Question 1

Getting started with 3D printing

Answer

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the next step in the industrial revolution. This technology has transformed the way businesses operate and its applications are vast. From engineering and architecture to art & design, to jewellery and dental, the adoption rate by companies in these industries has been exponential.

Computer-aided Design, or CAD, is the process which always comes before Computer-aided Manufacturing, or CAM. Designs and models are created and rendered three-dimensionally in specialized programs by designers or engineers. CAM can be subtractive manufacturing processes like milling, or additive manufacturing like laser sintering or 3D printing, which create these files physically with material.

Due to the reduced material costs of additive manufacturing, where the exact amount of material is used for the model, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing, where a block of material is milled away to carve out the model, 3D printing has become a more financially viable option for companies invested in CAD/CAM. The precision and computation power of CAD/CAM systems has allowed designers, engineers and artists to create designs and models of unparalleled complexity and accuracy, which human hands and eyes are unable to equal. This is evident in dental applications, jewellery design, art, engineering and architecture.

Question 2

Difference between Fused Deposition Modeling and Stereolithography

Answer

3D printing is the process of printing a 3D object layer by layer. This process is the same between Fused Depositing Modeling (FDM) and stereolithography (SLA), but their methods are very different. FDM printers melt material and deposit this material in layers, with each layer cooled before subsequent layers are placed above.

Because previous layers are not fullly solidified before upper layers are placed, there is a visible layering effect in finished models, which require extensive post-processing to smoothen these layer lines. SLA printers cure photopolymer resins in layers using light, which can either be lasers or light projected by digital light projectors.

The finished models have much lesser layer lines and can even look like injection-molded parts, with no post-processing required.

Question 3

SLA and DLP. What's the difference?

Answer

SLA printers use a laser to draw each layer, like an artist sketching with a pencil. Because of this method, printing times are significantly longer. The tradeoff is the build volume of these

printers, which have been increasing steadily with each generation to match their FDM cousins. DLP printers in contrast use a digital light processor, or DLP, which cure the material in a single layer, thereby drastically decreasing printing time. The drawback of this method is that the physics of light projection directly influence the maximum projected area, thereby limiting the build volume.

Another advantage DLP printers have over their SLA siblings is the feature resolution, which is not limited by the spot size of the lasers. For example, most SLA printers have a feature resolution of 100 microns, compared to 50 microns which DLP printers are capable of.

Question 4

Print removal and post-processing

Answer

When prints are completed, they need to be removed from the build platform. This is accomplished by knocking a metal spatula under the model with a hammer. Most prints require supports as there are parts with overhangs beyond the physical limit all printers can print, usually 45 degrees. After the model is removed from the build platform,

supports can either be peeled off by hand or trimmed off the model with a pair of precision pliers. Because of the nature of photopolymers, finished models are required to be placed in an isopropyl alchohol bath to dissolve uncured resin accumulated in the crevices and indentations of the model, and then be post-cured in UV light.

Question 5

Finishing

Answer

Most of the time when supports are removed from a model, indentations are left where the supports connect to its surface.

Resin is used to repair these surfaces, by placing drops in the indentations with a syringe and then cured with UV light. Fixer3D is a very useful electroonic tool which makes this process incredibly easy.

Question 6

ChiTuBox for Draken II

Answer

https://www.chitubox.com/download.html

Question 7

3DPrint for Weaver

Answer

Please download the Weaver manual here:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jEQjmZ_D5wcpkdMQnrFRJ98agCxn3GiD The weaver control software can be downloaded here:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SD-KfXVN5C38u1TLVdHqSTep17UJ5bpF Here is a technical document on Gcode used in Weaver: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T1UZTRIRtx-_k_MVYawpiRPGiZp6z2Gt You can test print using a simple geometry such as the tube.stl file. Slice it with 100um layer thickness, put the .gcode file into the SD card, then print to see how it works.

Question 8