Skip to content

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

  1. Connecting the Filament to the printer
  2. Leveling the bed
  3. 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.

  1. I wanted to connect my printer wirelessly through the micro-USB port. However, my port coms on my computer couldn’t work
  2. 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.
  3. Sometimes the STL file wouldn’t upload correctly and only the top layer would show.
My test LEGO STL for my Ender 3 (Day 1)

prusa image

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.

Beer Bottle (Day 2 Tutorial)

Last update: March 8, 2022