At first

This article will write a manual on how to use a 3D printer. The 3D printer to be introduced this time is here!! It's called Flashforge Adventurer3, and what's so good about it? ⓵ High 👈 safety The header (the part that melts the filament) becomes hot, so it is dangerous if it is exposed ⓶ High quietness If you are noisy, 👈 it will bother others, so it is not good ⓷ Arrived 👈 pre-assembled If you assemble it yourself, assembly error will occur, so it is not recommended for the first time These are the three points. What is noteworthy is its quietness!! When you actually use it, it is about "It makes some noise, but it does not bother me at all". When placing it in a common space such as a university laboratory, quietness is important.

Installing the Software

When printing with a 3D printer, you need software that determines where to put it, what posture to print, and so on. That's called "Flashprint." Download and install the latest version of Flashprint from the link below. https://flashforge.co.jp/support/#down

stream

This time, the data created by CAD software (invetnor2020) is converted to an STL file that Flashprint can read. Next, Flashprint the STL file and import it, where to put it, what posture to print It is to be manipulated and determined by creating data (gx file). After deciding, send the gx file to the printer and print it.

I just output this because there was a small propeller data that looked good as a sample.

CAD to STl file

Converting CAD data to STL files is easy: "File ⇒ Save As⇒ Save Copy As. Click . And set the file type to STL file. Then click Options.Convert the system of units to millimeters with the option.(Note that it is in centimeters by default, the setting is automatically saved, so in principle this operation only needs to be done the first time) The option is OK, so press the OK button, press the save button to create the STL file. ．

From STl files to GX files

Open it with the software "Flashprint" where you installed the generated STL file. By the way, the icon is shown in the following image. When you open it, you will see the following UI. In this application, you can move by left-clicking, right-clicking, zooming in and out with the mouse wheel to move the viewpoint. The cuboid box represents the size that can be output by × 3D printer (15 cm 15 cm × 15 cm in Adventurer3).

Now, read the STL file you generated earlier from "Load" at the top of the app. When you import it, you will get a model drawn in CAD. If the model becomes "That's insanely small?", you probably have a wrong system of units when converting from CAD to STL file. Read the chapter from CAD to STl file again and generate it.

The model comes out, but it will fail if you print it as it is. You need to determine the posture of the model by moving and rotating, and if necessary, attach support materials. Let's first determine the posture. You can twirl the model around with the "rotation" on the left side. You can see how it turns by actually turning it around. The posture this time seems to be easier to print intuitively in the figure below. If you check "Set double-click surface to the floor" and double-click the surface you want to ground with the floor, it will rotate as shown in the figure below in an instant, which is very convenient. By the way, when you look at it from the bottom, you can see the blue side as shown in the figure below, and this blue surface indicates that it is grounded to the floor. It is not necessary to use it this time, but I will also introduce "moving". You can change the location of the model as shown below in "Move". "Place on the bed" is a function to ground the model to the floor (Z=0) in an instant, "center" moves the model to the center in an instant (X=0, Y= 0) Unless there is a particular reason, basically the model should be centered. By the way, the side of the cuboid box is red in the figure below. This indicates that the model is out of the output range. If this happens, you can not print, so be careful.

Next, we will finally put on the support material. Click on "Support Material" on the upper side of the app and press "Auto Support", and the support material shown in green will appear, which is basically complete.

However, in fact, the hole indicated by the red circle in the figure below is small with a diameter of 3 mm, and can be printed even without support material. Conversely, if there is a support material in the small hole, it is difficult to remove it with a nipper etc. Also, the surface on which the support material was taken will be rough, so if necessary, file etc. Such small holes have disadvantages such as being difficult to sand, so it is fine to take support materials for such small holes. When you take it, you can erase it by selecting the support material you want to remove from "Delete" on the left. As a guideline, I feel that it is unnecessary if the diameter of the hole is 5 mm or less in experience.

When you have finished setting the support material, press "Return". At this time, you will be asked "Do you want to save the file of the current support?", but you do not need to press "No (N)" to save. When you return, the support material that was green will also be the same gray as the model. This determines the posture of the model including the support material. Finally, the "slice" in the upper part of the app determines the printing information such as the type and resolution of the filament. This time the filament is set as PLA, the support material and raft are enabled, and the resolution is set as standard. ※ We will print the model on the raft, but when peeling off the raft and the model after printing is finished, the surface in contact with the raft may become rough. Therefore, if you want to output the surface cleanly by all means, print with the surface on the upper side, or if it is the lower side, print without the raft attached. However, please note that the raft is essential when attaching support materials.

You can make detailed settings such as the height, filling rate, temperature, etc. with other options. There is no particular problem with the default setting. The setting is over. Press the OK button to save the gx file. When you save, the slice will be executed and it will finally look like this. This completes the generation of the GX file from the STL file.

Send gx files to a 3D printer for output

Finally, the G-code is sent to the 3D printer, and there are two ways to send it. (1) If the 3D printer is in the same LAN as the personal computer, it is transmitted via LAN. (2) Save the gx file to a USB memory stick, connect the USB memory to the 3D printer, and select the file

We will introduce the method of (1). Open the gx file with flashprint and press the "Send G Code" button. If the same computer and 3D printer are connected to the same wi-fi, it will appear as shown in the image below (the IP address is hidden here), select it and click "Connect" to send it.

print

Once the transmission is completed, it will be printed automatically, so just wait. The image below shows you printing the support material after making the raft. If you print for a long time such as a few hours, it is better to look at it from time to time until you can do the raft. Because in my experience, if the raft is made well, you can print it more or less well. Conversely, if it does not seem to be printed well at the time of raft creation, it will not print well, so please proofread it and try again. ．

When the print is finished, it will let you know by making a loud sound, and the screen will also say "Print is complete" as shown in the image below.

If you bend the stand and peel it off from the stand, it will be taken as shown in the image below. Then peel off the support material and raft using a nipper or scissors, and you're done.

Things to keep in mind

It will write down the know-how and various things to be aware of.

Pattern of output failure

(1) The mechanism that sends out the filament does not function The wheel in the image below is idle, which is probably different from the amount actually pumped, i.e. the filament is stuck in the header, or the hole that ejects the filament in the header is small due to the header burning, or the filament is pushed back from the stage because the header is too low, so "gagg In this case, calibrating the header, cleaning the inside of the header, replacing the header with a new one, and reinserting the filament are considered as coping mechanisms. There was a time when I could not print well, so I bought a new header (about 3000 yen) and it was cured, so I think it was probably causing burning. When cleaning and replacing the header, it is necessary to remove the lead tube of the filament. This does not come off easily, so please put a lot of force into it. I used to make it easy to remove by oiling, but it is my own responsibility.

(2) The stand is not properly fixed to the back I will do this unexpectedly. It will fail if the stand is misaligned as shown in the image below. Let's check before printing and when fitting after printing. (3) The first layer (raft if there is a raft) is not grounded to the base, and the filament sticks to the header and becomes deceived Proofread ⇒

(4) Printing with insufficient filaments The formula says that even if the filament is broken, it will automatically detect and stop in the middle, so if you insert a new filament again, you can resume it from the middle, but that was not the case. When the filament is broken, the header is just moving in the air. Let's check whether the filament seems to be enough before printing.

other

・The diameter of the hole should be larger, for example, if you open a 3mm hole with CAD to put a shaft with a diameter of 3 mm and output it, it will never enter. So I make the hole a shaft diameter + 0.3 ~ 0.8 mm. If it still does not enter, something rod (screwdriver, rod file, etc.) It is recommended to put it in and go around. - The presence or absence of rafts is a sense of experience ・Be careful when taking support materials or rafts.Be careful because you may break the body due to momentum. ・ This 3D printer can not make a nut or the like, but you can embed the nut by thermopressurizing the nut using a soldering iron. Please refer to the link below http://blog.livedoor.jp/nakajin0602/archives/22011233.html