Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
photos of their own versions (under the
“Who's Made It?” section). By starting with a
known, working model with lots of exam-
ples, you can compare your product to
others and will have a much better basis for
fixing any problems and tuning your work-
flow (likely the slicer, in particular) to maxi-
mize print quality from your printer.
Each type of 3D printer has a particular
sound of a successful print. Learning it can
help you identify problems before they be-
come serious. I can be in a different room and
still tell when a print on my Ultimaker is
about to fail just because it starts to sound
out of whack.
Have a look at how various models are con-
structed. The key challenge in creating a 3D
model is how the desired real-world object
can be broken down into a series of com-
mands—“draw a line and a curve,” “extrude
this surface,” “fillet that corner,” “cut a hole
here”—that you can use to create the object.
If you can find some models on Thingiverse
that are in a file format you can edit, try your
hand at editing them to see if you can add a
feature you desire.
bridges—linear spans of plastic over a gap
—work surprisingly well, but print them so
the first layer of the bridge is on the inside of
an object and won't be seen.
While you can turn on “support material” in
most slicers, doing so often causes a lot of
extra material to be used, which is both
wasteful and requires a ton of post-print
cleanup. Note that with a dual extruder
printer you can print PLA or ABS on one ex-
truder while printing with water-soluble PVA
on the other extruder, making cleanup a sim-
ple matter of soaking the piece in a bucket
overnight.
There is also a balance between creating
walls that are too thinly and too thick. Thin
walls can lend elegance to an object, but
print too thin and that single or double layer
of linear plastic filament will fail quickly. Nat-
urally, this all becomes more intuitive with
practice and experience.
3D Printer Anatomy
There are a lot of parts, moving and other-
wise, that you'll find inside a 3D printer.
Once you're ready to start from scratch, the
first tool you'll need is a set of calipers. Digital
slide calipers with 0.01 mm accuracy can be
had for less than $20. Try creating hangers or
hooks that require a precise measurement to
fit snugly on an already existing object (like
over a door), giving both a feel for using the
calipers and helping you dial in how your
printer maintains dimensions throughout
the printing process.
3D Positioning System
Within the build volume, the printer must be
able to position the hot-end at any point to
be able to precisely extrude material within
the layer being printed. However, motion
doesn't have to be limited to the hot-end.
3D printers may move the hot-end or the
print bed in a number of different ways. Here
are three primary designs in use today:
Gantry
This style of printer moves the extruder
in the x- and y-axes, while the bed moves
only in the z-axis. Both the Ultimaker
(
Figure 1-1
) and the MakerBot Replicator
(
Figure 1-2
) use a gantry to move the
One unique challenge is learning to think in
a 3D-printer compatible way. As mentioned,
objects with structures that tilt at more than
45° can't be printed without support mate-
rial because the object will sag. Note that
