3D Printing

Creating Physical Objects on Your Desktop

FDM and SLA Printing

Tech Exploration

I could honestly write a book about or even an instruction manual for 3D printing. I have completed over 20000 hours of 3D printing using both FDM and SLA printers. I have owned a Makerbot Replicator 2, an Ultimaker 3, an Elegoo Mars, rebuilt a Replicator 1 to function like a 2X, and I rebuilt a Replicator mini.

Keeping it Simple

When talking about 3D printing, some people still have difficulty wrapping their heads around the idea, especially concerning how it works. I try to explain it in a manner that anyone can understand. Standard desktop printers have an X and a Y-axis, allowing them to print ink from left to right and top to bottom. A 3D printer has a 3rd axis, a Z-axis, which allows for depth. Instead of ink, an FDM printer uses plastic. I prefer PLA as it is eco-friendly and can be re-used. It has 99.9% biocompatibility with humans, meaning it is so non-toxic that Doctors can use PLA for administering drugs into humans. I explain that the extruder heats the plastic and releases it almost like a hot glue gun. The plastic is printed layer by layer, and it can stack because it cools so quickly and because the Z axis moves down once a layer is completed.

Not so Simple

SLA printing isn't quite as easy to explain. Instead of using plastic, it uses a photopolymer resin which hardens or cures in UV light. The printer itself uses a 4k UV screen, which results in much higher resolution prints than FDM. For each layer, as the build plate moves up, the UV screen flashes in the object's shape, curing the resin. Once completed, the object appears upside-down. It's important to note that protective gloves must be worn. You don't want to be out in the sun with resin on your finger, it will cure, and the result isn't pretty. Post-processing can be challenging, and it's all about finding what works best for you. Some people use ultra-sonic cleaners, different types of detergents, or even acetone. With water-washable resin, I stick to water; for other resins, 90% IPA. You want to clean the object thoroughly with a brush, ensuring the object is no longer sticky once it dries. You then want to place it into a UV curing station. Some folks build their own or use lamps meant for painting fingernails. I have an Elegoo Mercury, which works wonderfully, although I wish I had purchased a two-in-one clean and cure station which automates the cleaning process. After that, the print is fully cured, you can file off or sand any remaining supports or prepare it for paint. You should wear a mask anytime you are creating dust from the resin as it is toxic.

SLA UV Printing and Elegoo Mercury 2-in-1 clean and cure station

The Things

Object files come in many shapes, sizes, and formats. You can actually visit Thingiverse, Cults3D, Shapeways or a number of other 3D file vaults to find an object that has already been created. There are many options for creating objects, but I use Autodesk Maya and a technique known as solids modeling, which leaves you with a water-tight model that is printable. The file you need to export or the files on Thingiverse are STL or StereoLithography files. From there, the files must be sliced into layers or G-code. G-code tells the printer how to create the object. There are many different options available for slicing objects, but I use either Cura or Chitubox to set all of my print settings from resolution to supports.

3D Render, Slice and Print

Consumer Friendly -ish

We had a challenging experience upon receiving our Makerbot Replicator 2. Makerbot advertised it as consumer-friendly and having little to no assembly required. It worked quite well for a little while, but we soon found ourselves having a few different problems. Luckily we had become part of the community, and we worked with them to find several solutions to our challenges. The plastic is tensioned into the extruder with a Delrin Plunger. Basically, you have plastic tensioning plastic, not good. Working with the community, we were able to print the solution. It required a little bit of hardware, a spring, a bearing, and a couple of screws. These parts and the two plastic prints provided us with a spring loaded tensioner that used a stainless steel bearing instead of a plastic piece of junk.

We later realized that the acrylic build plates were never completely flat but warped. You need a flat surface for 3d printing, or you will find the object peeling off, warping, or even causing your prints to fail, which often resembles angel-hair pasta. We had glass plates made and provided hundreds of them to the 3d printing community. Glass was perfect as it does not warp; it is an extremely flat surface. Finally, we used Aquanet hairspray on the glass to get our objects to stick. Aquanet almost has the same ingredients as superglue, crazy, right? Ultimately Makerbot learned both lessons, creating spring-loaded extruders and providing steel build plates. Even in 2020, there is no 3D printer available that is truly consumer friendly. Every printer has a learning curve and each type takes you on a different journey of calibration, creation, modification and post-processing.

Fixing our Makerbot Replicator 2

Cultivating a Culture of Makers

Initially our purchase of the Makerbot Replicator 2 was the exploration of an emerging technology but I found it to be the perfect tool to create an agency of makers. Everyone was interested, stopping by to check it out. Eventually we had people emailing us links from Thingiverse for items they wanted printed. Sometimes we received requests for custom bike and car mounts for iphones/gopros or stencils for spray painting. We also made smartphone and tablet sketchbooks with insets for placing paper to freehand UX design elements and wireframes. Even vendors and partners would stop by to see what we were building that day.

The Future

3D Printing has come a long way, and it is now accessible to the average Joe or the not so average Creative Technologist. Besides the fact that it can fit on a desk and has brought rapid prototyping to a new level, it has sparked a new industrial revolution. It has empowered people everywhere to create remarkable things, from prosthetics and artificial organs to hardware and tools. 3D printing is now widely used in the dental industry and is growing in healthcare. Metal and composite printing are improving at a remarkable rate. Brands, industries, and individuals alike are continually finding new applications for this technology as it continues to improve and become more accessible.

The Future of 3D Printing