3d Printing

There are lots and lots of 3d printer brands. Some are well known, like Bambu Labs and Prusa, while others are less known, like Elegoo and Artillery. Some are expensive, others cheap, some are small, or, like the one at the University of Maine, are 20 feet long.

Let’s go over how they work. There are two main types: resin and FDM. Resin printers use UV light to cure resin to make a 3d model. FDM printers lay melted plastic out in layers. Here is a basic diagram of how a FDM printer works (found this picture on the internet) .

The nozzle heats up to around 390 degrees (Fahrenheit), hot enough to melt plastic “filament” wire, which it then lays down in layers to make things. The finished print won’t be as perfectly smooth as an injection molded part, but as a tradeoff a 3d printer can make you pretty much anything you want.

There are quite a few types of filament, such as PETG, PLA, ABS, ASA, TPU, PVA, and HIPS, and there are just as many slicing softwares, such as Prusa slicer, Orca slicer, Ultimaker Cura, and Anycubic slicer. And there are enough printer types to match both slicers and filament with Cartesians, where the bed moves up, or on the z axis, and the print head goes left to right (x axis) and forward and backwards (y axis).

There are bed slingers, where the print bed moves back and forth (y) and the arm goes up and down (z) and left to right (x). Delta printers have a circular platform that doesn’t move, and the print head is suspend from three arms that go in every direction. There are more, like resin printers, but I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole yet.

In the end, the only thing that matters when getting a 3d printer is what you need or want to make. Want to print big stuff? get the Prusa XL. Want great multicolor and wonderful quality? Get the Bambu Labs X1 Carbon. But don’t take any of my advice on buying one. Go on YouTube and look on TNL’s or CNC Kitchen’s channel, to see which 3d printer is right for you.