3D Printer Introduction

This is the content required for an introduction to our FFF (fused filament fabrication) 3D printers - reading this does NOT replace the mandatory session with a tutor!

Let's begin! First off, make sure you are aware of the 3D printer farm's general usage guidelines.

Safety

Dangers

• exposed heated parts - may still be hot if the display is already turned off!
  • nozzle (over 200 °C)
  • print bed (up to 100 °C)
• rapidly moving parts
• machine may keep executing its commands after something went wrong
  • every move is based on the initial homing ("zero-ing")
  • no sensing of obstacles or current position!

Precautions

• do not reach into the print area while in operation!
• closely watch the homing process and the initial layer before leaving the printer alone
• stay within the CoMakingSpace for the duration of your print and occasionally have a look at how it's going
  • if you need to leave for a while, pause the print or ask someone to supervise it
  • there is no need to sit in front of the machine all the time, just do not leave the Space!

How to Stop

Here are your options, depending on how fast you have to be:

• FAST - the printer is crashing/making weird noises/going up in smoke?
  • turn off the power at the cord (very quick, but also shuts neighboring printers off!) or the printer's power supply (still pretty quick)
  • wait a second and turn the power on again so the fans keep cooling the hot nozzle
  • via the control panel, move up (Z +) so the nozzle gets out of the part that failed
  • if you can't identify exactly what went wrong and how to fix it, talk to a tutor before attempting the print again

• MEDIUM - you're pretty sure there will be a mistake in the next few commands the machine is executing?
  • press the "X" button on the control panel (will reset the printer, everything freezes but the fans stay on)
  • via the control panel, move up (Z +) so the nozzle gets out of the part that failed
  • if you can't identify exactly what went wrong and how to fix it, talk to a tutor before attempting the print again

• SLOW - you're not happy with the way your print is turning out?
  • via the control panel, select ABORT PRINT
  • change the print settings you think were responsible and try again (best keep the failed part for reference!)

Control Panel

Push the dial to enter the menu and as an "Enter" button, turn to scroll through lists of settings - the details about this are found in the printers' manual.

Be aware that changes via the control panel do not have an immediate effect, but a few lines of code may still be executed from the machine's buffer!

Changing Filament

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Suggested Reading

To increase your success rate, you should also read the pages about 3D printing in general, bed preparation, filament and slicing. Don't beat yourself up if you still have some failed prints - it happens to very experienced users now and then ;-)