You can learn 3D printing using our 3D Printers! The term "3D printing" is actually quite vague and is used to describe various technologies which are defined by currently expiring patents. We will list some common ones below as we gather more experience.

If you are new to the subject, this introductory guide by 3D Hubs is worth a read! An overview of the parts is given in this 3D printer anatomy video.

You may also find our collection of 3D printing ideas interesting. Did you know one of our printers can print several colors/materials at once?

There are two big German speaking communities: 3D-Druck-Community and the German Reprap forum (many English subforums available, too).

Fused Filament Fabrication

All of our printers work by depositing molten plastic layer upon layer, a process which is called Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) in the open source RepRap community or Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) in most commercial contexts. We support the idea of open source fabrication and therefore call it FFF in this wiki.

Limits of FFF

• no printing in the air

"Islands" of the model that start without any material contacting it can't be placed since there is nothing to hold onto. In these cases a sacrificial support structure has to be printed first. These structures are also needed when the overhang of a slope becomes too steep (around 45 °C for most materials and machines) or when printing a horizontal bridge. Better cooling and adjustments to speed and flow rate can improve the performance. In the best case support structures can be avoided since they add material cost, print time and can be a real pain to remove depending on the location and settings for the contact layer.

• nozzle size determines the maximum achievable resolution

The line width doesn't need to be the exact size of the nozzle since over/under extrusion through speed and flow rate can also influence the line width. The layer height can also be adjusted inside the slicer. Nonetheless, smaller/bigger nozzles extend the range possible and make it easier to harness the advantages such as e.g. stronger parts with a 0.6 mm nozzle.

Currently, all our printers are equipped with 0.4 mm nozzles.

Recommended Literature

• 3D printing guide by 3D Hubs
• Basics of 3D printing by Josef Prusa (ebook)
• 3D-Druck für alle by Florian Horsch from Heidelberg
• Bambu Lab Academy by Bambu Lab