Overhangs- quickly building support for 3d printing

Rhino
1

I frequently design simple cases in rhino and 3d print them. At the end of my modeling process, I often encounter overhangs that won’t print well. Many times these parts could benefit from a simple support triangle that sweeps the bottom of the overhang. My approximation in the attached model communicates it much better than I can in words.

My question: I’ve tried two rail sweeps, but that process doesn’t quite yield what I’m looking for. Any other suggestions on how to approach this? Happy to clarify if I’m not being clear enough. Please see the attached file as an example. Thanks!
3dPrintOptimization.3dm (1.4 MB)

2

Hello - What are we looking at - something to go in here?

image

3dPrintOptimization_Maybe.3dm (1.5 MB)
image

-Pascal

1 Like
3

The printer model, brand, and toolpath post processing software has the biggest impact on this outcome.

Not to mention the orientation and geometry of the part.

Sure, it would be great to have automatic ‘support’ generating tools, but this quote comes to mind:

“Any set of phenomena has a near infinite number of potential interpretations.”

4

_extrudeCrvTapered

https://docs.mcneel.com/rhino/7/help/en-us/index.htm#commands/extrudecrvtapered.htm

5

You got it, Pascal. Something like that. The sweep you created is almost there. It just doesn’t address the bump outs of the rings very well. Any ideas how to do it elegantly? Are you sweeping with 1 rail? Thanks!

6

Hello- do you need to match the bumps exactly? In any case, basically it is a loft of three curves-

image

Closed loft, Style = Straight Sections.
You can bridge the more complex bits with more precision with the Rebuild setting:

image
image857×394 74.9 KB

-Pascal

7

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you. See attached for anyone who’s curious.
3dPrintOptimization_Taper.3dm (2.0 MB)