As I started with my Prusa i3 MK3 last year I was bamboozled a lot:
Platforms, Tools, gcode, STL, CAD, Slicer, etc.
Perhaps this little article helps to shed some light onto the topic.

Workflow

Let’s take a typical workflow of 3d printing:

Getting Designs

First you need a design which you want to print.

You can find hundreds of thousands of designs on platforms like thingiverse.com or printables.com
Often you need a user account to download files but then you are ready to rumble.

STL

What you mostly get on these platforms are files with the file type STL.
STL is an acronym for stereolithography. Sometimes it is referred to as Standard Triangle Language or Standard Tessellation Language. Nevertheless, the file content describes the model geometrically.

For educational purposes I’ve made a simple cube with 20mm edge length.
Go to https://www.printables.com/model/358740-simple-cube/files and download the STL

Slicing

Your printer can only build up layers one by one, so you need a program called a slicer to slice the geometric figure into movements of the printer’s stepper motors
The description how your printer should move is normally stored in a so called gcode file which is essentially a text file.

Import STL

Open the Prusa Slicer and click File -> Import -Import STL

It should look like this now:

Preview of Slices

You can switch to the preview of the slicing:

Export G-code

Fiel -> Export -> Export G-code

What is G-code?

G-code is a programming language used to send commands to a machine controller, such as a CNC mill or 3D printer.
It consists of a series of codes that represent specific actions or movements, along with numerical values that represent the parameters of those actions.
For example, the code “G01 X10 Y20 Z30” might tell the machine to move to a specific point in 3D space, with the X, Y, and Z values representing the coordinates of that point. G-code is used in a wide variety of manufacturing and production applications, and is typically used to control the movement of machine tools, robots, and other automated systems.

Our G-code looks like this

M104 S210 
M140 S60

This sets the extruder temperature to 210 degrees Celsius and the bed temperature to 60 degrees

An actual printing command looks like this:

G1 X133.93 Y96.497 E.02664

Printing

Now it’s time to load the file onto an SD card and start printing

The printer is going to start heating

Video of the print

I’ve made a YouTube video to show you the print in progress:

Finished Print

This a what the finished print looks like:

This is printed with 0.3mm draft settings on the Prusa Slicer. That is why you can see the individual layers.

Accuracy

I took my calipers to measure the printed cube. It came out quite accurate.

Further Reading

https://www.prusa3d.com/page/prusaslicer_424

https://all3dp.com/2/best-thingiverse-alternatives/

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/file-types/image/vector/stl-file.html

https://reprap.org/wiki/G-code

https://youtu.be/2TByiMNduss

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Hi Jens! Thanks for taking the time for this interview. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Jens and I am a software engineer, gamer, tinkerer and nerd. And I know, I influenced about 7 to 10 people to buy a 3D printer as well …

What got you started with 3d printing?

When I started with some diy projects, like building a smart mirror, I started to see the potential of real custom builds large or small.

What was your first print?

Very classic, the 3DBenchy and the Planetary Gear, that were included on the SD-card, that came with the printer.
Other than that, one of my first prints was “chibi grim” by @twiesner (https://www.myminifactory.com/de/object/3d-print-chibi-grim-24430).
My wife was painting the little figure for me and it has been standing on my desk since then.

What printer do you own?

I own a Prusa i3 mk3s with the mmu2s. The Printer started as a Prusa i3 mk3 and got updated later on, when I got the mmu (multi material unit) upgrade.

I bought the kit and assembled the printer and the mmu myself. I never had any serious issues with that printer, since I got it about 4 years ago.

The mmu enables me to print up to 5 different filaments or colors in one layer. It also enables me to do automatic filament switches at specific heights or even setup spool join to use an old spool and let the printer switch to the next one, once the old filament is used up.

Tell us about your toolchain

I was playing around with octoprint on a Raspberry Pi once, but it was a bit laggy and complicated everything a bit. Especially as the printer is standing in my office next to my desk, there was not really a reason for remote access. Hence I use some SD-cards to get the files to the printer.

Other than that, I use PrusaSlicer to convert stl into gcode. Depending on the print I set up the print as a single color or mmu print. In order to be able to switch different colors or filaments automatically, I have a bit more complex setup for my spools. The spool holders I use are printed as well and use gravity, to retract the filament onto the spool, when it comes out of the printer again at a filament change.
In the picture you can see my current setup.

Which is your favorite platform for 3d models and why?

I started with thingiverse.com, which is still the platform with a lot, if not the most, models on.

But I don’t like it too much, the software is also old and did not get updated for quite some time.

I started using myminifactory.com shortly after, which I like a lot more, but there are still less models to be found here. I used both platforms also to publish my own models, but the last files I only uploaded to myminifactory.

Prusaprinters.com is another one I started using more and more lately. In general for searching, yeggi.com is a great place, where you can find most platforms as yeggi is not a platform, but more a search engine for 3D print models.

What is your all time favorite model?

I think that’s still the “chibi grim” by @twiesner, which was one of my first prints as well. But … now with a little twist …
Prusa is constantly developing and releasing their firmware and software and so, one of the later releases of PrusaSlicer, got a new feature I was waiting for a few years. It allows now to “paint” non mmu models to assign different colors or materials. So I converted the model into a mmu model and printed it directly in 5 colors (sand, black, brown, silver, white).

The result is absolutely great and this model is now placed on my desk at work and home.

Other than that, there are so many great models or prints that I like a lot …

Tell us about your own designs

For my own models I use onshape.com. The reason why I use this over something else like fusion360 for example is that it runs completely on the web, so I only need a browser to access it.

That enables me to use it regardless if I am on my Windows, Linux or ChromeOS machine. It is free for private use, and that’s all I use it for. I don’t make any profit on anything I create, it’s just a hobby.

What would you print if you had no limitations?

In my opinion, 3D printing is just the first step towards the replicators of starship Enterprise.

Hence I would like to replicate or create anything. Also, private 3D printers are just a very small part of that great technology.

There are a lot of different systems in the industry as well like Stereolithographie (SLA), Fusion Deposition Modeling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Binder Jetting (BJ), Material Jetting (MJ) and many others.

Thank you for the interview!

Here you can find Jens and his projects online

https://jendit.de

https://www.instagram.com/jens_dittmar/

https://www.thingiverse.com/jendit/designs

https://www.myminifactory.com/users/jendit

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The gridfinity system is a storage solution based on a 4cm x 4cm grid.

It was developed by Zack Freedman because he was as frustrated with standard sorting boxes.

Baseplates

Standard

Weighted Baseplates

Container

The charm of this container is the inner slope which makes taking out parts easier.

Pen Holder

Holders for Tweezers

Resources

https://thangs.com/designer/ZackFreedman

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In this article I will show you five reasons why you might need an Octopi for your Prusa 3d printer

Monitoring

Owning a 3d printer is not subtle: you need a good amount of space and the printer generates a lot of noise. So a separate room or a place in the basement are quite common.

But then you have to walk over to have an eye on the print. In case it fails you want to stop it immediately before more filament gets wasted.

Octopi fro the rescue!

With an attached web cam or Raspberry Pi Cam you can monitor what’s going on on the heatbed.

Status updates and notification on finished builds

You can install the telegram plugin and create a telegram bot to get status updates when you are not home.

No more SD card switching

One great advantage of the Octopi is the ability to upload your gcode files via the web interface.

No more SD card switching!

Controlling the Axis

On the Control tab you have the ability to move the axis via mouse so you don’t have to scroll through the Prusa menu anymore.

Making Time lapse videos

If a camera is attached to the octopi you can enable the time lapse feature. Every time you start a build a time lapse video is saved to the rapsberry sd card.

You can download it via the web interface as well.

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Fiddling around with octoprint I figured that I needed a case and holder for the Raspberry Cam

Cam case

Printables.com for the rescue: Sneaks has a lot of cool designs and I fell in love with the Articulating Raspberry Pi Camera Mount for Prusa MK3 and MK2

The parts

Here you can see all the individual parts

Bill of material

• xAxisBracket.STL (1x)
• ffLink_90_support.ST (1x)
• mfLink_90.STL (2x)
• BallNut.STL (1x)
• raspiCamBack.STL (1x)
• raspiCamCover_NoLense.STL (1x)
• Thumb_Bolt.STL (3x)
• Thumb_Nut.STL (2x)

Assembly

Video

I’ve made a video to show you in detail how the cam holder is assembled and installed onto the Prusa i3

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Here are 5 common issues with 3d printing.

Heatbed dirty

When you do not clean the heatbed properly before a print you may encounter issues with the adhesion.

So please clean the heatbed before you print on it.

For that purpose it is recommended to use Isopropyl

Heatbed not heated

This was my first fuckup: I’ve downloaded an STL from thingiverse and converted to gcode without checking the settings

The heatbed stayed at room temperature and voila the print didn’t stick to the plate.

You can easily fix this in the Prusa slicer by adding a custom filament.

Take a look at the setting “Bed”: 60 degrees Celsius did the trick for me

No support material

Another thing I’ve learned the hard way: many models don’t work out of the box. You need to add some structures to support beams and overhangs.

In the Prusa slicer you can add it by enabling “Auto generated supports” in the Print Settings tab.

Wrong First Layer calibration

When layer height isn’t set up properly you will get poor print quality.

Please have a look at Why is the Benchy the most printed 3D print?

For the Prusa i3 you can read:

https://help.prusa3d.com/en/article/first-layer-calibration-i3_112364

Settings not optimized to the used filament

When you are using different types or suppliers of filament you may encounter issues with the print quality.

So when using a new kind of filament I recommend you to print a so called Temp Tower. You can then see which temperature works the best with the specific type of filament.

https://www.prusaprinters.org/de/prints/4667-all-in-one-temperature-bridging-tower-pla-petg-gco/files

Pro tip: When you are happy with the print results stick to that specific brand / supplier of filament, In my case I’m very happy with PLA from Das Filament.

The post 5 reasons why your 3d prints fail appeared first on Creatronix.

And guess what I’ve printed first after I’ve assembled my Prusa i3 MK3S+ ?

Of course, a Benchy 🙂

History of the Benchy

The Benchy is around since 2015 and is a used as a benchmark for 3D printers.

With this tiny little boat you can assess the quality of your printer / filament / calibration.

This model contains a lot of different challenges for 3d printers like tiny holes, slopes, large overhangs, cylindrical shapes which reveal issues with the calibration or build quality of the printer.

The first attempt

The first Benchy I’ve printed, was quite ok in overall print quality, but the bottom side revealed some issue with the nozzle distance to the heatbed.

When the nozzle is to far away fro the heatbed, the first layer isn’t smooth. So this needs some calibration.

The second attempt

A tip came from Jens Dittmar: Set the Mesh bed leveling to 7×7.

The Mesh bed leveling settings can be found under Settings – Mesh bed Leveling

When you change the setting from 3×3 to 7×7 the printer will use 49 test points instead of 9.

After that I did another Z-Axis calibration and adjusted the nozzle closer to the heatdbed.

This was the result:

This came out actually quite nice. To further optimize the prints I got the recommendation to print a temp tower to align the print temperature to the used filament.

The post Why is the Benchy the most printed 3D print? appeared first on Creatronix.

X-Axis

The assembly is pretty straight forward. The manual has enough imagery and the description is very detailed.

One tip: instead of using the included allen keys consider using a little electric screwdriver like the Bosch IXO. It can save you some time.

Z-Axis

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Prusa included some tools. Pliers, a screwdriver and some hex wrenches.

Their claim is that this is all you need to assemble the printer. While that might be true you should consider some additional tools.

An electric screwdriver with the correct bits speeds up the process. And a hex socket should be used to fasten the hex nuts.

YZ frame assembly

The first step is to assemble the frame.

Long an short extrusions

This is an easy thing to do together with your kids. Make sure that the Prusa logo points into the direction of the long extrusions and bob’s your uncle.

Front and Rear plate

Inserting the PSU holder

Mounting the antivibration feed

With a nice little twist and turn the go right into place beneath the frame

Y-belt idler

Motor and motor holder

Y-carriage

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I wanted to learn about 3D printing. After a serval hours of contemplating and researching I finally bought a Prusa i3 MK3S+ 3D Printer.

I’ve decided to buy a kit instead of a fully assembled version to save a few bucks and to enjoy the process together with my children.

Because the assembly of the kit will take several hours (which we have to split into days 🙂 ) there will be bunch of articles covering each of the steps.

So this is the overview article. Have fun reading the individual parts.

• Y-Axis assembly
• X- & Z-Axis Assembly

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