Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting Started with
a 3D Printer
1
An introduction to 3D printer hardware and software.
W
RITTEN
BY
B
ILL
B
UMGARNER
Early in 2012, I picked up an Ultimaker, put it
together, and joined the growing ranks of 3D
printing households. It has been an adven-
ture both filled with reward and rife with
frustration. The goal of this article is to share
what I've learned while studying the DIY por-
tion of the 3D printing realm. The focus is on
budgets less than $2,500, with a goal of pro-
ducing parts out of various kinds of plastic.
tration created the National Additive Manu-
facturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) to fos-
ter innovation in this field.
There are three approaches to additive man-
ufacturing in common use:
photopolymeri-
zation
(using light to cure a liquid material
into solids of the desired shape),
granular
materials binding
(using lasers, hot air, or oth-
er energy sources to fuse layers of powder
into the desired shape), and the focus of this
article,
molten polymer deposition
or MPD
(extruding molten material in layers to build
up the desired shape).
Plastic parts are wonderful for prototyping.
You can print that engine part in plastic,
make sure it fits perfectly, and then send the
3D model off to a company like Shapeways
to have your prototype turned into a pro-
duction piece in the metal of your choice.
Most of the printers discussed here are hack-
able. Their designs are amenable to being
modified and tuned to fit your needs. The
software used to drive these printers is al-
most all open source, though there are com-
mercial slicers and modelers commonly
used in the 3D printing community.
In short, MPD, aka fused deposition model-
ing (FDM) or fused filament fabrication (FFF),
describes pushing a filament of solid plastic
(or other materials like metal or chocolate)
into a hot-end that then extrudes a thin
stream of molten material in layers to build
up the desired piece.
Of these technologies, MPD is the most com-
mon and most accessible (though EMSL's
CandyFab definitely bears mention because
any printer that smells like crème brûlée de-
serves a shout-out).
Focusing on MPD, there are a handful of dif-
ferent styles of printers. The differentiation is
largely focused on exactly how the printer
Choosing a Printer
The 3D printers discussed here are of the
additive manufacturing
variety. They create
parts by adding material together and are
the new hotness in the field of manufactur-
ing. So hot, in fact, that the Obama adminis-
