---- A GUIDE TO 3D PRINTING A brief introduction to the 3D Printers at ITP. ---- Hi all. This is a brief guide to what we have at ITP and documentation links on how to use them. Please make a note of this e-mail, but also feel free to come and find 3D Printing Staff should you have any questions! Happy Printing! ---- PRINTERS Ultimaker 2+ (0.4 mm Nozzle) We have two of these! Ultimaker 2+ (0.6 mm Nozzle) We have one of these! (It has a larger nozzle than the other Ultimakers) Lulzbot Taz 6 We have two of these! They are bigger than the Ultimakers. And Faster. But sometimes not as quality. On choosing the right 3D Printer... It really depends on you and your 3D Print. If you're print is tall - Ultimaker 2+ Extended, Lulzbot Taz 6 If you're print is wide - Lulzbot Taz 6 Otherwise, go to what is available. ---- FILAMENT The material we use to make 3D prints is known as filament. At ITP, we provide PLA filament blends (2.85mm - 3mm) in a few different colors. It is okay; a pretty good material for prototyping. However, if you want to be bold, you are welcome to bring in your own filament. The only rule: NO ABS FILAMENT. It's a bit noxious and we don't have a ventilation system that can handle that where are 3D Printers are housed. ---- PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS 1. Prepare your 3D Model as an OBJ, STL, 3MF file 2. Choose your 3D Printer 3. Download the Cure Software for the corresponding 3D Printer Cura is the software that prepares your model for the 3D Printer. Lulzbot uses this version of Cura Ultimaker uses this version of Cura 3. Upload your file to Cura 4. Within Cura, you'll need to change your settings. This will change depending on the model, printer, and filament that you use. However, make sure that you always:
* If any of this sounds foreign to you, come find 3D Printing Staff on your first print. 5. Get the 3D Printer's SD Card 6. Save your Cura gcode file to the SD Card 7. Put the SD Card back in the Printer 8. Make sure the appropriate Filament is loaded into the 3D Printer* See instructions below. 9. Print! ---- CHANGING THE FILAMENT Ultimakers 1. Click on Change Material in the Ultimaker Display 2. Follow the Instructions Lulzbots 1. Find 3D Printing Staff It's a little more involved as you have to adjust nozzle temperatures, etc. and we'd rather teach you how to do it in person! ---- RULES Here are some rules that we have for the 3D Printers @ ITP: 1. Always book time slots on the 3D printer calendar. We are sharing these machines with hundreds of students, please help us stay organized. Whoever has time slots signed up on the calendar officially has right of way. Please only sign up for the amount of time you need. 2. No Glue. Use Tape. Glue is really great for making sure that the 3D Prints stick to their build plate. However, y'all don't clean up after yourselves :( and the glue starts to build up. That's why we use tape. 3. Do NOT use metal tools to remove prints. Use a plastic tool. The best tool to use is an old MetroCard!4. If something is acting strange, don't fix it yourself. Come find the 3D Printing Staff! This shop runs on communication. Even if you are able to fix it yourself, come find us so that we know what's going on. We don't want for one of us to accidentally break one of the printers because we undo the fix that someone else made in secret. THESE 3D PRINTERS JAM ALL THE TIME. For various reasons. Come find 3D Printing Staff and we will teach you how to fix it. 5. If it doesn't have to be 3D Printed, don't 3D Print it. If you are 3D Printing a box, go make one in the shop. 3D Printers are really great for complex shapes that you can't make in the shop or buy. There is no reason spend 8 hours to make an item you could have bought/made in twenty minutes. 6. You cannot leave your print unattended. I've seen people walk away from a 17 hour print and come back to a nozzle printing in air because of a filament jam. You can't save your project after a problem that has gone undetected for more than five minutes. Things go wrong in these machines all the time, I don't want you to waste your time or our filament because of a printer malfunction. An unattended printer is also a safety issue; those nozzles are hot. And It breaks our heart to stop a print that is already six hours in. But that is our job. ---- Come find 3D Printing Staff with any questions. Sid Chou |
Machines >
