Equipment/3D Printer
From Makespace
Equipment / 3D Printer
Contents
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.
General 3D Printing Resources
- Simplify's excellent 3D printing troubleshooting guide.
- Wikipedia entry for FDM printing
- Source of free CAD models for printing
- Web store for a wide variety of filaments (5% discount code for MS members: cambmake)
- Web store specialising in good quality PLA filaments (10% discount code for MS members: CAMMAKESPACE10)
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)
