Read this before you start with 3D printing !

 Facts you should know before getting started with 3D printing.

3D printing technology is one of the fast emerging digital fabrication technologies. So fast that it has started to pop up in lot of hobbyist's and maker's desks and not just being a industry based prototyping technology.

This blog is not just for people wanting to buy a 3D printer ,but for anyone who is interested in 3D printing process. Following is a list of few things that you should know and also might come handy when you start working with a 3D printer as a beginner.

               

                                                Image source: Ultimaker Cura

1. 3D printing always doesn't refer to the FDM process:

     In most of our minds, the term 3D printing by default, pictures to be a plastic filament being extruded and printed layer by layer on a level bed. which is technically called as FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) process. But one should understand it is just one of the most familiar methods of 3D printing. there are various other methods. while the former method uses filament as the base material, there are printing methods which uses resins or powdered metal. In the resin based 3D printers ,UV light cures the resin layer by layer to form a 3D model. and accordingly they can be categorized as follows:

a) Material Extrusion - Fused deposition modelling (FDM) / Fused filament fabrication (FFF)

b) Direct Energy Deposition - Direct metal deposition (DMD) , Rapid plasma Deposition(RPD)

c)Vat polymerization- Stereolithography (SLA)

d)Powder bed fusion- Selective laser sintering(SLS), Selective Laser melting (SLM), Electron beam                                                    melting(EBM), Direct metal laser sintering(DMLS) Multi jet fusion (MJF).

e) Binder jetting 

d) Sheet lamination- Laminated object manufacturing (LOM)

2. The wide range of materials you can choose from:

Now that we know FDM printers use filaments as raw materials, these filaments aren't just a fixed type. they  are available in different materials, sizes, colors and quality. in general a 1.75mm diameter filament can be found to be widely used by many hobbyists or makers. Most frequently used material being PLA, due to its ease of handling and control, there are various other materials too. There is a material named TPU, which is a rubber like flexible filament. You could also find wooden filament. ABS, Nylon , PETG are few other commonly available filaments. Also, don't be surprised to know there are conducting filaments and carbon fiber based filaments.

These availability of materials are just for FDM process. Each method of 3D printing has its own advantage with different materials. The Resin based printer (SLA) also has different types of resins, which includes clear resin, tough resin, flexible resin, dental resins apart from the standard resins.

3. Preheating and other temperature settings:

Preheating is  not a tedious task as a beginner might feel. its just one simple processes of setting the right temperature on your printer based on the material used. It is usually advised to preheat both print bed and the extruder nozzle for better quality prints.it is highly important to give the right print bed temperature for proper adhesion of the model to the base and right extruder temperature for smooth material extrusion with out any blockages or clogging . 

My temperature settings on ANET ET4 PRO

In general, my print bed (I use a glass bed) temperature is around 50-60C . and the extruder temperature depends upon the filament used. I use PLA with 215 C, but there might still be slight variations of this temperature based upon the brand and quality and sometimes the humidity in my room too.

4.Softwares:

To begin with 3D printing you must be able to use 2 software. Need not panic, its quite easy to learn and use them. One software to design your desired model and another to slice your model and feed it into your printer as G-codes. 

Using the CAD softwares you will be able to design any model that you need. if you are a beginner you can start with tinkercad, it has a very basic and easy to understand UI. there are various other softwares you could choose from. few of which you might be familiar of like the SolidWorks, Fusion360,Catia,Onshape.I personally use Fusion360 and Onshape. Both of them use cloud based storage and have a online browser version therefore your system specs wouldn't hinder the performance of the software much.

if designing is not your cup of tea, or you are still at a very early stage of learning to design and hence not confident enough to print models designed by you, start printing with .stl models available as opensource on the internet. you can download models from websites like Thingiverse and Grabcad for free. Download them and .stl and import them into your slicing software. While Ultimaker CURA is free and easy to use as a beginner for FDM prints, there are various other slicing software based upon your printer and material.

5. Levelling your Print bed.

Every maker ever  knows how critical the first few layers of the print are. Quality of the initial layers and also the proper adhesion of the model to the print bed can be controlled by levelling the bed. If you are using a default 0.4mm nozzle, you can can place an A4 sheet at 4 corners of your print bed and adjust using the screws given below the print bed.

6.Nozzle varieties:

A hobbyist 3D printer with a build volume of  220*220*250 mm usually comes with a 0.4mm nozzle. But you can always change the nozzle according to your requirements with respect to the print size, time availability and required quality. few filaments like wood requires steel nozzles while others can be generally printed using the provided brass nozzles. nozzles are available in different sizes and materials.

                                                      A set of nozzles with various diameters.

                                                                                                              Image source:3D Innovations

7.Time expectations:

3D printing doesn't happen as quick as paper printing. the printing time and material usage depends upon your model size, infill required , support structures and few other parameters. It might take from few minutes to several days to just complete one print. Although you can optimize settings on your slicer to reduce time, one must understand that better quality prints takes time.

8. Other tools:

Alongside buying a 3D printer, you also need to buy few other tools and upgrade your toolset to make your printing process much more easier and better.

               1. Scrapper - to help you remove prints from the print bed

               2.Glue           - to help with adhesion and also fragile parts

               3. Sandpaper - for postprocessing to get a better surface quality

               4. Files      - make smaller adjustments on the finished model.

              5.Caliper    - measure and verify dimensions with the cad model.

Hope this would have given you a brief insight. even if this article failed to give you a clear idea of how 3D printers work, I would suggest you to visit a nearby FabLab /MakerSpace . They would surely have a 3D printer and would assist you on it. You might get a hands-on experience and also meet many other makers to discuss and clarify your further doubts.