3D printing

3D printing

Printer model and programs

I am making 3d prints with Ultimaker 2 printer that belongs to Ron's group. I am using Fusion 360 to make models and Cura to slice them.

Materials and settings

The printer material comes in spools of 0.75 kg. Each spool has about ~80 meters of material.

Polycarbonate

The polycarbonate is a high temperature, strong and brittle material. The nozzle temperature is 260 deg C, and the substrate temperature is 115 deg C.

• The models crack at sharp corners in between layers (so no sharp corners).
• The models warp without a brim or a raft support.
• The models with thicker walls warp substantially more
• Warped parts can be trimmed down with a knife
• It's very difficult to remove supports from the small drill holes. The holes end up being deformed as well.
• 1/2 inch Thorlabs posts printed from the thorlabs models don't fit into their post holders. (They technically fit, but are too tight to be practical.)
• 1/2 inch Thorlabs posts need to be printed without supports because scooping them out is close to impossible
• The printed parts can be machined
• If bent along the fibers, the models can take a lot of deformation without cracking
• Tapping threads up to 1/4 is not a problem with 1mm thick walls.
• If the tap is forced too hard it might penetrate the wall and go through the bulk of material