Equipment/3D Printer

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Equipment / 3D Printer

Introduction

FDM (filament deposition modelling) 3D printing is a way of creating small, custom objects from plastic filament. The printer melts the filament, held on a spool, and prints with it to create 3D structures. Makespace has four FDM printers, all of them Ultimaker 2.

The Ultimaker 2 is now the only supported printer. Members trained to use the Makerbot may join a quick conversion session to be signed off to use Ultimaker rather than having to attend a new user Ultimaker session.

Equipment Pages

Ultimaker 2+ (PLA and ABS Printers)

Former (decommissioned) Equipment

These pages are included for historic purposes. The printers are no longer in use at Makespace.

Makerbot Replicator 2X

UP!

General 3D Printing Resources

Software

For machine specific software please visit the equipment pages linked above.

  • Google SketchUp with STL plugin as below
    • This plugin seems to work quite well. Use 'File/Export to DXF or STL' from Sketchup once you have installed it and select 'STL' as the last item in the type list when asked
  • NetFabb repairs any incomplete STL files
  • Meshlab is a good free program (Sourceforge) for visualising and modifying STL files
  • OpenSCAD is a script-based modeller ('3D compiler'), well-suited for technical CAD (less so for artistic design)