Support Material
– Support material is used when the part you're printing has free-
standing features (like the chin on a bust) or another feature that requires it to be physically
supported during the printing process. When you check the
Support Material
box, the slicer
will automatically design support for the part that's currently (or will be) loaded.
Create Raft
– A raft is essentially what it says, a “raft” of material that your part will print
on top of. Rafts are most often used when printing a part that is having bed adhesion problems
due to its geometry. For example, if you're printing a part that sits on small feet, a raft would
come in handy if the initial layers of the feet don't stick very well.
In the image below, you'll see an example of both support material and a raft.
I took the little test cube and through a little manipulation, printed it tilted at 30 degrees. I
took this opportunity to also demonstrate what a raft looks like. This one is exaggerated in its
size, but gives a great example of what a typical raft will look like.
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