3D Printing
IMPORTANT Some space printers have issues following the high intensity use as a Covid-19 face shield production facility They are being rectified as we go so this is generally resolved, but some printers can still be a bit temperamental. Please check the individual printer pages for specifics to see if it affects your part
We have several 3D Printers of various size and capability in the space that you can use listed in Printers. If you would like to use a printer, come by the space when it's open and ask if a printer is available and if someone can show you how. If you want to be assured of printer availability and assistance, send a note to the So Make It Mailing list or our Slack channel (#3D-PUG).
An expert will be able to suggest the best printer to use for your thing and how to complete the process of printing it. Printing with Cura is a good place to start.
Printers
So Make It has 9 3D printers in various states of repair and dificulty level to use. In approximate dificulty order (from least to most) they are
- Lulzbot minis - Small (150x150) build area but easy to use. Can be driven with a laptop running Cura or via Octoprint. One is fully functional and available for use and one other is set up for flexible filament material (but is currently experiencing problems)
- Lulzbot TAZ 6 - Larger build area (250x250) than the minis, can be setup with an SD card with CGode sliced in Cura or with Octoprint. one of the 6's is setup with a larger hardened steel nozzle and can be used for faster, lower detail printing as well as flexible filament prints
- Lulzbot TAZ 3 - Not recommended for general use. Needs to be driven from an SDCard with CGode sliced in Cura
- Cerberus Delta - SDCard and not dimensionally accurate. can only print PLA. Slic3r profile is available in Github.
- Cube Pro - Currently undergoing conversion. Not available for use.
Pricing
We charge £0.04 per gram for any printed plastic you take away with you, you don't pay for any failures if you put them straight into the fail jar. You do pay for support material. There is a scale next to the printers that you can use to weigh your parts after printing.
Estimating Cost
After you slice your part, and before you print it, you can look for the following line in the gcode file:
; filament used = 2139.9mm (15.1cm3)
- PLA weighs 1.4g/cm3, so the part above is 21.14g and £0.85.
- ABS weighs 1.0g/cm3, so the part above is 15.1g and £0.61.
Printing large things
One printer is currently set up with a webcam for print monitoring. If you leave prints unattended you should remote monitor your print with Octoeverywhere. There is a large light-blue bin for placing completed parts when the next printer user comes along.
Some Advice
- If you are looking for help with 3D printing a thing try and arrive with a model in STL format, as modelling a thing often takes longer than actually printing it so don't expect to be able to do both on the same day.
- Some things can't really be printed on our FFF Type printers, or need support material to be printed with them and removed later. An expert at the space will be able to advise you about what can print and what won't work so well. Generally the only restriction is "you can't print on top of air"... We can do overhangs a bit past 45 degrees (see the design rules infographic below) and we can bridge over large gaps if the bridge is flat.
- A good resource to check if your thing is print friendly is the 3D Printing Design Rules document
- More helpful resources here:
More guidelines for designing for 3D Printing
Simple guide for what 3D package is suited to what task. others to consider: OpenSCAD if you prefer a programming like interface
Check this for common causes of first layer problems
Print Queue
So Make It generally has enough printers to satisfy demand, however if you think you might need a specific printer or capability and want to ensure it's available on you visit, please mention it on the 3D printing slack channel: #3D-pug, however we don't operate a formal queue.