To have a perfect 3d printed object, support is a very important factor.
Supports are structures added to prevent the 3d printed object from warping, sagging, or even completely collapsing during the 3d printing process. We will remove the support after removing 3D print from printer bed. The image below is an example of the support structure in the 2 most popular printing methods, FDM and PLA
In most cases, support structures are fairly easy to separate from the 3d printed object because the contact area between the support structure and the 3d printed object is very small and fragile.
However, for some complex 3d printed objects, or the support structure created by the slicer software is not good, it is quite difficult to remove the support structure from the 3d printed object.
If you are not skillful and follow the right method, you may break the 3d printed object during the process of removing support from the 3d printed object. I’ve been through this as well, and have gained some very useful experience making it easy to remove supports from 3d prints and avoid damaging objects.
In this article, we will go through the following topics:
- How to remove support from 3d printed objects (For FDM 3d printing method)
- How to remove support from 3d printed objects (For PLA 3d printing method)
- Tips for designing an effective support structure to make the support removal process easier.
Contents
Important tips for removing 3D-printed support structure
Before we get started, here are some quick notes to make it easier to remove support from 3d prints.
Tip 1: Use the right tools for each type of filament
| Different types of 3d printing materials have different physical and chemical properties. For example, PLA is stronger and stiffer than ABS but has poor heat-resistance properties. Using the right tools is essential to avoid damaging the 3d printed object during support removal. |  |
Tip 2: Properly design the support structure and minimize support material
| Reducing the density and number of supports will obviously make the process of removing support from 3d printed objects smoother and faster. In this tutorial, I will also show you how to reduce support material as well as how to design the best support structure to help you easily separate supports from objects. |  |
Tip 3: Reduce nozzle temperature
| When the temperature of your nozzle is higher than it should be, it makes the filament more melted, resulting in it sticking together a bit stronger. Use a moderate temperature and you will have a support structure that doesn’t bond strongly to your model, allows you to easily remove the supports |  |
Tip 4: Use some special machines to remove support from 3d printed objects
| There are special machines that help remove support from 3d printed objects automatically. However, their cost is quite high and not suitable for most ordinary users. This solution is only suitable if you are a 3d printing service provider and need to remove support a lot and quickly. |  |
Steps to remove supports from FDM 3d prints
For FDM 3d printing, the two most common types of filament are PLA and ABS. Below are the steps to remove support from a 3d printed object made up of the above 2 types of filaments.
Things to prepare
| Flush Cutters: Flush Cutter is the main tool to cut supports around the object. It is recommended to use a Flush Cutter made from hardened steel with a plastic handle and, most importantly, with a sharp blade. | 
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| Needle Nose Pliers: Needle Nose Pliers has a long and pointed nose that helps eliminate supports located in the deep, hard-to-reach areas. It’s recommended to choose Needle Nose Pliers with good serrations for improved holding power | 
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| Cutting Mat: protects your work surface so that it does not receive any marks during post-processing. | 
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| Clean-up knife kit: You will always have some excess material on your prints even after using Flush Cutters and Needle Nose Pliers. So a knife cleaning kit is great for removing excess debris, leaving you with a neat and clean 3d printed product. | 
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Step 1: Use hand force to remove supports
After finishing the 3d printing process, wait for the object to cool down and place it on the cutting mat. For areas with little support or simple support, try using moderate hand force to remove the support from the 3d printed object.
Step 2: Use a flush cutter to remove supports
For more complex and hard areas, we will use flush cutter to remove the bulk of supports around the print.
Step 3: Use Needle Nose Pliers to remove supports
For the harder-to-reach areas of your 3D prints, we’ll be using Needle Nose Pliers.
Needle Nose Pliers has a long and very sturdy tip that can grip support that’s less than 1mm and has good serrations for improved holding power on whatever material you use
Slowly insert the Needle Nose Pliers tip into deep, hard-to-reach areas, squeezing and rubbing back and forth with force. After the support has detached, hold it firmly and remove it from the object.
Step 4: For the remaining supports after using Needle Nose Pliers, we will use a sharp knife to trim them.
Make sure your blade is sharp enough to not break the 3d printed object
Video for your reference:
Steps to remove supports from SLA 3d prints (resin)
As for removing supports from resin prints, the steps are slightly different than removing supports from FDM prints.
Things to prepare
| Flush Cutters: Flush Cutter is the main tool to cut supports around the object. It is recommended to use a Flush Cutter made from hardened steel with a plastic handle and, most importantly, with a sharp blade. |
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| Needle Nose Pliers: Needle Nose Pliers to eliminate supports in the deep, hard-to-reach areas. |
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| Cutting Mat: protects your work surface so that it does not receive any marks during post-processing. |
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| Clean-up knife kit and a file: We use clean-up knife and a small file to remove excess debris and nub from the 3d printed product. | 
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| Isopropyl alcohol: Rinse your model in Isopropyl alcohol to clean the model | 
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| Cure station (optional): cure the model to maintain its form after removing supports | 
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Step 1: Clean the print off
You should first wash the 3d print in Isopropyl alcohol solution. You can wash it yourself or use a cleaning machine (eg ELEGOO MERCURY PLUS WASHING & CURING MACHINE).
Rinse excess resin in isopropyl alcohol in about 2-3 minutes to ensure that the small details of your 3D printed model are retained after curing. It also makes handling the model much easier and safer as it removes potentially hazardous non-curing resin.
Step 2: Put the model in warm water (80-90°C)
Put your resin model in warm water (80-90°C) depending on the size and details of the model. Wait for about 30-60 seconds, do not leave the object lying for too long in hot water to avoid warping of the details.
Step 3: Remove the supports
After taking the 3d printed object out of the warm water, first, use hand force to pull away the easily accessible supports around the object. (Avoid the fragile areas of the print or you will break your model).
Next, we will remove the trickier support using a flush cutter.
After using Needle Nose Pliers to remove supports in hard-to-reach areas.
Step 4: Refine the model.
In this step, we will remove the residual resin parts. You can use a small file and a sharp clean-up knife to refine the model.
Step 5: Curing the model.
After removing all the supports, the last step is to cure the model to maintain its form, making the model reach the level of optimum strength and rigidity.
You can either use a cure station or put the object under the sun ray. The results should be like this if you have done all the steps properly
Important note: Remove the supports before curing the model for better results. If not your model may be broken
Video for your reference
Tips for designing an effective support structure
- Minimize the number of supports.
- Changed support pattern
- Place supports “Everywhere” or “Touching Buildplate.”
In this section, I will guide you through the basic steps to have a good support structure for your 3d printed object using Cura software.
Step 1: Open your STL file in Ultimaker Cura and open up the Support setting
There are many support options, if you are pro users you can tweak these options to get the best results. In case you’re not pro users, the most important options that you should care about are:
- Support structure
- Support placement
- Support pattern
- Support density
- Minimum support area
Step 2: Tweak the support options
Different options will result in different support structures, I will explain the difference of each option in this step.
Support structure: There are 2 options normal and tree, here’s the difference. Tree support looks like a tree with smaller bottom area.
Tree support reduces print time and less scarring of the model. If your model does not have a large overhead structure, use Tree support to easily remove and reduce printing time.
Support placement: there are 2 options: Everywhere and touching buildplate
- Touching build plate: Supports are printed from the buildplate towards the object
- Everywhere: Supports are printed below every part of the object, i.e. supports can also be on or inside the object
Support patterns: define the pattern of the support. Choosing a proper pattern allows you to remove the supports more easily.
I recommend using a Zigzag, Concentric or triangle pattern to make it easier to remove support from an object.
Support density: define the density of support structures. A higher value will lead to stronger support, but these will be more difficult to remove and take more time to print. I recommend setting the value below 15% for non-complex objects.
Minimum support area (for experienced users only): defines the minimum footprint area supports need to cover, before being ignored. If you use this setting properly, you can remove many unnecessary supports. However, If you set the minimum support area too small, it may cause your printed object to fall during printing.
Only change this setting if you have experience with 3d printing
Wrapping up
As you can see there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of in order to remove support from a 3d printed object effectively. The more 3d prints you do, the more experience you will have in designing an effective support structure as well as removing supports.
If you have any useful experience in removing support from 3d print, leave a comment below to share your knowledge. This will be very helpful to the community.
Thanks for reading!
