3d printing

Question 1

File formats

Answer 1

Drawing - CAD
will be converted to STL
then use software to convert to gcode. Can use Slic3r
If windows - use Tronxy
For gco, go to reprap

Question 2

Extruder

Answer 2

Uses gears to feed the filament

Question 3

heater block

Answer 3

melts filament at 195 degree celsius. Don’t touch

Question 4

nozzle block

Answer 4

need a good nozzle for a good print. harden nozzle with daily print lasts 3-5 years. A normal one will last 9 months. have one year warranty.

Question 5

nozzle size

Answer 5

bigger nozzle (0.4 and above) used to print harder, stronger items and prevent clogs. can also be used to print flexible items depending on spool. use smaller nozzle for fine items. for brass nozzle don’t print carbon fibre or nylon. will wear within 6 hours of printing. normal pla or tpu is fine.

Question 6

layer height

Answer 6

first layer must be 75% of layer height so it will stick well. maximum layer height is 0.32 mm.

Question 7

printer speed

Answer 7

faster is carbon 3d by autodesk arpund $10k. a small item takes around 30mins. the printer can last a week 7 days continual printing

Question 8

sla vs fdm printing

Answer 8

sla will make use of liquid resin. each layer will slowly harden. has an issue - the resin can burn the skin due to allergies. fdm - the nozzle will melt and slowly print out. recently - LCD. LCD is similar to SLA but does not have allergies issues. LCD - cannot see layers so does look nicer. lcd price is cheaper than sla. resin per litre is $80 for sla, but $65 for lcd. lcd is better for jewelry printing.

Question 9

price of spool

Answer 9

wholesale $19.90 for black, white, transparent. $22 for coloured
marble - $26

Question 10

how to make line less obvious

Answer 10

select higher end filament like marble and twingling. or slow down the speed of printing.

Question 11

selective laser sintering

Answer 11

powdered printing that uses laser to harden it. makes stronger items and can print any material - gold, titanium, plastic, stainless steel. one machine will cost a million. there is one at ntu. material - 1 gram costs $1. 1kg costs $1000.

Question 12

Abs printing

Answer 12

Filament type. Need good ventilation can be toxic. very smooth printing

Question 13

after printing

Answer 13

need to clean up. don’t need to do much post processing except painting with acrylic paint.

Question 14

Stratasys j750

Answer 14

can print multi colour and different materials. costs half a million. can see machine demo in 3d printing for women meetup.

Question 15

PLA

Answer 15

safe, biodegradable, less toxic. all plastic melting at more than 100 degrees is toxic. don’t print in an air conditoned environment

Question 16

tpu

Answer 16

food grade, flexible, still slightly toxic when you melt it.

Question 17

petg

Answer 17

very hard, more durable, water resistant.

Question 18

carbon fibre

Answer 18

industry grade. carbon fibre mixed with pla can be use.

Question 19

metal filled plastic

Answer 19

Needs bigger nozzle. stronger. need 0.4 and above.

Question 20

wood filled filaments

Answer 20

need 0.6 and above

Question 21

hardened 0.6 nozzle

Answer 21

good for higher grade material. last longer. $19.90

Question 22

conductive filament

Answer 22

Used with arduino. need to go to proto pasta to buy. 250g costs $70.

Question 23

magnetic filament

Answer 23

highest it can go is 130 degrees before it demagnetises.

Question 24

glow in the dark filament

Answer 24

costs around $24.50. different colours for glow in the dark.

Question 25

silky material

Answer 25

has a shiny effect

Question 26

resins

Answer 26

us resins are the best quality ones

Question 27

how to level

Answer 27

place a piece of paper on top of the plate on top of bed to avoid scratched tool -?manual - home - back - level - press on 4 corners do diagonal balancing adjust knobs underneath do everytime you change place of machine. piece of paper : can push and pull and there is a grab feel. back go to manual move z down (need to preheat to insert filament) nozzle cannot be right on top of bed if not burn the bed when preheating press preheat button fire logo: bed bottom logo : hot end. if pla, temp needs to be 220 34/220 means that it is now 34 degrees but need to be 220. in the meantime, don’t touch filament needs to be at 45 degrees. feed filament into extruder. press level to push it in slightly. lcd: back - filament arrow down to insert arrow up to remove gear moves to insert place sd card into side slot, metallic side face up can see filament coming out. if it is coming out smoothly, good, means not clogged. If clogged, heat up to 250, lightly pushed the filament in at extruder side. back - print choose sd card choose the file and press play

Question 28

maintenance

Answer 28

grease up the metalic bits holding the bed to prevent rust. | don’t overgrease, use paintbrush to grease it as nozzle might clog and collect dust.

Question 29

software you need

Answer 29

prusaslicer3d.com meshmixer - good for repairing files that you got online. where to get cool files: thingiverse only fdm: myminfactory handphone scanning: Qlone: need qr paper to scan structure 3d scanner (structure sensor) can buy online don’t get mark 2 own design: fusion 360 educator and student: 3 year free license

Question 30

slicing programme

Answer 30

converts stl to gco.

Question 31

print fill

Answer 31

strongest infill is honeyfill. there are others like gyroid (beautiful wave that gives good support for mechanical parts) vertical shell perimeter tells you how many layers there are. if you want something long lasting, use at least 6. if you increase the number of top and bottom layers, you will have less infill so you have less material wastage. if you look at plater, you can see the cost of filament used. gridline and triangle type infill uses less time to print: the others require longer time to print. having a thicker wall, do not require too much infill. internal - if more space, there is more air pressure, less likely to break when you drop it. to save time, you can choose - only infill when needed.

Question 32

top fill pattern

Answer 32

hilbert curve is good for top layer nice top surface for thin surfaces with not much infill, go for rectilinear. if covered, choose rectilinear

Question 33

skirt and brim

Answer 33

Helps you to clear away previous filament on plate, especially when it used a different colour. if printing something more than 10cm tall, then good to add brim for better grip to plate. add 8 under brim width. try not to print too many parts of the same time. there is risk of spoilage.

Question 34

support

Answer 34

if a lot hanging - need support. the support will be printed and you need to remove it. angle it so there is no support needed (turn it so it does not hang). less support, less filament waste. to remove, you need an art knife and a file. if worried if it hard to remove, can change contact z distance to a higher number like 0.26 for pla.

Question 35

ooze prevention

Answer 35

helps prevent excess liquid filament from oozing out.

Question 36

filament temperature

Answer 36

pla white and black - first layer 200 degrees, other layers 195 degrees set under filament setting set in extruder

Question 37

place on face

Answer 37

helps you to select a face to place on the bed

Question 38

for detailed facings

Answer 38

select print settings on the right hand side of screen.

Question 39

retraction

Answer 39

to avoid spider web result... length should be 11 and speed should be 11

Question 40

what if you get a very bad file

Answer 40

``` use meshmixer. import analyse inspect see if there are blue or red files choose smooth fill for facial features click on auto repair all. ```

Question 41

cut to get a flat layer at bottom

Answer 41

``` meshmixer edit plane cut fill up hole inside analyse - inspector - flat fill ```

Question 42

very pixelatted finish

Answer 42

``` meshmixer scrub brushes sync and smooth and brush over ```

Question 43

after meshmixing

Answer 43

export in stl binary format and open with slicer

Question 44

tpu printing

Answer 44

on printer itself, when start print, click on tools and slow speed to 50%