World Of 3D Printing

This is a new world to me and an area which is quite fascinating but, never ventured this path. While building my new Sofle v2 keyboard came across a few 3D printed cases which provided great ergonomics and I thought I should get them 3D printed from a nearby location which might provide with this service but in my head I was imagining the various other possibilities and ideas I could bring to life if I had my own. So started the journey of finding my first 3D printer and all I saw was huge communities around creality's Ender 3 series of printers.

printer types

There are two printer types FDM and Resin.
While FDM can get you great prints resin can get you super accurate prints
The down side with resin prints is
- resins need to be handled with care it is not good for your skin and you need to be super careful while handling it
- the cleaning process with IPA (iso propyl alcohol)
- UV light treatment

So working with resin printers at home was a big no no for me as there are so many things that can go wrong in a home space so FDM was my de-facto choice as PLA is one of the most widely used filaments and it needs no processing once the print is done. you dont need to be cautions while handling it as well you can touch the filament with bare hands. PLA is also biodegradable* (check references)

my choice

After sifting through a lot of printers I decided to go with Ender 3 S1 Pro and I will write another post sharing why I went with this printer.

firmware's

firmware's are the heart of 3d printers and they are responsible for sending instructions to the axis motors to move the various axis and the nozzle to print your ideas to life. There are various firmware's for FDM printers and of them the most popular are Marlin and Klipper. there are also other firmware's from mriscoc (professional firmware), th3d, jyers

3d parametric modeler

the program to create your 3d models to bring your imagination into the digital world is enabled with the help of software called the parametric modeler. a few good examples of these softwares are tinkercad, onshape, fusion 360 , free cad and there a few more but these will help you create STL files.

slicers

the language used by printers is GCODE its a set of commands that are present which instructs the printer main board to control your axis motors and hotend to print your model. It is the responsibility of the slicer to slice your 3d model i.e. STL files generated by parametric modeler into a GCODE file which the printer understands. There are variety of slicer programs like Cura, Prusa Slicer, Super Slicer, Simplify 3D which help do the job. of these Simplify 3D is paid rest all are free.

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