Deposition and Fdm Basics

Congrats on making it through the other two guides, this will be the last one. I have been doing fdm (fused deposition modeling) for a year and a bit now. this is not a new skill to me, but I hope it will be a fun new thing for you to learn!

fyi this guide was written for by memephis, the same person who wrote all 3(4 including the hub page) of the 3ds of 3d printing instructable. I wrote it in 3 parts for organizational reasons and I didn't feel the need to publish all of them to the contest.

you will need a FDM printer, filament, and some files to print. If you have no clue what to print, then it might be in your best interest to go back and look at the design instructable that I made. there will also be advice on buying a printer and filament.

there are many printers out on the market today but here is what I would recommend

Creality ender 3- this printer used to be a great option. its cheap, it works, and it does what you need. however, its gotten old, and better printers are here at better prices. many people still recommend it, but its not worth it any more. also, the only way it makes somewhat sense is if you are near a microcenter and can get the $100 new customer deal. if not, just look at a anycubic Kobra or a voxlab aquila x2

Bambu a1 - $300 for a printer that just works. no fussing, no "well, you do kinda have to..." nothing. its great. plus if you go for the a1 with ams, you get multi color prints for 450. its insane. also the build size is more than you need for most prints.

bambu p1p vs prusa MK4 - prusa MK4 is a great printer and has many great features, but the best part about it is that it's made by prusa, a great company. bambu as a company kinda sucks, but the p1p is $599 for a amazing printer that basically runs itself. if you have the money and want it to work, I would get bambu, but it's worth doing your own research and not trusting one random guy on the internet.

Prusa - prusa is know as the crem de la crem of printers, they have just about everything you could need, but they are a little pricy. the prusa mini, which has a comparable built plate size to the ender 3, or size of model that you can print, is almost 400. it is better than a ender 3, but you have to chose if the price is worth it or not.

ender 3 clones - there are a lot of clones of the ender 3 out there, but I have not played around with any of them. do your own reaseach, look at the voxlab aquila and the anycubic kobra, and more.

if you chose to buy your own printer, here are some of the key words people use and what they mean.

delta vs cartesian - cartesian printers are easy in comparison. they move in a x y and z axis and make sense. delta printers are a lil more complicated. they have 3 pillars which they slide linkages up and down to move the print head. they are typically faster, but also have smaller build plates and

build plate/ print volume - the size of the build plate. the larger the build plate the bigger the model you will be able to print. I have never found myself needing to use the full 220x220x250 print area of the ender 3, but if you are planning on using it for cosplay printing or something that needs a bigger volume, then it might be worth looking into something with a large volume like a ender 5 or prusa mark III

print resumption - if you turn the printer off or power goes out, the printer will remember where it was. this is so incredibly useful and i can not recommend it enough

core xy vs bed slinger - bed slingers are printers that move the bed forward or back and the printhead from side to side to achieve a full xy plane. these cant print as fast, but not by too much. the belt systems are also easier to maintain compared to a core xy. a core xy printer works like a arcade claw machine but with a 3d printer hot end on top. this means you can print faster, but they tend to be more expensive.

Bowden vs. direct drive. 

Bowden printers use a tube to connect the extruder to the hot end. Direct drive printers put the extruder directly over the hot end so there is no need for the ptfe. Direct drives are better as they string less(stringing is when the printer has whisps going between non connected points on a plane eg if I were printing a mountain range, it may leave little strands between the peaks), which is helpful, but they are also more expensive and the stringing doesn't make a huge difference.

there are many slicers out there...

the two biggest slicers for fdm printing are prusa slicer and Cura.

Prusa slicer will give you all the numbers at once, which is great, but not super helpful all of the time.

Cura on the other hand has tree supports, which allows the one to save support material and printing time. it also has a UI which I find more usable. if you do end up going with cura, make sure to check out some of the plugins especially settings guide, it gives tool tips on all the settings.

personally, I think cura is better, but I am also biased so try both.

settings should be somewhat universal.

for walls, 2 walls will be enough for general printing, but up it if you want strength

infill should stay below 10 percent for speed and filament reasons. also it does not add as much strength as just a wall.

layer heigts are interseting. for mechanical prints, go with .2 mm layers, its the strongest. for anything else, its a toss up. lower layer height means more detailed models, but more printing time.

here will be every part of the printer and its purpose. the really important ones will be bolded, so feel free to skip a lot or the whole thing.

Hot end

The hot end of a 3d printer is where the filament goes through to be melted and deposited. There are many different styles and parts, all of which will be covered below.

All metal hot ends are, well, all metal. This means that the PTFE tubing never touches the hot parts of the hot end. This is a very good thing because without it, the ptfe can reach high temperatures and degrade which releases some nasty fumes. It only happens at around 230 C so if you stay below that you should be ok. 

PTFE Tubing

This connects the extruder to the hot end on bowden printers. You can upgrade to a capricorn tube which is better and helps with retractions and stringing, but the stock tube will work just fine.

Nozzle

The nozzle is a very important part of the printer, however, your standard brass nozzle will be fine for most printing. If you use a filament with an abrasive additive, eg glow in the dark or wood filament, then your nozzle will quickly wear down. If you are using these filaments, it is important to get a new nozzle. I would recommend a hardened steel nozzle. The nozzle also plays a big part in how fast you can print. Some nozzles like the bondtech cht nozzle help to increase the speeds at which you can print, however, I have never tried one.

Extruder

The extruder helps move filament into the hot end. The stock ender 3 extruder is made of a cheap plastic which will break and cause you some headaches. I would recommend upgrading to a metal extruder as soon as you get your printer.

Extruder gear

The extruder gear is what actually pushes the filament while it is in the extruder gear. similar to the nozzle, it is made of brass, which means that it will eventually wear out. This will probably happen every few months, so it is important to keep in mind when trouble shooting. It is also every easy to upgrade toa steel extruder gear, or if you're cheap and lazy, you could just slide the gear around until it is not on the worn down bit.

Heating block

The heating block is a very simple part that transfers heat from the heater cartridge to the nozzle

Thermistor

This is the temperature sensor. These things will break eventually, but it takes a minute. They are very delicate and should not be touched unless you are replacing it.

Heater cartridge

this piece is what heats up the heating block. It is vital and should not be touched unless you are replacing it. There are no upgrades so you don't have to touch it.

Part fan

This helps to cool plastic solidify after leaving the nozzle. It is vital for bridging, and overhangs. Sometimes it can be advantageous to turn it off for the first layer, but I would recommend defaulting to slicer preset settings. It is also important to note that the fan should be turned off for any filament that will warp eg: abs asa or anything that needs a enclosure. Pla benefits from a fan, and that's what you should be using to start. many people will also 3d print their own

Heat sink fan

This part helps remove heat from the heat sink to reduce heat creep.

Heat break

The that break helps to creep a barrier between the heat sink and the heating block. This part can help to increase the speed of filament melting while printing which allows for faster printing, however, getting a better nozzle will probably improve your speed more

Heat sink

The heat sink helps to reduce heat creep, when filament gets melted to soon and jams up the hot end.

trouble shooting a 3d printer can be one of the most annoying parts of the hobby. sometimes it can be a hassle to even fire the printer up, but if you can push through your issues then it goes right back to being amazing. now I could write an entire instructable on 3d printing trouble shooting... but instead I'm stealing content from reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ender3/comments/hgg1y6/a_guide_to_extruder_skip/

this guide covers extruder skip, one of the most common issues in 3d printing. it does a good job of it too. however, extruder skip is not the only issue you will face. this is where I come in, with more stolen content.

https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/3d-printer-troubleshooting-guide

this guide covers everything else pretty well.

the only thing I can think off not covered by these two guides is wet filament. filament is hydroscopic, meaning it will absorb water, which makes it print horribly. you can tell your filament is wet if when you extrude it, it makes a popping noise and comes out like a liquid. your prints will also under extrude if they even print. this is fixable by putting your filament in a food dehydrator or in the oven for 4-6 hours at around 45 to 50 Celsius or 113 Fahrenheit, assuming it is pla. Pla doesn't absorb water super fast, however, so unless it comes wet, you should be fine. some filaments like TPU or ABS will absorb water and require dry boxes for storage.

ok, so say you have your model, in my case I will be using the parts for the sci-fi door dice box that was mentioned in the file aquisition guide.

there are many many fun filaments

some of the best filaments that wont break the bank or printer are ...

silk filaments - ever wanted to print shiny gold? here it is. bonus points for purple, it looks great

wood/marble filaments - really cool to have some texture to the print, but will destroy a brass nozzle

rainbow filaments - these filaments have colors that slowly change, and they look amazing over longer prints where you can really see the colors change.

quantum pla/ color changer by 3d jake/ other brand names. - ok so these ones are a bit expensive, but holy shins on a muffin they are great. they are double the price and I would recommend buying from 3d jake or other sellers because they sell 1000g rolls instead of 750g for the same price. they end up coming out with a really cool effect where the color changes depending on the way you look at them

tpu: this one will break the printer a little bit, but if you can manage to get it working, it is great. the whole appeal is that the filament is flexible.

asa- this is a great filament for mechanical parts, but it requires a heated chamber. you can buy one for 60m bucks from creality, but that is still spending money and I do not endorse spending money on things other than filament.

Brands:

prusament - solid filament, will tell you everything, including thickness at every spot on the roll and exactly how much filament is on the roll. it comes on a spool made of card board and plastic. overall, great low environmental impact spool, great filament, and more info than you could ever need.

overture - This is my second favorite filament for two reasons. they have full cardboard spools! and the spools have filament gauges to help you tell how much is left on the roll. this is especially helpful when you are starting out. they also send you a free build plate with every roll, which is not helpful, but it is free.

polyterra - this filament by poly maker checks every box and more. they have filament gauges, card board spools, and a amazing surface finish that hides layer lines making prints look so smooth! it is the best filament I own and I would highly recommend it.

Inland filament - I have not used this filament, mainly because you can only buy it in store at a microcenter, but I have heard great things about it.

lithophanes are like negatives of images. when you shine light through the back, they pop to life with amazing detail and brightness. printing these things, however, can be a little scary. printing them standing up gives you the best resolution, but for taller lithophanes, it can be scary as the part is just so tall and unsupported. there is not a lot you can do about this, and they will print ok, its just that it can be a lil spooky sometimes. I once used these and made a custom mount for a friends birthday. they look great with rgb lights behind them.

here is a online tool that will make lithophane models out of pictures.

lithophane maker: https://3dp.rocks/lithophane/

seems pretty simple right? just putting something else in a print. however, there is so much more. one of the best applications I have seen of this is printing multiple dragon scales into a fabric with lots of holes like fishnet fabric or nylons to have scales that and hold together, but still have a flexible fabric base to move on. to do said fabric inlays, you will want to first get a fabric with gaps in it, like fish net fabric but with smaller gaps. after that, slice your model, print 3-4 layers and then pause the print. you want to tape the fabric down on top of the print and start it. make sure to put it at a slower speed at first. after that you can let the print finish and hopefully have everything go ok. i have personally never tried this, but I will eventually.

there are many heat inserts. the basic way you would put one in is to heat up a soldering iron and push it into a hole that was made in cad. heat inserts are interesting because you can get threaded inserts which means you can use bolts to hold your parts together. you could also just undersize the hole a little bit and thread into the plastic, but it does not work well if you have to remove the screw multiple times. the other thing you can do is use nails as a heat insert to strengthen parts. this is what I did with the gold part to make it able to handle a little bit of force.

Safety warning: this will release some nasty fumes. make sure to have a respirator or other lung protection and do this outside or in a well vented area.

you can use a soldering iron much like a welding torch to weld two pieces together. just tape the two pieces together so that the seam is accessible, heat up the iron and gently move it through the seam, and then go back pushing material from the walls of the canyon into the canyon to make it look a little better. Personally, I am horrible at this, but it can help to join segmented parts or make faces on calibration cubes, your choice. I have used this both to make the little guy and to weld together parts of a 3d printed guitar for a friend

Well, that's everything I got on 3d printing, but I thought I might as well send you off with some more places to find any information you need for FDM printing.

Youtube channels:

Cnc kitchen: does a lot of in depth videos on various printing techniques and settings.

Makers muse: does a lot of printer reviews, videos on interseting tricks, and project videos.

https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/3d-printer-troubleshooting-guide : a great guide with just about everything you could think of in terms of issues and how to fix em

Frankly Built: does a lot of videos of making giant prints such as full sized swords and iron man suits.

Chris Borge: great youtuber who builds 3d printable engineering things like a vice or drill press.

Zack Freedman: entertaining youtuber with all sorts of great project videos like gloves to sense electricity and the classic sci-fi glasses with a computer monitor inside

other stuff

void star lab discord https://discord.gg/geNwm88U this is zack freedman's discord server, but there are so many people ready to help you if you ask. it goes not only for FDM, but resin, cad, and everything under the sun.