the Support Material drop down menu.
3. Select one of the INF & NYL combination options that is currently installed in your printer.
4. Select Build.

The software will automatically place structured nylon supports within the INF supports.

Confirm the Build Before Printing

The preview of the print file will be generated which will allow you to review the file prior to printing. Use the slider on the right side of the interface to view a cutaway of the print file. You can also uncheck the Show Print Jet 2 option in the View tab menu to view the part without INF material.

Adding Manual Supports

Parts with large, flat overhangs may benefit from using the nylon/INF auto-combination support as well as manual supports.

1. Open the appropriate manual supports and move them into position.

2. Build your part after choosing the appropriate INF & Nylon combination.
3. View your part in its build stages by selecting and deselecting the Show Print Jet 2 option.

Nylon Manual Supports

When printing with nylon, parts with large, flat overhanging features may warp. CubePro software provides readily-accessible nylon supports for your nylon-printed parts.

NOTE: The use of nylon manual supports requires INF support material to also be installed in the printer and used as a support material type when setting the build settings. INF support material should be used in addition to the nylon supports you will add to the part.

1. After loading your part to the print pad, select Open Manual Support.

2. Select the supports you will need by their height value.

NOTE: The height is noted by the variables after the last X in the file name. You may have have to keep trying different support sizes until you find the one that contacts the bottom surface of the part needing support. It is okay for the support to be taller than the bottom surface but it should not extrude above the part.

NOTE: It is okay for the support to be taller than the bottom surface but the support should not extrude above the part.

3. Add as many supports as you will need knowing that INF material will be printed around the supports providing additional stability.

	NOTE: For best results, place supports under the corners of overhanging features.
	NOTE: Once you move the supports into position, adding additional manual supports will reset all of them and each one will have to be repositioned.

4. Select Move Model.

5. Select the support you would like to move and drag it into position.

NOTE: It may be helpful to zoom in to the image before positioning the supports.

6. Move each support into position. When finished, select Move Model to deselect it.

7. Ensure your color has been assigned and select Build.

8. Select INF from the Support Material drop down menu. Then, select Build.

9. Save the file to your desired location.

NOTE: INF material will surround manual supports that are inset under an overhanging feature.

NOTE: Taller manual supports feature a band (A) that enables INF material to print around it for added support.

NOTE: You can place manual supports at the edge of your part and INF material will print to the band for additional support.