If you have never owned a 3D printer or are experiencing 3D printing for the first time, there are some expectations you should consider adopting. The following are areas where most novice 3D printing enthusiasts experience disappointment, or shall I say less than ideal enthusiasm. I discuss each in the following Sections of this Driver2Download Blog .
- Ease of use
- Print quality
- Reliability
- Maintenance
These areas may seem intuitive, but there are surprises awaiting you if you do not consider each as you plan your purchase or learn to live with what you have.
Don’t be tempted to give up and sell your printer or force the vendor to accept it in a return (most will not anyway). I’ve seen a number of incomplete printers, and printers with very low use, for sale. I often wonder if they are for sale because the owners’ expectations of the 3D printing experience are misguided. Perhaps the following will help you avoid a similar fate.
Ease of use
This is the one area where things can go wrong quickly. If you’ve read or otherwise been convinced 3D printers are easy to use, you should reevaluate that assessment. The CAD software alone can be a challenge to learn and master. Vendors like MakerBot have achieved a high level of user friendliness, but that can be deceiving. You still must know where to find objects to print (Thing verse) or learn how to use CAD software. Aside from the software, some 3D printer vendors claim “click and print” capability, which is a bit misnamed. Even the best, most reliable 3D printers require a certain amount of calibration and maintenance to achieve good prints every time (which is unrealistic because there are so many things that can go wrong). Ease of use, therefore, is a qualitative term. If you are already an experienced 3D printing enthusiast or if you enjoy tinkering, adjusting, upgrading, and general fiddling with hardware, the vast world of RepRap variants will seem like a treasure trove. On the other hand, if you are just starting out or do not have the patience (or skills) to tinker with your printer to get it to print well, you will want to steer clear of DIY kits and RepRap-like variants, and instead choose a well-established commercial option, like a MakerBot Replicator 2. Once again, even the best printers require a certain amount of work to get the most out of them. Keep this in mind and avoid the temptation to blame the vendor when things don’t work so well. Most likely the problem is something you have forgotten to do, or do not know must be done. For example, leveling (tramming) the print bed is often overlooked; this is the source of a host of print failures that can be corrected by the very simple process of adjusting the print bed.
Print quality
This category is one that can cause even the most hardened 3D printing fan consternation. Many things can contribute to poor print quality, so sometimes it is hard to know where to start to diagnose and correct the problem. Indeed, there are 3D printer reviews I’ve read that rated the quality of printers based on skewed results. In one case, I noticed a clear indication that had the author or tester followed a few simple precautions, the print quality would have been better than what was reported. What this means is you cannot expect to unbox (or assemble) your printer, click Print, and see a finished, perfect object appear before your eyes. You must start out with relatively low quality settings, modify them to perfection while calibrating your printer, and then increase those settings in increments until you achieve a good print. One major factor to consider is the hardware itself. For example, a commercial printer is unlikely to arrive with incorrectly installed or damaged components. For example, building a RepRap Prusa Iteration 2 requires the use of 8-millimeter or 5/16-inch threaded rods for the Z axis. If the rods are not perfectly straight, and the threading is wound incorrectly (I once found a rod where the threads were deeper on one side than the other), you can experience Z wobble, which produces a washboard affect (the sides are not perfectly flat). Similarly, the build platform must be level with the X axis. Adjusting it so that it is level (again, called tramming) requires moving the extruder to each corner of the build platform, and raising or lowering the print bed in that corner until the nozzle is the same distance from the print bed in all four corners (assuming the build plate is flat). Some printers are easier to tram than others. For example, the MakerBot Replicator 2 has an automated process that moves the extruder for you, whereas most printers require you to move the print head with either a printer controller application or through an LCD interface. However, you can move the axes by hand if the printer is powered off and you do not move them too quickly. Moving the axes quickly can cause the stepper motor to generate electricity and feedback through the electronics. There is much more to consider with respect to hardware, and we will see more of this in other chapters. For now, keep in mind that print quality is something you must earn through careful calibration and attention to detail. The ease of which depends largely on the capabilities of your hardware and your willingness to tinker to perfection.
Reliability
Another area that can sometimes be an issue is reliability. Even if you devote the proper attention to detail to get the printer calibrated and ready to print, you can sometimes experience hardware and software failures—especially over a relatively short period of use. One such example is the X axis ends on one of my Press Iteration 2 printers. The part cracked, causing a host of random print quality issues. I replaced it, only to have it crack again. I finally fixed the problem by grafting a brace for the affected area. Fortunately, the part was made of ABS, making it very easy to add the brace. If it were PLA, it would have been harder to do (but not impossible). As part of my diagnosis of the part failure, I made sure that the smooth rods that the part rides on were straight and that everything on the axis was aligned properly. The part is simply too fragile for long-term use. You may find that this is the case for a number of different printers. Another example is the routing of the X axis wiring on some MakerBot Replicator 2 machines can break over time due to a stress point. Should the wire break, your printer will become inoperable. Careful research and preventive maintenance can avoid this problem. There are more examples of reliability issues that I could discuss, but what you should keep in mind is that 3D printers are not quite to the level of the average toaster—or even the famous battery spokes rabbit. Some are more reliable than others, but all require periodic preventive and regular corrective maintenance for proper function. Generally speaking, the more expensive commercial varieties offer better reliability than the DIY kits, but there are always exceptions. I’ve had almost no reliability problems with one of my older Press printers, but one of the latest ones has driven me to have a conversation or two with it. It never listens and stubbornly refuses to obey my commands.
Maintenance
Closely related to reliability is maintainability, or simply how easy it is to maintain and repair the printer. I’ve found my RepRap printers to be easier to work on, but they require work more often than my MakerBot Replicator 2. Indeed, regular maintenance on the RepRap printers takes about 10 minutes each time I start a series of print jobs (that day) and as much as an hour per month to clean, lubricate, and adjust. However, my MakerBot Replicator 2 requires only periodic adjustment and only 20 minutes or so to fully clean, and I lubricate it every couple of months. Similarly, the RepRap printers require regular leveling of the print bed, whereas the MakerBot rarely needs any adjustment. The takeaway here is if you want to be able to use a printer for hundreds of hours of relatively good printing experiences, you will want to consider how easy it is to work with the printer. If the vendor doesn’t provide examples, how to, and the like for maintaining their printers, be sure to ask so that you know what you are getting into. Regardless, you should consider it your job to do certain preventive procedures (e.g., cleaning, lubricating) as part of your ownership experience.
Conclusion
If you are thinking there is a lot more to 3D printing than you originally thought, you’re right on track. Most articles and blogs about 3D printing barely cover some of the fundamentals discussed in this blog post. Indeed, most focus on the tool chain, and heighten the reader’s expectations by convincing her about all of the wonderful things she can print. While not expressly a fairy tale, this is only part of the knowledge you need to become successful in 3D printing.
