3D Printing
Introduction
Initial page to capture know how about 3D printing (the bit that comes after 3D Design. At time of creation, content has been lifted from the Ultimaker FDM 3D Printer oage since that tool has been deprecated.
Printable Designs
See 3D Design
Preparing Designs for Print
General
Prior to printing you should check any models that you download or produce. The reason for this is that STL models need to be perfect meshes that define a solid, water-tight body. If this is not the case, they won't slice properly. There are several freely available tools that can fix STL files including; Netfabb & Meshmixer.
The Bambu printer is the closest we have to a "turn up and just print" experience. Even then there are configurable print details which can have a make or break effect on a print. It is often worth a small trial run to test setting changes for different print speeds or filament types and at different times of year (Hackspace is cold in winter and this makes 3D printing more challenging).
Its also important to check the dimensions of models you intend to print. You may find that models you download from the internet do not meet the size requirements for your project perfectly. In this case it is possible to scale the STL models in one or more dimension using Autodesk's Cura Software.
Design Specifics
Fusion 360
- Fusion 360 can export models for printing in M3F and STL format. M3F is a zip file which contains an STL file and more. The default Fusion 360 export options for M3F and STL files are poor. At time of writing higher resolution STL files can be created, but not when part of an M3F export. In the "Save as Mesh" window: Select "Format == STL (ASCII)"; then under "Refinement Settings" slide the "Surface Deviation" and "Norman Deviation" sliders to minimum. I leave the "Maximum Edge Length" and "Aspect Ratio" as they are. One of these (not investigated which) will vastly increase the complexity (and load time) of the generated files if minimized.
Target Printers
Bambu Lab A1 mini
- Specifics for this 3D printer are on the printer page.
The Bambu printer is the closest we have to a "turn up and just print" experience. It is much faster than the Ender 3.
Creality Ender 3D Printers
- Specifics for this 3D printer are on the printer page.
These printers are still perfectly usable but they are slow and have a much more manual hand on process than the Bambu printers. They definitely need more time dedicated to learning how to get the best from them.
Ultimaker FDM 3D Printer (Deprecated)
- Specifics for this 3D printer are on the printer page.
Materials
Where to buy Filament
Sources of filament are;-
- http://www.ebay.co.uk
- http://www.amazon.co.uk
- http://colorfabb.com/ (Dutch)
- http://fillamentum.com/ (Czech)
Members have had good success with [1] brand filament in the past and occasionally organized bulk buys at a discount. Always worth asking.
Exotic Materials
Please check the individual filament, build bed and printer pages details.
If a printer doesn't have the appropriate nozzle and build plate DO NOT print that filament on that printer.
Commonly printed material are "standard" PLA and "standard" PETG filament. Anything not "standard" PLA and "standard" PETG should be treated as exotic. Some investigation will be required to ensure it can be printed safely and successfully on Hackspace printers. Bambu labs has essential information on this on each of their filament pages.
- ABS is known to release noxious fumes on printing. Now the 3D printers are in a poorly ventilated shared space, ABS and other fume emitting filaments must not be printed in Hackspace.
- PLA and PETG are both available with different dyes, fillers and carbon fiber reinforcement to create different print effects. Although commonly available these should be treated as exotic materials because they often need a hardened nozzle or a nozzle size unavailable on Hackspace printers.
- TPU is a flexible printable plastic but it needs careful treatment of the build bed or a different build bed to get successful prints. Some filaments will weld themselves to the wrong build bed, destroying it.
- For some filaments like polycarbonate (PC) it is recommended to only print on an enclosed 3D printer.
Slicing the Model and Preparing the Bed
Bambu Lab A1 mini
- Specifics for this 3D printer are on the printer page.
Creality Ender 3D Printers
- Specifics for this 3D printer should be on the printer page.
Measure your Material
Both Bambu Studio and Cura are able to give an estimate of the amount of filament needed for a print. Always worth checking you have enough. For details on loading new filament part way through a print please consult the individual printer pages.
3D Printer Videos
Some videos which explain the basics of 3D printing and getting started
Element 14 videos (required login)