Help with infill settings

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Jules
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Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2015 1:36 am

Re: Help with infill settings

Post by Jules » Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:34 am

Okay, maybe this picture will explain the difference....

This is a simple open sided box with thick enough walls that you can see what's going on inside when you use the scrubber on the Preview to see what is going on in there:
Infill vs Support.jpg
In the little box shown in the inset, there are two Top layers, because there are two top surfaces. Same for the two Bottom layers. However many solid layers you specify in the Layers tab, (ie: 3 top layers) will be placed on each of the top surfaces.

Infill occurs inside of solid walls, you can make them 100% solid, but that is a waste of expensive filament and it's going to take forever to print. So to save money, we specify a percentage of how much filament we want to use to fill the "solid" walls.
(Notice that the infill inside the walls is in a honeycomb pattern. That is set at 20%. If you set it higher, like 40-50%, you will see more honeycomb in there and less air space.)

The Support is generated where there are no solid walls to hold up the top of that box. Support is generally removed after the print, it is only put in long enough to prop up the overhang long enough for the plastic to cool and set. It has a different pattern, based on what you specify. That particular pattern is set up like this:
hatch angle support.JPG
Cross hatched support is sometimes harder to remove than single angle support though, if you are going to be removing it, this pattern is what most people use:
Single angle support.JPG
This one, which is easier to remove after the print, consisits of a single angle of 45 degrees.
Last edited by Jules on Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

naturalstate720
Posts: 77
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 7:57 pm

Re: Help with infill settings

Post by naturalstate720 » Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:48 am

aha. Ok, Now it makes sense. Thanks for talking the time to clear that up!

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Jules
Posts: 3144
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2015 1:36 am

Re: Help with infill settings

Post by Jules » Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:54 am

No prob! :D

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