3d printing

3d printing quick start

3D printing is a technology that allows you to test your design within hours of the original thought. It’s an amazing capability that gives tinkerers, inventors, or repairers an edge in a world of creation.

The printer Tensore has is a Flashforge Adventurer 3. It has 5.9”X5.9”X5.9” build area. It has a heated bed, enclosed print space, up to 260C temperature. There are limited materials and colors. The current available materials are offered below:

FDM PRINTING

The Flashforge printer is an FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling). The printer has a spool of material which it grabs and feeds into a hot brass nozzle. That nozzle will melt down the material until it melts out of the nozzle. It is a controlled melting, the printer will move along a table to make a pattern with the deposited plastic.

The printer will move up and create it’s next layer. The printer will do this many times to create it’s model. It builds up the model.

ABS OR PLA?

I will start with PLA. PLA is the more preferred material for printing currently. It has a low melting temperature, does not need a heated bed, and is dimensionally accurate. PLA stands for Polylactic acid, which sounds scary but it isn’t. It is made from fermented plant starch such as corn, cassava, or sugarcane. This plastic is decomposable, which is good for the environment.

PLA is a tough plastic that can take a lot of force. It will however degrade overtime if exposed to heat, sunlight, and moisture. It is best to keep it in ambient temperatures for best use.

ABS is a little more difficult material to work with. It stands for (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) wow, lets stick with ABS. It has its benefits and drawbacks compared to PLA. ABS is a “stronger” plastic than PLA. It’s close to the same material as Legos.

ABS has a higher yield strength, which it makes it tough but makes the material more brittle. The material needs a heated bed to print. The material has a high melting point which makes it prone to warping while printing.

[This information was provided by Wikipedia.]

All in all, I prefer PLA. It prints much cleaner than ABS. ABS would be good if the application is for high heat or high strength. PLA is good for figurines, models, and high detail.

PRINTER SETTINGS

The printer has a lot of settings that can be changed. There are three basic configurations for the printer. There is Fine, Standard, and Fast. I will go over them here.

Setting: Fine - Slowest print speed, highest quality, small layer height

Setting: Standard - Medium print speed, average quality, average layer height (Good for most prints)

Setting: Fast - Fastest print speed, lowest quality, high chance of error, large layer height

Terms

• Print speed: How fast the nozzle moves

• Layer height: How thick the layers are (this is the resolution of the print)

• Infill: How much interior support there is inside the model

• Support: If there are any over hang in the model, supports will have to be generated

Please note this an experimental process of manufacturing, tolerances are up to +/- .005 and some complex models are harder to print than others. That may be taken into consideration.

Visit Thingiverse.com to explore all of the .stl files that are available to print!

Examples of PLA prints.

pricing

We will be doing a rate system, based off $10/hr of print time. The settings of the printer will usually determine the print time. An example is given if the print is 2 hr. 15 min.

2 hr. 15 min. = 2.25hr. * $6 = $13.50+ tax

Shipping not included.

(.stl is the only acceptable format)

Let me know your idea and we can make it happen.

Thanks for checking us out!