Printing in 3D
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Discusses the basics of printing with a 3D printer as well as specific details related to FlashForge 3D printers.
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Printing in 3D
- 1. Basics on using the FlashForge 3D Printer
- 3. Dual Extruder Print Bed ABS Plastic
- 4. Failed overhangs Raft With supports Supports removed
- 8. Patrons are interested Inexpensive prototypes Continuing education opportunities Training for future 3D printer owners It’s fun
Editor's Notes
- This printer has dual extruders, so it can “theoretically” print an object in 2 colors. The printer uses either ABS or PLA plastic which come on spools in many colors. We’ve been using ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) because it is less brittle than PLA (Polylactide which is biodegradable). The print bed in the FlashForge is heated, which is key to keeping the print job from moving while you print it. The printer also has a SD card port so you can save print jobs on the card and print without attaching the printer to a computer.
- As items print, it is common to have them built on a raft. This is another way to keep them from moving. Supports should also be used when you’re printing something that has overhanging pieces. Without supports, these overhanging pieces have nothing to stick to when the printer extrudes them, so they either fall off the extruder or get dragged along to the next printed section. The rafts and supports are easy to remove once an object is done printing. If you print with PLA, you can even soak the support structures off.
- ReplicatorG is the software that FlashForge uses to format print jobs. This is where you open the STL file that you wish to print. (An stl file is a complete listing of the xyz coordinates of the vertices and normals for the triangles that describe the 3D object.) Once a file is open in ReplicatorG, you can resize it or reposition it relative to the print bed. You cannot add a base or modify the model in anyway other than changing the size. The ReplicatorG software creates the G-Code which is the language the FlashForge understands in order to actually print an object.
- Before ReplicatorG generates the GCode, you can make some changes to the model, such as the thickness of the layer height which has a significant impact on the size of the printed object. You can change the default print temperature, print speed, and type of plastic. This is where you make your raft and support structure decisions as well. GCode looks similar to other coding languages.
- These frogs were printed using the exact same size for everything except the layer height. The frog on the left had the default layer height of 2.8 and the frog on the right had the layer height of 1.15. They took the exact same amount of time to print.
- Maker Spaces and 3D printers are being hailed as “hotbeds of technological innovation and entrepreneurship” (NPR’s All Tech Considered) where citizens come together to create more active communities, innovate products, and even jobs. If this is true, then having access to 3D printers is a way that small libraries can help their communities re-envision libraries as central to community growth and development. 3D printers offer individuals and groups within a community the opportunity to innovate and collaborate allowing for entrepreneurial experimentation on a much less expensive scale. Libraries already provide a space for continuing education, 3D printing programs fit into this model with a hands-on benefit. Nicholas Kerelchuck, manager of the recently opened Digital Commons at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial library in Washington, D.C. notes that patrons are “learning math skills, engineering skill, hard science skills." Libraries can provide training how the printers work, issues that go into selecting printers, and what libraries can actually do with the printers, we will be better able to help our libraries make decisions about adding these printers to their offerings. With some 3D printers as inexpensive as $300, many of our libraries could be looking to purchase a 3D printer soon.