Found IT! - 1st PCTG FCS Tests - Nov of 2022 !

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

I was going thru a TON of Pics - on my PC -- which were downloaded from my phone a while back. Those pics stretch back a # of years. 

Now - folks already that some of this Google Group UI kinda SUCKS! Well - I tried to then look at emails - from Nov 1 - Dec 31 2022 - but, the dumb search - after putting in the date range - it ignored it. I still eventually want to see if I can find postings I made - WAY Back then - about my testing at Essentium - for the PCTG/PLA - Full Contact Support. But, I'm Thrilled to have found the pics of my testing from back then. 

So - 1st pic is the simple L-shaped design I did as a Test. FYI - I was using Simplify3D - and it let me raise the piece above the bed - to force supports to be generated underneath. Oddly - it seems I can't do that with this modern Orca based slicers...

Anyway - 1st pic (and - this was a While ago - so, I do NOT remember what the notation with the marker meant for testing):

Then, next pic - part separated - so you can see the top side of the White PLA supports - and the Underside of the Black PCTG model:

I then continued testing - this time - an Actual part. It one of the parts from my GingerBread House Construction Kit - Again - White PLA supports - Black PCTG Model:

Again - pic of separated parts:

So - in May of 2023 - literally about 2 months before Essentium Imploded (July - most were Let go - except a small group of folks - given 3 more months - but, by the end of 2023 - the facility was essentially shut down) - there was a request to print something REALLY Big - I believe it was a Star Wars Sandspeeder - something like that. Those who really know the SW realm will probably recognize the item. And - yeah - back then - we were doing these kind of Purge Wiping Walls around the parts. Again - Model in Black PCTG - supports in White PLA:

And - the flip side:

I'm glad I finally found these pics!!!

Oddly - in my research to turn up postings having to do with PCTG & FCS - AI was NOT Finding postings going back to 2022/2023 - which I find REALLY WEIRD. Worse yet - I know Andy has been talking about The Cult of FCS going back FARTHER Than that - I know this Because - my Own experimentations with PCTG were actually Driven by Andy talk in the Podcast and on the forum! So - yeah - I really want to find out WHEN the Cult of FCS actually began - in regard to the Podcast and the Forum here (and potentially in the previous version of the Forum - 3D Printing - Tips, Tricks AND Reviews). 

Lastly - a side note. I got success on another project for my Centauri & the Poop Chute - I just need to sit down - write up the posting - prep pics - and FILES to be Shared!!! I just didn't get to it yet...

-K

[3D Printing Tips and Tricks]

Really?…  A cult?

Full contact supports were first seen way back in the earliest FDM ABS printers from Stratasys. 

The machines from Makerbot and all the others back when some crucial patents ran out and the folks in Bath UK started making open sourced Mendels could never match the print quality simply because they could not do the full heat soak nor print reliably with dual extruders and as such couldn’t reliably do two materials… until we got toolchanging.

Also… and more importantly… Back when the Fortus and other ABS FDM industrial machines were dominant we did not actually have PLA or PETG as commercially available materials. We only had black or white ABS with PVA for supports. Regardless… those PVA supports were full contact on the undersides of overhangs even though they had to be washed away in a bath.

You Kurt… of all people… should know that since you opted to lease a Stratasys Mojo! Did you forget about your Mojo?

[Bryan Eckert]

Kurt you really need to stop using AI as a search engine.

A simple google search brings up this very podcast coining the term by November 2022. 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "3D Printing Tips and Tricks" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d-printing-tips--...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d-printing-tips--tricks/fe38a468-e8d5-4e38-9656-4f1743c0a749n%40googlegroups.com.

[Kurt]

Andy,

I’ve got to be straight with you — your reply had a sting to it. I’m sure you didn’t intend it that way, but it came across a lot sharper than the situation really called for.

And just to clear the air right up front: I didn’t coin “Cult of Full Contact Support.” Someone else here did, and I’ve only used it because it was funny — especially with how often FCS comes up on the podcast and how Whitney always laughs when you bring it up. I honestly thought we were all sharing the same inside joke.

And yes, of course I know FCS goes way back. I leased a Mojo — trust me, I haven’t forgotten what those machines could do. Stratasys absolutely nailed soluble supports. No argument there.

Where my post was coming from was the hobby‑level and mid‑range side — the PETG/PLA (or in my case PCTG/PLA) approach that you yourself have talked about for years. Soluble supports outside the Stratasys ecosystem are… let’s say “a character‑building experience.” At Essentium, long prints with soluble supports snapped often enough to make us all reconsider our life choices.

That’s why I started experimenting with PCTG/PLA. My early tests showed PCTG stuck to PLA just a bit better than PETG, and I wanted to see if that could make FCS more reliable for people who aren’t running Fortus machines. My hope was to eventually bring that process to Essentium customers — but the company imploded before I ever got the chance.

So the whole point of my post was simply to share those old test photos and talk about when FCS started being discussed here and on the podcast. Nothing dramatic, nothing controversial — just contributing to the history and the community.

Still a proud member of the “Cult,” even if I didn’t start it.
Just wanted to clear the air and keep things on solid footing.

-K

On Mon, May 18, 2026 at 12:55 AM 3D Printing Tips and Tricks <3d-printing-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Really?…  A cult?

Full contact supports were first seen way back in the earliest FDM ABS printers from Stratasys. 

The machines from Makerbot and all the others back when some crucial patents ran out and the folks in Bath UK started making open sourced Mendels could never match the print quality simply because they could not do the full heat soak nor print reliably with dual extruders and as such couldn’t reliably do two materials… until we got toolchanging.

Also… and more importantly… Back when the Fortus and other ABS FDM industrial machines were dominant we did not actually have PLA or PETG as commercially available materials. We only had black or white ABS with PVA for supports. Regardless… those PVA supports were full contact on the undersides of overhangs even though they had to be washed away in a bath.

You Kurt… of all people… should know that since you opted to lease a Stratasys Mojo! Did you forget about your Mojo?