Arc Overhangs make Supports Obsolete!

Arc Overhangs are a new concept developed by Steven McCulloch to reduce the amount of support we need on our 3D prints. It extrudes self-supporting arcs next to each other that allow printing huge horizontal overhangs into free air! How do they work and are they any good?

*Marble PLA I used for most of my prints*

*Arc Overhang Script*

*Sample G-Code*

*Website article*

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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:53 Arc Overhangs
04:01 Slicer Availability
05:53 Quality
07:33 Video sponsor

#3Dprinting #ArcOverhangs
DISCLAIMER: Part of this video was sponsored by Zellerfeld.
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[CNCKitchen]

Do you want Arc Overhangs or do you think that Organic Supports and Tree Supports are the future?

[Wearyman]

I think a combination of arc overhangs and tiny tower supports would solve the warping problem for external overhangs. Just a tiny cylindrical "tower" support on one or two points to prevent the arc overhand from warping upwards by anchoring the flexible edges to the build plate.

[MGDEngineering]

I'm really excited to see where this goes. I'd be interested in seeing a combination of Arc Overhangs with "Tree" supports. The tree support would hopefully reduce warping, and ultimately, the combination of these two would not eliminate, but at least reduce support material usage.

[cavemandanwilder]

This is one of those “holy crap why didn’t I think of that!” moments. One of the signs of genius level creativity on the part of the inventor.

[tHaHxr]

If the overhang goes into 'nothingness' (i.e. no risk of colliding with parts) as in the example, it might just be a good idea to just print a single (or a few) oversized arcs that span past the surface of the actual ceiling that needs the 'support'.
This way, all those tiny little arcs are not required, which probably makes it print much cleaner, faster and more efficiently. Especially since most of the wobble happens when starting/ending arcs, thus minimizing the amount of arcs is key. The only drawback would be that you need to trim away excess after printing (similar to removing a brim).

[ppmendonca]

To avoid warping you could try printing the second layer also very slowly to allow it to cool the same way the circles did. And only speed up after 2 or 3 layers in that region. It may also help doing the interior first and the exterior last so the contractions get spread over more material.

[SkyProgs]

Maybe it could also be helpful to use it as a support base. So you prevent the warping by still using supports, but not from the bottom, but only a few layers before the support is needed.

[Ariakiri_]

If a combination of arc overhangs and conical slicing were to be made into a new piece of slicing software, I feel like that would be the future of 3D printing, right there.

Awesome work on this video!

[matthewwain]

Wow
I really hope this comes to a slicer at some point. I have so many designs that would benefit from 90 degree overhang first layer like this.

Respect for the the creator of this. Keep it up!

[Liccarus]

PLEASE keep us updated on this, this is a game changer for me as a prop maker. Sometimes i am forced to waste as much as 300g of filament in just support materials.

[joes]

With refinement and clever application of subsequent layers I think this could change the capability of fdm in revolutionary way. Thanks for giving this concept the attention it deserves!

[Okararu]

As some people already presented ideas to prevent warping: maybe it's possible to print some special texture on the first arc overhang layer to reinforce them before going for a full layer that pumps a lot of heat into it (like some tinfoil that has honeycombstructure for stability). Or a combination of both, a texture on top for reinforcement and a lot of cooling. Or just add a single line all around the whole part (isn't there a windshield option in Cura that protects the print from wind? so like that, just in the silhouette of the overhang underneath it). The edge might be cleaner, it should be easy to remove and you don't waste much material.

[MrShkolololo]

I think printing linear stiffeners few next layers in radial direction to arcs will significantly reduce warping.

Thank you, Stephan for showing us such cutting edge things of 3D-printing world!

[AndreSchurer]

I think that printing infill first on the arc support layer might improve the warping behaviour.

Grid infill might "stabilize" the arc layer a bit, and the perimeter might pull less on the support layer.

My second idea would be small "arc support pillars" to keep the outsides of the arc layer from pulling. Sure you then add support again but it would me a tiny bit compared to normal supports.

[DMusketeers]

LOVE this concept. I think it would be tremendous to see it implemented into slicers directly!

[DodoDodowski]

I think that method could be more useful if we use that arc as small supports. Start to print that arc few layers below overhang an then print it as normal support to remove. It could drastically reduce waste of material and we should get better print quality. Anyway that's a great concept overall and something innovative for sure.

[devrim-oguz]

This is why I love open-source and free software. Because everyone can contribute to it. You never know what one person can come up with!

[frozennunu]

you could just use a very thin support strip around the perimeter to hold the overlap steady and hold it down for the next layers

[SoulRetriever]

I'd be interested in seeing if the arc overhangs could be used to 'hold' a more traditional support so you use less material but have a little bit of support that can be removed after printing

[HoffmanTactical]

With carful part design, these could be awesome. Love these videos!