Page History

Stewards: Scott Silvers and Robert Johnson

We have both Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Stereolithography (SLA) printers at Makersmiths.

The 3D printers at MS-L (Leesburg) and MS-P (Purcellville) are lovingly maintained by a crew of not-so-magical elves. To keep this mash-up of commercial and frankensteined printers running is no small feat. Please read and follow the guidelines on this page and in this section to help us keep them running.

There is work on updating how to use the 3D printers, so please reference the 3d Printer Room Plans for more information

To Get Help

Post a message to the #3dprinting Slack Channel.

Safety Rules

Red Tool Training

There are 2 separate Red Tool classes for 3D Printing at Makersmiths, one for FDM printing and one for SLA printing.  These classes must be completed before you may use the printers on your own.  Classes can be found on the Event Calendar.   These classes will be taught at least once a month.

Safety Rules

TOP

Beginning 3D Printing

To Get Help

Post a message to the #3dprinting Slack Channel.

Direct message to the 3D Printing Steward (sometimes they also have their phone number in slack to call)Before using the 3D printers, please attend a 3D Printing Basics class. If none is scheduled post a note to the #3dprinting Slack channel. The slides for the class can be viewed here.

Troubleshooting

3D printing can be difficult. If you experience problems there are folks who can help. First, review the guides here and for the specific printer. If you still have a problem, post to the #3dprinting Slack channel.  Even if you find the solution, let us know, so that we can be aware that it might be an issue for others, and try to prevent it from happening again.

Software

OctoPrint

Login: octouser
Password:  makesomething2day

Ultimaker Cura

Pros:

Ultimaker Cura is the slicer of choice for many open source-based 3D printers for it's relative ease of use

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Cons:

• Cura does not support FlashForge or MakerBot printers
• Custom printer profiles cannot be exported
• Custom material profiles cannot be exported

Slic3r

Slic3r is open source and can be difficult to use. For advanced users it has fine-grained control and can produce excellent prints.

Pros:

• Can produce excellent prints
• Easy to use GUI

Cons:

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Elegoo Cura

Elegoo has their own fork of Cura tuned for their printers. 

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FlashForge FlashPrint

Pros:

• Very easy to use for FlashForge
• Very well-done slicing options

Cons:

• Only supports FlashForge printers

MakerBot Print

Pros:

• Very easy to use interface

Cons:

• Only supports MakerBot and FlashForge

Cura LulzBot Edition

Cura for LulzBot is an open source slicer based on Ultimaker Cura and tuned for LulzBot machines.

Latest version is 3.6.37, but there are issues with the installer.   Install 3.6.23 first, then install 3.6.37

MatterControl

MatterControl is the most flexible of the software listed here. It's open source and easily extensible via custom printer profiles. 

"MatterControl is a free, open-source, all-in-one software package that lets you design, slice, organize, and manage your 3D prints. With MatterControl, you can design your parts from scratch using the Design Tools, or visit the Design Apps to browse existing projects. You can also slice your designs using a variety of advanced settings for customized support generation, software bed leveling, and integrated controls for dual extrusion using powerful 64-bit processing. When you have all the variables managed, you can print straight from MatterControl - no need for multiple programs - MatterControl does it all."

Pros:

• Very easy to use
• Broad set of profiles for printers and materials
• Extensible printer profiles with inheritence
• Supports every printer we have (except Rostock maybe - to be tested)

Cons:

• UI can be a little confusing at first
• Canned profiles may need tweaking

PrusaSlicer

PrusaSlicer is open source and can be difficult to use. For advanced users it has fine-grained control and can produce excellent prints.