INTRODUCTION TO 3D PRINTINGSTEVE UNDY, FORT COLLINS CREATOR HUB

OUTLINE

• Overview of Additive Manufacturing

• Details of consumer 3D printers

• Typical flow for creating 3D models and prints

WHY 3D PRINTING?

• Quickly converts an abstract idea into a physical object

• Fast prototyping

• Small scale production

• Can create objects that are difficult or impossible any other way

3D PRINTER HISTORY

• Developed in 1980s

• Many Industrial printers

• Example: Dimension 1200es -

$19,000

• Personal printers since 2009

• Huge growth rate

SUBTRACTIVE VS ADDITIVE

• Subtractive Manufacturing

• Start with a piece of material larger than finished product

• Then remove what isn’t needed

• Additive Manufacturing

• Start with “nothing”

• Then add material only where needed1

1 – with exceptions!

SUBTRACTIVE MANUFACTURING

• Typically called “CNC machining”

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

• Uses plastic or metal raw materials

• Solid, powered, or liquid

• Typically built up layer-by-layer

• Uses heat or chemical processes to bond new material to

previous layers

TYPES OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

FUSED DEPOSITION MODELLING

• Uses a heated print-head to deposit a narrow strand

of plastic

• Builds up layers over time.

• Generally uses PLA (~200C) or ABS (220C) or nylon

(~265C) plastics

• Most common consumer 3D printer right now

• Pros:

• Cheap printers (> $300)

• Uses cheap materials ($20/Kg)

• Cons:

• Slower than other 3D printers

• Detectable layering requires finishing.

• Lower resolution (~100μm)

• Limited to plastics or plastic+wood/metal

composites

CONSUMER FDM PRINTERS

TAZ 5

Ultimaker

CONSUMER FDM PRINTERS

MakerBot

CONSUMER FDM PRINTERS

Printrbot Simple

EXAMPLES OF 3D PRINTS

3D PRINTING FLOW

• Download or create a 3D model and

save it in .stl format.

• Printer software takes model (.stl) and

“slices” it into layers for printing and

then produces “gcode”

• Gcode tells stepper motors X/Y/Z,

temperature and extruder speed.

• Gcode streamed to an Arduino Atmel

microcontroller which directly drives

the motors for X/Y/Z positioning of

the print head, extruder temperature,

bed temperature and extrusion speed

Library handles these parts

DESIGN

• Many free and non-free 3D design programs

• Free:

• Blender

• Sketchup

• 123D Design

• Tinkercad (web-based)

• OpenSCAD (parametric)

• Many more

• Non-Free:

• AutoCAD

• SolidWorks

• Many more

SLICING

• Converts solid 3D design into slices that can be printed

• Gcode

• Generates “honeycombed” print

• Saves time, material and weight

• Controls quality of print

• Common slicers:

• CURA

• Slic3r

CURA

PRINTING

• Host software: program that sends slicer output (gcode) to 3D

printer

• Printer then executes gcode

• Common host software:

• CURA

• Repetier-Host

THINGIVERSE.COM

• Biggest repository of

open source 3D models

• 449,400 models and

counting

• Great place to get ideas

REAL-WORLD CONSIDERATIONS

• Size

• Limited by size of printer (obviously)

• Bigger -> Longer time (and expense) to print

• Thickness

• Different printers have differing minimum feature size

• Generally, avoid anything less than 1mm thick

• Orientation

• Pointy sides up

• Support

• May need to be added by operator when slicing

• May affect overall quality of print – avoid when possible

PROBLEM

SOLUTION

PRINTING THROUGH THE LIBRARY

• https://read.poudrelibraries.org/contact/3dprint/