M3-ID for soluble support materials?

The place to discuss the M3-ID
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13brv3
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 1:47 pm

M3-ID for soluble support materials?

Post by 13brv3 » Thu Jun 02, 2022 3:58 pm

Greetings,

I've got an ancient M2, and I'm giving some thought to upgrading to a IDEX printer to be able to print soluble support material. I might print multiple colors once just to say I did it, but 95% of my interest in an IDEX machine would be for soluble support. There are very few posts about PVA/BVOH here, and the latest one was 2019 it seems. Those were primarily from people having problems as you'd expect for a forum post.

Can you actually print soluble support material reliable with an M3-ID (PETG as the main material), or is this one of those ideas that sounds good but doesn't really work out that well?

Thanks,
Rusty

Phil
Posts: 214
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 7:49 pm

Re: M3-ID for soluble support materials?

Post by Phil » Thu Jun 02, 2022 9:48 pm

I have not yet tried PVA, although I have some on hand, but I have tried HIPS. HIPS dissolves well in limonene, but limonene also weakens ABS. The good thing is that HIPS is not so affected by atmospheric moisture as is PVA.
I would be interested in hearing if PETG survives limonene.

13brv3
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 1:47 pm

Re: M3-ID for soluble support materials?

Post by 13brv3 » Thu Jun 02, 2022 10:22 pm

I never really looked into HIPS before. It sounds like it's intended to be used with ABS, so I'm surprised the Limonene is bad for ABS. From what I read, HIPS gives off fumes like ABS, and I don't have enough ventilation for that. I tend to like PETG because it can tolerate higher temps than PLA, and it doesn't give off fumes like the higher temp filaments. Some day I may need to move the printer to use better filaments though.

Rusty

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