Short answer: if you print models with steep overhangs or floating features, a roll of dedicated support filament is the cheapest upgrade to print quality you can buy. Use Bambu Lab Support for PLA as the interface layer under PLA parts and Bambu Lab Support for ABS under ABS, and the undersides of your prints come out nearly as smooth as the top surfaces. You only need an AMS (or a manual filament swap) and about two minutes of Bambu Studio setup.
When do you actually need supports?
FDM printers build each layer on top of the one below, so any geometry that leans out past roughly 45 degrees, bridges a long gap, or starts mid-air ("islands") needs something underneath it. Bambu Studio paints these regions blue in the overhang preview. Figurines with outstretched arms, brackets with horizontal bores, enclosures with window cut-outs and articulated prints are the usual suspects.
Supports solve the problem but create a new one: wherever support touches the model, the surface is scarred. That scar is what dedicated support filament is designed to remove. If you are still fighting more basic issues first, start with our guides on first layer adhesion and stringing — supports sit on top of those fundamentals.
Tree supports vs normal supports
Bambu Studio offers two families. Tree (organic) supports grow branch-like trunks that touch the model in small patches — ideal for figurines, scanned objects and anything organic, and they use less filament. Normal supports build a regular scaffold straight down — more predictable for flat engineering overhangs and large horizontal ceilings. A good default on any Bambu Lab printer, from the A1 Mini to the P2S, is tree supports with "On build plate only" switched off so internal overhangs are caught too.
Same-material supports vs dedicated support filament
Out of the box, your printer builds supports from the same filament as the model. To make them removable, the slicer leaves an air gap (the "top Z distance", typically 0.2 mm) between support and model. That gap is exactly why the underside looks rough: the first model layer above the support is half-bridging.
Dedicated support filament changes the physics. Because it bonds only weakly to PLA or ABS, you can set the Z distance to 0 — the model is printed directly onto the support, fully constrained, and the support still peels away cleanly by hand. The result is a bottom surface close to top-surface quality: no sag, no fuzz, no scarring. For display pieces, lithophane frames, cosplay parts and anything customer-facing, the difference is dramatic.
The trick that keeps it affordable: you do not print entire support towers from the expensive material. In Bambu Studio you assign it as the support interface filament only — the bulk of the tower is still printed from ordinary PLA (old part-spools are perfect for this), and just the top two or three interface layers use support material. A 0.5 kg roll lasts a long time used this way. For current pricing on both support rolls, check the product pages or our Bambu Lab price list for Australia.
Bambu Lab Support for PLA (new version)
Support for PLA is formulated to sit in the same process window as the PLA it supports — you print it alongside PLA at normal PLA conditions (190–220 °C nozzle, 50–60 °C bed), so there are no temperature compromises and it runs happily on open-frame machines like the A1. It pairs with the whole PLA family, including the speciality variants like PLA Matte and Silk+. It also works as an interface under PETG Basic, which is handy because PETG's natural support scarring is worse than PLA's.
Bambu Lab Support for ABS
Support for ABS does the same job in the high-temperature window. It prints alongside ABS at ABS conditions (240–270 °C nozzle, 90–100 °C bed), which means an enclosed printer — a P1S, P2S or H2-series machine. If your ABS parts are lifting at the corners before you even get to support quality, fix that first with our warping guide.
Setting it up in Bambu Studio
Load the support filament into any slot of your AMS Lite, AMS 2 Pro or AMS HT and select the matching official preset so Bambu Studio knows what it is (our AMS setup guide covers slot mapping). Then, in the Support tab:
- Enable supports, type Tree (auto) or Normal as the geometry demands.
- Set Support/raft interface to the support filament. Leave Support/raft base on a cheap PLA or ABS.
- Set Top Z distance to 0 and interface layers to 2–3. Bambu Studio applies most of this automatically once a support filament is assigned to the interface role.
- Slice and check the preview: interface layers should show in the support filament's colour directly under every supported face.
Bambu's own official wiki documents the per-material presets if you want to go deeper.
The Australian detail: keep it dry
Support filaments are noticeably hygroscopic, and along the Australian coast ambient humidity sits at 60–80% for much of the year. A damp roll of support material turns brittle, snaps in the AMS feed path, and bonds less predictably at the interface. Store it sealed with desiccant and dry it before long jobs — our filament storage guide for Australia covers dry boxes and drying times. Because we hold stock locally in Sydney (Regents Park), rolls also haven't spent weeks absorbing moisture in international transit before they reach you.
Quick reference
| Scenario | Support approach | Top Z distance |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday functional PLA parts | Same-material tree supports | 0.2 mm |
| Display-quality PLA / PETG undersides | PLA base + Support for PLA interface | 0 |
| ABS parts on enclosed printers | ABS base + Support for ABS interface | 0 |
| Figurines & organic shapes | Tree (organic) supports | Per material above |
FAQ
Can I use PLA as a support material for PETG prints?
Yes — PLA and PETG bond poorly to each other, so plain PLA works as a budget interface under PETG (and vice versa) with Z distance 0. A dedicated support filament still peels more consistently, but the PLA-under-PETG trick is a legitimate free option if you already own both.
Do I need an AMS to use support filament on a Bambu Lab printer?
No, but it helps enormously. Without an AMS, Bambu Studio will prompt a manual filament change at every swap between model and support material, which is impractical on multi-hour prints. Any AMS — AMS Lite on A-series, AMS 2 Pro or AMS HT on enclosed machines — automates it completely.
Why are my supports fused to the model and impossible to remove?
If you set Top Z distance to 0 while still printing supports from the same material as the model, they weld together. Z distance 0 is only for dedicated support/interface filament; with same-material supports keep the default 0.2 mm gap.
Is support filament dissolvable in water?
Bambu's Support for PLA and Support for ABS are break-away materials, not water-soluble ones like PVA. Break-away is the better default in a humid Australian climate — PVA absorbs moisture so aggressively that it often fails before you get to use it, while break-away rolls survive normal storage and still remove cleanly by hand.
How much support filament do I actually use per print?
Used as interface-only (2–3 layers under supported faces), most prints consume single-digit grams. A 0.5 kg roll typically covers months of regular printing — it's the base of the support tower, printed in cheap PLA or ABS, that uses the bulk of the material.
3D BRO is an authorised Bambu Lab reseller and Australia's authorised Bambu Lab service centre — we print every day with the materials we sell. Browse all filaments, the full Bambu Lab range and our 3D printers, with Sydney stock and fast Australia-wide shipping. Read why customers buy Bambu Lab from 3D BRO, or contact us if you're not sure which support material fits your setup.
