If you ever have a support tree break off of the build plate, this emergency support tower will stand in for you!

Success is not guaranteed

This part will give you a fighting chance!

Print these out ahead of time and keep them on hand.

When you lose a support tree, you can break this part at the current print height and hot glue it to the bed where the support was lost. 

Pause your print!

Do not try to place this support tower while the printer is moving.

The default fin spacing is 1mm, round up the current print height to break the model and squish it down to the fractional layer height. 

The easiest way to do this is to use the lost support tree as a guide. Line it up upside-down and slide the support brim between two fins. 

If you didn't pause at the failure height, you will need to measure the current print height and estimate with calipers or a ruler.

To break the tower, just spread the fins apart and fold the top part 180° back until it breaks at the desired height.

Precision is key!

Make the height as close to the current print height as you can.

If you're too tall, you risk the tower being knocked over by the print head. Too short and you'll get spaghetti.

The gaps between the fins will allow some amount of compression (~0.5mm), so ±1 fin should work.

Once you have the right height tower, you will need to fix it to the print bed.

For the best chance of success, I recommend hotmelt EVA glue. Make sure to wait for the glue to set (~45s) before continuing the print. Give it a light tap to check.

These other methods may be more likely to fail. 

If you don't have hot glue, you can use double stick tape, blue tape, or a 3D print pen. 

But you're in an emergency situation already, so YOLO.

The default max height is 50mm. You may customize this part for your common use cases. Increase fin_count to make the tower taller.