3D Printers

3D Printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a means by which machines deposit and solidify material (usually some sort of plastic) in layers in order to form a solid object. A machine that does this is called a 3D printer.

Our 3D Printers

Bloominglabs has 4 3D printers. In descending order of usefulness:

- Vulcanus

- Makerfarm 12-Inch Pegasus 3D Printer

- PrintrBot Play

- PrintrBot Simple

How to 3D Print

Get a Model

To 3D print an object, you must first have a 3D model of it. Specifically, you want an .stl file with the units in millimeters. You can obtain this model in one of 3 ways:

Download a Model from the Internet

There are many websites where users upload 3D-printable models they have designed for others to download and print.

• Thingiverse is the most popular.
• The RepRap wiki has an excellent list of websites.
• The 3D Printing subreddit also has a good list.

Scan an Existing Object

Real-world objects can be converted into 3D models using either photogrammetry or a 3D scanner. Note that current consumer-level scanning technology is still in its infancy, and scans often require cleaning up with external software like MeshLab.

Design a Model

You can create 3D models yourself using:

• Professional (and costly) software like Autodesk's AutoCad, Inventor, or Fusion360, or Dassault's SolidWorks.
  • (If you have an email address that ends in .edu, many of these products will be available to you for free or reduced cost, so long as you do not use them for commercial purposes.)

• Freeware like Trimble's Sketchup, Onshape, or Autodesk's Tinkercad.
  • (Onshape and Tinkercad are both web-based. Rather than installing the software, you use it online in your web browser.)

• Open-source software, including Blender, SolveSpace, OpenSCAD, FreeCAD, LibreCAD, BRL-CAD, and others.

Slice into G-code

The model needs to be divided up into many layers, and an exhaustive list of instructions for producing each layer needs to be produced. This is done with a program called a slicer. There are several good free slicing programs, including Slic3r, Cura, and KISSlicer. These slicing programs will allow you to choose the orientation of the model on the printer, and to set many variables which will affect the success, speed, cost, and quality of the print.

Settings for these variables are often organized into "profiles". This allows you to choose, for example, the "low-quality but fast" profile or the "incredibly slow but impressively high quality" profile.

Picking settings for these profiles is very fiddly, and often requires experimentation. Here is an excellent guide suggesting which variables to change in response to various common problems with 3D prints.

The end result of slicing is g-code, a semi-standardized form of instructions for computer-controlled manufacturing machines.

Send G-code to Printer

The next step is to get the g-code to the printer. This can also be done in one of 3 ways:

1. Use a web server. The Pegasus and Vulcanus each have attached servers running OctoPrint. While on the Bloominglabs WiFi, access the Pegasus at http://192.168.1.4:5000, or the Vulcanus at http://192.168.1.18:5000. Log in to OctoPrint in the top-right. Click-and-drag your g-code files to upload them, and click "print" to start printing them. You can also upload .stl files to the Pegasus, and the server will produce g-code using some basic settings. (The Vulcanus's server does not yet have this.) While logged in, you can to monitor the printer's temperature, watch live video from an attached webcam, and pause or stop the print.
2. Use a 3D printer host program, like Cura, Pronterface, MatterControl,or Repetier, to send g-code over a USB cable to the printer. This allows direct control of the printer with a computer, but requires that you keep a computer on, running, and plugged in to the printer for the duration of the print (which can potentially be many hours).
3. Copy the g-code to an SD card. Most of Bloominglabs's 3D printers have either an SD card reader or a microSD card reader. You simply copy your g-code file to the card and plug it in to the printer. This gives you little ability to control the printer while it is printing, but works very well for long prints, especially when your slicing settings are well-chosen.

The 3D printer executes g-code commands as it receives them. If all goes well, once it has completed them all, there will be a plastic replica of your design sitting on the print bed.

Things that would be Cool to Print

This is a user-maintained list with no specific criteria. Feel free to add anything you think of to this list, and also to print things from this list (and take pictures!).

• curta mechanical calculator
• desk organizer made from a filament spool
• 3d printed mechanical clock, like this one.
• glados lamp
• any sort of tool organization stuff for new space

Plastic Filament to Print In

All of Bloominglabs's 3D printers work by melting a hundreds-foot-long plastic filament from a spool and squeezing it through what is essentially a hot-glue gun on a robot arm, drawing the object in melty plastic. All of our printers work with filament that is 1.75mm in diameter.

Some of the plastics used for 3D printing are:

• PLA, the most common 3D printer plastic. It is easy to print, and has a mild, kinda nice smell while printing, but is not especially strong. (That being said, it is still strong enough for many purposes.) Parts printed in PLA will deform in hot environments, like inside cars on a sunny day.
• PETG is much tougher and more temperature-resistant than PLA, though somewhat harder to print.
• TPE and TPU are rubber-like and can be used to make flexible parts.

There are many other options, including plastics impregnated with exotic contents wood fibers, ground stone, or metal powders. Most filaments are available in a rainbow of colors.

Filament is sold on spools by weight, most commonly 1 kilogram. A spool with 1kg of PLA has just about 1,000 feet (~335 meters) of 1.75mm diameter filament on it. This much PLA will typically cost $20 to $35, although some kinds of filament can be considerably more expensive.

There are many, many companies that sell 3D printer filament. Here are some good ones:

• Atomic Filament (based in Ligonier, Indiana!)
• Hatchbox on Amazon (sells a wide variety of high-quality filaments)
• Proto-Pasta (uses easier-to-dispose cardboard spools)

Plastic absorbs moisture (humidity) over time, making it less suitable for 3D printing. Ensure that unused filament is stored in a dry place, ideally in a sealed container with a desiccant. Keep it also free of dust, which will clog the printer's nozzle.