Revision as of 22:22, 11 February 2013

Summary

This is our 3D printer. The 3-D printer is an UP! (a slightly older version of the device currently available).

We have a dedicated PC running win7 and UP! software. It can import STL design files from Google sketchup.

Using the 3D Printer

The 3D printer is an excellent tool for either making small parts, or rapid prototyping. At the same time it is an expensive tool with a (small) risk of injury and fire, so is very important you know how to use it to avoid damaging yourself and the machine.

Owners

The Owners are those nominally in charge of the equipment, organising its maintenance, training others to use it, and generally being a point of contact.

The current Owners of the 3D printer are:

• Simon Stirley
• Nick Johnson

If you have any questions, problems or concerns around the 3D printer, these are the people to contact.

Training

No formal training is required to operate the 3D Printer. If you intend to make something using the printer please read the Health & Safety Safety Notes below before doing so. The manual is also available online in case you require additional information.

Health and Safety

The 3D printer is a potentially dangerous piece of equipment which must only be operated by members who have received appropriate training and who take due care. The top things to always remember when using the 3D printer are:

• ONLY USE THE 3D PRINTER IF YOU HAVE READ RELEVANT SAFETY NOTES
• ONLY USE THE 3D PRINTER IF YOU HAVE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS
• NEVER LEAVE THE PRINTER RUNNING UNATTENDED
• KNOW WHAT TO DO IF A FIRE BREAKS OUT

As a responsible user, you should be very aware of the following risks and how to deal with them:

HEAD CRASH - incorrect calibration could cause the nozzle to hit the platen at job start

• You must watch the printer as it starts the job, and be ready to turn off the power if a collision occurs

TRAPPING - The head and bed of the machine are moved by programs in the machines memory.

• Be careful when near the machine, it will possibly move even if the PC is off
• Ensure you are familiar with the location of the power switch, to turn it off quickly should a problem occur

BURN RISK - the platen on the printer is heated, and will reach temperatures during a print run which could cause skin burns. Also a malfunction could cause this to overheat.

• Be careful when the machine is on, or has recently been used, to guard against burns

Instructions

(This is still a rough draft, please consult the manual or more experienced users if in doubt!) To use the printer you must familiarise yourself with the safety notes above and read the following instructions.

Power Up

Give the machine a quick visual check. Make sure that there is nothing left on the platen. Remove the platen support piece from under the platen and gently lower it. Turn on the machine at the wall socket.

Check calibration

Make sure the nozzle height is set correctly and the platen is level. Find the current value of the nozzle height in the print dialog, then move the bed to about 20mm below that, then 10, then 5, and keep moving up in decreasing steps until you reach the set height or the nozzle is going to hit the bed. If you reach the specified height (currently 139.1mm) there should just about be room to get a piece of paper between the nozzle and the bed.

For levelness checking it should suffice to do this at three corners as well as the centre.

Load your Design

• Start the UP! Software
• Import model

Download to the Printer

cf. Manual

DO NOT EVER LEAVE THE PRINTER UNATTENDED

Finishing

Power Down

Turn off the printer on the wall socket; put the platen support piece back underneath. Shut down the PC and double check that everything is left in safe state for the next user.

Maintenance

The maintenance of the 3D printer is carried out by the Owners, with some basic maintenance being carried out by Users on every job.

Maintenance Schedule

Continuous Maintenance (Every job, done by all 3D Printer Users)

• Clean the platen of any plastic remnants
• Check the new material is feeding OK and the reel has enough on it

Basic Maintenance (Every week, done by 3d Printer Maintainers)

• TBD

Full Maintenance (Every 4 weeks, done by 3d Printer Maintainers)

• TBD

Maintenance Log

Reactive Maintenance

• None

Regular Maintenance

• Week Number, Date, Type, Owner (Notes)

2013

• Week 02, January 7,
• Week 03, January 14,
• Week 04, January 21,
• Week 05, January 28,
• Week 06, February 4,
• Week 07, February 11,
• Week 08, February 18,
• Week 09, February 25,

Maintenance Shopping List

• TBD

Further Information

Manual

The manual is installed in the machine attached to the printer and also available here: Manual

Repairs

We expect to have to change the following parts for general maintenance:

• TBD

Maintenance and Spares:

• One UK supplier of consumables is Cool Components

Our printer has been modified to support solid 3mm ABS plastic sheets as the base. These are disposable; they have to be cut from the big sheet and drilled using the jig we have created. The bolted-down solid plastic dramatically reduces problems with warping, and it also saves time and material when printing: you should disable the automatic raft.

Software

You can download Quickstart manual and latest driver software from pp3dp.

• 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)