Digital technologies/3D printing/3D printing- Beginner/3D printing in our Makerspace

At the uOttawa Makerspace we have several different types (brands) of printers. When 3D printing in our Makerspace, you will encounter either the Ultimakers, MakerBots, or Dremels. In general, at a high level, the process for 3D printing is always the same. Typically, 3D printing on a hobbyist level is an iterative process in which you may have to tweak your models for the printer you are using. The following flowchart is a generalized yet important view of the typical workflow for 3D printing in the Makerspace.

Create or Find a 3D model

There are many ways to create or find a 3D model. If you want to browse through a library, Thingiverse or Youmagine. These sites are a great way to inspire yourself. If you are more of a do it yourself type of person there are several programs you can try.

If you are a beginner, try Tinkercad. This is a browser based 3D design application that is very simple to learn. For more information check out this handy guide. If you need something a little more advanced, you can use Solidworks, AutoCAD, Fusion360 or any other 3D modeling software. If you have your own components you would like to reverse engineer, you may also 3D scan them in the Makerspace!

Save or download the model as an stl

What is an stl file? It is a stereolithography (an old cad software) file format, but is was later adapted as a standard file format. STL stands for "standard triangle language". This type of file uses a web of polygons to describe a 3D object. It is this easiest and the default file type with most of 3D printing software.

In Tinkercad, click on Export a new window will pop up and then select *.STL

In Solidworks, click File→Save As. A new window will appear. Choose the file type *.stl.

Slicing

Open Model

Your stl file contains a set of triangular faces in 3D space. If you send this to a 3D printer, it will not know what to do. A slicer “slices” the 3D object into layers and then generates machine code (contained in a gCode file). Different printers work better with different slicers. The slicers need to be downloaded onto your computer. If you happen to not have access to a personal computer in our space, note that all our computers have all the software required to slice a print for any of the printers available for you to use.

Slice the Model for your printer

All Ultimaker printers have Cura as a slicer

1. Open the file in Cura.
2. Select the settings you want for your print (have a look at the next section to see how to do this, including reorienting and moving your part).
3. Click slice (have a look at the preview of your slice if you want to see the toolpath slice by slice).
4. Make sure the print will finish within Makerspace Open Hours: If a print is not finish before closing time, it will be cancelled by the employee and you will have to restart the next time Makerspace is open.
5. Save to file (this creates a gCode file). Note: you may skip this step if you do not care for keeping the file on your computer.
6. Save the gCode file to an SD card.

Start the print

Starting your print is very simple. Simply save your file to an SD card and click print.

1. Save your file to an SD card. Any size SD card will work (gCode files are very small).
2. Walk over to the printer and insert the card into the SD card slot located on the front of the printer.
3. Turn on the printer. There is an on/off switch located at the back, on the left hand side of the Ultimaker. This is also a good time to make sure that there is sufficient filament loaded into the printer.
4. Using the knob, select print. To “select” you simply press on the knob. This will take you to the SD card page, scroll through the files and select yours. Usually the most recent files are found at the bottom of the list. Selecting the file should start your print.
5. We ask that you remain with your print for the first few layers. If you print fails and you are not there to tend to it, we will
   1. Be slightly annoyed as failed prints can damage the printers;
   2. Remove your print and free up the printer for someone else.

Use Cases for Prints in our Makerspace

The 3D printers in our Makerspace are for hobbyist and very low volume production projects. It is to be understood that these are the printers owned by the space since those are the people for which the space exist: students and hobbyists who are getting their first exposures to additive manufacturing but also those people who would like to use the space for personal projects. For this reason, it is free for you to print with PLA or ABS (ABS being on request since all printers are loaded with PLA by default). The Ultimaker 2+, our main model of printer is easy to maintain, user friendly, and CURA (its recommended slicer) is packed with features that allow for tuning the printer for you to be able to experiment and eventually obtain the result you want. This comes with advantages and disadvantages. This can be advantageous if you want to run with a variety of different qualities or settings (i.e.: great for learning about 3D printing!). On the disadvantageous side, this means the prints do not always work at the simple click of a button, and even if they do, they might not be a good representation of the part that you wanted to make (due to manufacturing defects such as warping, lack of overhangs, improper overhang placement, under- or over-extrusion, etc.).

Industry-grade printers are the opposite. You will find that you have very little control over the parameters of the print, and the printer will be slow at printing, but the print will come out almost perfect most times. The Makerspace has the Makrforged Mark II as well as a Dimension 1200es printer for those who would like to get professional, industry-grade prints, but since the consumables for those printers are expensive and since not many people use these printers, the makerspace charges for prints made on them. If you think your application requires specialty materials or the extra quality that these industry grade printers provide, please do not hesitate to submit a print order through our system. We'll be happy to work with you on getting your part manufactured.

With the large amount of modifications you can make to your print settings as well as the fact parts printed in the Makerspace are typically PLA, parts printed in the Makerspace are perfect for small prototype enclosures, prototype organic shapes such as ergonomic designs, flexible (clamping) shaft stops, spacers or linear bearing housings (to name a few). They can also be used for prototype bracketing for low load applications. They are not for the manufacturing of extreme precision components or components that will encounter high loads.