Printing materials
3D printing can work with a wide variety of materials. However, some materials like metals or ceramics place very high demands on the printer, which is why plastic is the most commonly used material.
9. Supports
9.1. The 45° Rule
Not all overhangs need to be supported by structures. Generally, if an overhang doesn't angle more than 45° from the vertical, we might be able to print it without the use of supports.
3D printers utilize a very slight horizontal offset between consecutive layers. A layer doesn't stack perfectly onto the previous one unless it's printed as a vertical wall. This allows the printer to handle overhangs that don't deviate too much from the vertical. Anything below 45° can be supported by the preceding layer.
This aspect is best illustrated by the letters Y and T. The two overhangs in the letter Y have an angle less than 45° from the vertical. Therefore, if you intend to print the letter Y, you can get away without using any additional support.
If this overhang wasn't supported, it wouldn't print correctly as the overhang from the vertical would be 90°. Thus, printing the letter T without proper support would not be successful.
