Top-heavy print tips over on Qidi Q2. Can I add supports in Qidi Studio? Need calibration?
First off, I am brand-new to 3D printing and recently got a Qidi Q2. It probably has 8 hours of total use on it, mostly from small pieces that I modeled myself. I did run all the auto-calibration and bed-leveling things that I could find in the menu, but I haven't turned any screws or done any physical tweaking on it.
Here's a picture of what I'm trying to print.
If that link doesn't work: direct link to the thingiverse page.
It's a 3+ hour print and about 2:30 into it, the piece toppled over and the machine kept extruding into the air so there was PLA threads everywhere. Because the design is so top-heavy (16cm / 6.5" tall), as printing progresses, it gets more vulnerable to tipping over.
I'm using Qidi studio, printing at 70% sparse infill with the "cubic" pattern (I know that's a lot, but actually lower than what the designer recommended).
Because it takes so long and uses so much material I have been reluctant to try printing it again without having ideas to reduce the chance of tipping.
Questions:
- In Qidi Studio, is there a way to manually draw supports to a vertical surface so it has more stability?
- Should I just print it horizontally? This would require supports along the entire length of the piece
- Is there a specific calibration or test that I should do?
The machine is directly on the floor so there is no shaking in the machine itself as it prints. When I first got it, I put it on a table, but even though it's a sturdy table, the table was shaking with the hot end's movement, so now the machine lives on the floor.
TIA