Building 3D Printer and Fusion 360¶
3D Printer, Ender 3 Pro¶
Building¶
I was given my Ender 3 Pro by Mr. Dubick, and immediately went to work. First, I organized the pieces to check if I was missing any using the materials sheet. Before beginning, I tightened the y-axis bet using the tools give. When starting, instead of using the manual provided I used this tutorial by CHEP the process was easy. The only problems I ran into were correctly orienting the pieces, for example, I put one piece in backwards but luckily, I caught this before I progressed. Another piece that was installed incorrectly the z-axis mover. I didn’t loosen the screws all the way to allow the nuts to connect into the outer base. When aligning the x and z axis, I made sure to use a triangle tool to confirm it was 90 degrees. I finished the instructions from the video and my 3D printer was done. When powering it on I made sure to switch it to 15V.
Configuration¶
When taking the 3D printer home there was still more work to be done. I used this video by 3D Printing Canada
- Connecting the Filament to the printer
- Leveling the bed
- Running the test cut on the SD card
Filament¶
I installed the final part, the filament holder when I got home. After putting the filament onto the roller, I had to run it through the extruder, this was more difficult than I thought. I tried multiple techniques, bending the filament, cutting at an angle, and changing the location of the holder. None of these worked for a while, then miraculously it fit right through.
Leveling the Bed¶
This was a repetitive process. I had to constantly move the axis back and forth across the pad and use a piece of paper to make sure the end-piece was at a good distance. I scratched the pad and the piece multiple times during this, but in the end my bed was aligned.
Test Cutting the SD Card with Dog, G-Code¶
The SD card that came with the printer came with some test files. I uploaded it to the printer and began printing. I soon realized that I couldn’t take out the SD card while it was printing. After 3 hours the dog was done and my printer was functional.
Troubleshooting and Software¶
Software¶
I installed the software that came with the printer, Creality slicer. I followed the steps in the USB that came with the printer and the installation was easy, the application was where difficulties began.
- I wanted to connect my printer wirelessly through the micro-USB port. However, my port coms on my computer couldn’t work
- When slicing some old files from Fusion 360 in Creality slicer, the files wouldn’t be the same.
- My LEGO test file didn’t have a bottom piece and when trying to edit the design, it wouldn’t budge. I uploaded this to my printer hoping that the problem would be fixed, it wasn’t. The LEGO piece came with the bottom layer.
- Sometimes the STL file wouldn’t upload correctly and only the top layer would show.
This was the final straw, and I decided to download Prusa Slicer, recommended by Barbra Morrow. I was much more comfortable using this because I use it in my normal engineering classes at Charlotte Latin. I used this tutorial by The First Layer to download and apply correctly. I uploaded my LEGO test file and I was able to edit much more of the file.
Broken Extruder¶
The day after everything was working smoothly, I tried running another print to see if it wasn’t beginners’ luck and sure enough it was. My filament wasn’t coming out when I tried printing. I was able to manually extrude the filament, so the tip wasn’t clogged. I examined my printer for a while and realized that my extruder broke. The plastic piece that comes with the had snapped. I found a replacement metal piece on amazon. Turns out, the replacement is an “upgrade”. Because it is metal, the extrusion is much cleaner and more efficient than the plastic one. I again used a tutorial by CHEP to install the component. After this my printer printing again beautify.
Fusion 360¶
Before Fab Academy started I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the software. Thankfully, Product Design Online created this playlist on learning Fusion 360 in 30 days. The videos were very descriptive, and I was able to complete most of the designs with ease. The only setting change I made was when I was creating the whiskey bottle. My guidelines weren’t connecting correctly so I had to troubleshoot that.