3D Printers

Overview


We have five 3D printers available at Metrix. Four of them use plastic as the build material. One of them uses hydroperm powder, which results in plaster-like objects. A 3D printer works by creating a three-dimensional object out of a given material. How a 3D printer builds each object depends on the material it uses. Deciding which robot is best for your particular project depends on the nature of the project and its use. If you're not sure, come to the shop to see samples produced by the various machines and talk to one of our technicians about the different production options.

  • Makerbot 1 
    • prints in PLA (bio-degradable, corn-based plastic)
    • various colors available
    • build volume available: 10cmX10cmX10cm
    • extrusion resolution: about .4mm
    • $.50 per minute of run time (includes material)
    • some great uses include printing mechanical parts, prototyping pieces of projects, or just making fun toys

  • Makerbot 2 
    • prints in ABS
    • various colors available
    • build volume available: 10cmX10cmX10cm
    • extrusion resolution: about .4mm
    • $.50 per minute of run time (includes material)
    • some great uses include printing mechanical parts, prototyping pieces of projects, or just making fun toys

  • ZCorp Powder Printer
    • prints in hydroperm (plaster of paris, portland cement, silica)
    • finished object has a white powder finish
    • wax infusion available (adds strength to the finished object, leaves a light gray finish)
    • build volume available: 8inX10inX8in
    • layer resolution: about .8mm
    • $35.00 for up to 1 liter of powder material
    • $35.00 for every additional 1 liter of powder material
    • acrylic finishing available: matte, gloss, color (pricing varies per project)
    • some great uses include prototyping game characters or printing molds for casting projects (porcelain and clay slip, glass, silicone, urethane rubber, etc.)

  • Mendel
    • prints in PLA (bio-degradable, corn-based plastic)
    • various colors available
    • build volume available: 20cmX20cmX10cm
    • extrusion resolution: about .4mm
    • $.50 per minute of run time (includes material)
    • some great uses include printing mechanical parts, prototyping pieces of projects, or just making fun toys
  • Prusa-Mendel
    • prints in PLA (bio-degradable, corn-based plastic)
    • various colors available
    • build volume available: 20cmX20cmX10cm
    • extrusion resolution: about .4mm
    • $.50 per minute of run time (includes material)
    • some great uses include printing mechanical parts, prototyping pieces of projects, or just making fun toys

3d printing is an additive process, which leaves the finished products from both the plastic and powder printers with a layered texture. There are some limited finishing methods available for plastic parts, which involve taking off a thin layer of the material. The finishing process for powder parts generally involves adding a think layer of material. If you are considering either of these options, you will want to plan for this in your design.

To learn more about the history of plastic extrusion 3D printers, check out the RepRap family tree wiki:
http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap_Family_Tree

HOWTO

In order to print a 3D object on any 3D printer, you need a digital 3D drawing of the object. You can get pre-made models at places like:
Thingiverse [http://thingiverse.com]
Instructables [http://www.instructables.com]
as well as many others

There are a number of open source programs available for creating 3D files such as:
OpenSCAD
Google Sketchup
Blender

File Format
To use any of our 3D printers, you need to bring us an STL file. Most 3D drawing programs will have that as an export option.

If you're using Google Sketchup, you can export STL by installing this plugin in your Plugins directory.

If you have an issue exporting (it sees no faces or triangles), it may be that you have nested components in your model. Select all, explode, select all, explode again, and export. rinse and repeat.

Here is another STL import/export plugin (recently released)

http://sourceforge.net/downloads/stl4su/

Workshops

Check out our OpenSCAD workshop to learn how to create your own 3D parts.
More workshops coming soon…

Discounts

Discounts are available with membership.

We have also introduced a 20% discount if you make your design available for download on Thingiverse. See the blog for details.

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