3D Printing
Introduction
The space has several 3D printers available for use by members without induction.
This page details what is available at the space and some guidance on design and materials.
A note about 3D Printers
For many years 3D printers in the space were regarded as hackable/improvable and good for experimentation (eg. with different filaments). The Creality Ender models were particularly seen as entry-level printers where a user could expect to spend a fair amount of time adjusting flow rates, manually levelling the bed and many other small changes to get the best possible prints.
Today, printers like the Bambu Lab A1 mini can often be bought new for under £200 and feature automatic bed levelling, automatic flow rate calibration, vibration dampening and a host of other sensors meaning that most people should be able to slice and print their designs with little difficulty. 3D printers in the space are to be treated as tools and are therefore DO NOT HACK items. Please DO NOT use them for experimentation. If you are interested in printers for experimentation please contact the 3D Printing Team as we often have members who are looking to move on earlier printers.
Fumes
There is currently no means of extraction for any of the printers in the space. Therefore the use of chemicals or filaments which would be harmful to others is not permitted. This also means the Anycubic Photon printer has been removed from operation.
Unattended Prints and Long Prints
3D Filament printers are a recognized fire risk. In consideration of rule 0: Without fire suppression a filament print must not be left unattended.
Some prints can take a long time (especially on the Ender 5). If your model is going to take so long you need to leave it unattended then let Rule 0 be your guide -- your model is not suitable for printing at Hackspace. Please explore options for multi-part printing of your model or other alternatives.
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 such as Meshmixer. Some modern slicers such as Bambu Studio and Prusa slicer have prompts that will attempt to fix problems with a mesh.
The Bambu Lab printers are set up to be a "turn up and just print" experience for most members. However there are some configurable options which can improve the likelihood of a successful print. If you are experiencing failed prints you may want to adjust speeds and fill settings etc, then do a smaller trial run to test setting changes for different print speeds or filament types. Ambient temperature can also have a noticeable effect on success. In winter the 3D Printing area is often cold 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 this can normally be done in the slicer software.
CAD Designer 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.
Available Printers
Bambu Lab A1 mini
The space has two A1 minis. These printers are the simplest and easier to use.
- There is a guide to using this printer here: Howto: Bambu A1 Mini
Bambu Lab P1S
The larger P1S has a larger bed and an enclosure, making it suitable for prints which are difficult to achieve with the A1 minis.
- There is a guide to using this printer here: Howto: Bambu P1S.
Creality Ender 3D Printers
The Ender 5 Pro is available for use and is now running Klipper. It requires more manual configuration than the Bambu Lab printers.
The Ender 3 printers have been superseded by the newer Bambu Lab printers.
Anycubic Photon (Induction required; Defunct)
This resin printer was taken out of use in 2024 due to concerns around insufficient ventilation.
- Specifics for this 3D printer are on the Anycubic photon page.
Materials
Buying Filament
All printers in the space use the commonly available 1.75mm diameter 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 Eryone brand filament in the past and occasionally organise bulk buys at a discount. Ask in Discord for more information.
Exotic Filaments
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 materials are PLA and 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 Lab has essential information on this on each of their filament pages.
- ABS is known to release noxious fumes on printing. ABS and other fume emitting filaments must not be printed in the space.
- PLA and PETG are both available with different dyes, fillers and carbon fibre 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.
- If you are unsure if the filament you want to use is safe, please ask the 3D Printing team.
Slicing the Model and Preparing the Bed
Each of the printers has different steps to set up for printing. These should be easy to follow especially for the Bambu Lab printers.
Bambu Lab A1 mini
Bambu Lab P1S
Creality Ender 3D Printers
- Specifics for this 3D printer should be on the printer page.
Check your Material
Both Bambu Studio and Cura are able to give an estimate of the amount of filament needed for a print so you can check 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)