From the course: Additive Manufacturing: Optimizing 3D Prints (2019)

Parts of a 3D printer

From the course: Additive Manufacturing: Optimizing 3D Prints (2019)

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Parts of a 3D printer

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- [Female Narrator] There are many models of 3D printer, but all the printers that use filament have the same basic parts. - [Male Narrator] Two fundamental categories of printer are the Cartesian and the non-Cartesian. Here's a Cartesian printer. It is now moving in the x-axis, now the y, and finally the vertical z dimension. Be sure you remember that z is a vertical direction and that z=0 is typically viewed as the surface of the platform. - [Female Narrator] The most common non-Cartesian families of printers are called Deltas, or Delta bots. They still use the same conventions of calling the axis parallel to the stationary platform x and y, with z being vertical, but these don't correspond directly to individual motors as they do for a Cartesian machine. - [Male Narrator] 3-D printers have four or more motors. Typically, three motors are used to move the print head and/or the platform in three dimensions. In some cases, the print head moves in all three dimensions and the platform is stationary. In others, the platform may move in one or two directions. Regardless, all motions consider motion of the head relative to the platform, when we're talking about printer settings. - [Female Narrator] The fourth motor is used to push filament into the extruder, the hot part of the printer, and to pull it back, called retraction. When a particular part of a model will not have a material in it, some configuration of extruder gear or gears issues for this. - [Male Narrator] A printer may have more than four motors. This printer has six motors. One each for it's two extruders, two for the z-axis, and one each for x & y. - [Female Narrator] 3-D printers are controlled by some sort of computer processor, usually with heritage C or do we know open source standard. The processor controls the motors, which drives the filament and platform. Most printers are designed to stop at limit switches on at least some of the axis. Other than that, most printers have limited feedback when they're running. The controller doesn't really have any input if whether the print is going well, or making a pile of tangled plastic. You need to keep an eye on the printer when it's running. - [Male Narrator] The extruder consists of a motor, a hot end to melt plastic filament, and a nozzle, typically between .3 and 1 mm in diameter, that will lay down the line of plastic filament on each layer. Most printers allow you to set the layer height. Fine layers will take longer to print, but will have a nicer surface finish. - [Female Narrator] Some printers have more than one nozzle. They can lay down two types of plastic in each layer. Typically these machines print with one nozzle and then the other. So they're often slower in two color mode than in one color mode. There are printers with more than two extruders as well. - [Male Narrator] When a print is done, you might be able to just pot it off the platform, or you may need to use a spatula type device. - [Female Narrator] 3-D printers are relatively simple machines. In this course, we'll learn the best ways to optimize a printer for the printing question.

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