Hello, my name is Gevo and I have the architect 3d printer from Monoprice and I was wondering if I upgrade to dual and heated plate is there a way for me to print the support/raft as a separate material. Later on I would like to purchase this purchase this machine that uses a chemical reaction that dissolves the support/raft into the water solution. The machine is called wave wash.
website is https://www.capinc.com/products/stratasys-3d-printers/clean-stations.
I would like to do this for the purposes of cleanup time, it will dramatically cut the cleanup in half or even more. I use replicator g software to produce my 3d prints and if there is any way that this can be at all possible please let me know. The material I would use for the support material if I can do this would be FDM( filament decomposing material),thanks for your help.
How the raft is printed is controlled by your slicer and configuration. IOW, it’s at the STL->gcode step that the raft is created, and that’s the software that would need configured to print the raft from the alternate extruder. Should be no problem at all, but exact steps will depend on your software chain.
See also this thread on raft removal: Talk Manufacturing | Hubs
I haven’t had great success with rafts, preferring to build ABS directly on the Kapton tape with an acetone and ABS wash, or PLA on blue painters tape (sometimes, though rarely, with a glue stic overlay). If you’re rafting just for adhesion, try to find other ways to get the adhesion you want, rather than trying to find easier ways to remove the raft after printing. For support material, you won’t be able to.
I also haven’t been happy dissolving HIPS in limonene. It worked, but not well and much of the HIPS color bled into the ABS part, so it looked terrible, though it functioned OK.
I was not able to find a way to print the support material on the second head on my dual-extrusion printer using the replicator G software. I recently purchased Simplify3D and it easily allows you to pint the support material with either the same or the extra extruder. I like the washer and idea of printing the support with FDM. I will need to try that. Clean up time is way to much on most prints.
I added a glass build plate to my heated table, and use AquaNet hair spray for adhesion. I have had very good luck with this method, eliminating the need for a raft. I use glass from picture frames, and swap them out at the end of a print to allow them to cool off. Black spring paper clips hold the plate in place during the print. I run the bed temp about 5 degrees hotter with the glass. Once cool, the print falls off easily. When they are hot, it is almost impossible to get them off.
Good Luck, let me know how the washer works.
Thanks for your help! I will defiantly try this out.
