UCL Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Staff/Student Intranet

3d-printing

There is a range of 3D printers available in the teaching lab to produce quick prototype structures made out of various plastics.

TAZ.jpgWe have a number of LULZBOT TAZ 4 and 5 Printers

All of the printers use fused filament fabrication technology (FFF) and require your design to be in an STL format.

Software For Creating Model

There are a number of different packages on the market that you can design your model however we recommend Designspark Mechanical or Solidworks both are installed on the laboratory computers.

The file format the printers require is an STL.

Designspark Mechanical

This is a freeware design package produced by RS Electronics, it is very easy to use and we recommend this for anyone new to 3D design and printing. It may not have all the powerful features of the advanced packages but the learning curve is small and you can turn out designs very quickly.

https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/mechanical-software

Solidworks

This application is a Professional advance 3D / 2D CAD package. You can design, animate and introduce environmental variables to your design. I would not recommend this for the 1st time designer that has never touched a cad package; if you put the time in to learn Solidworks the models\designs you create will be heading towards a professional level and lots of companies and workshops use this package so it is well worth the time learning if you have it. 

http://www.solidworks.co.uk/sw/products/3d-cad/solidworks-standard.htm

LULZBOT TAZ

TAZ.jpgThe Lulzbot Taz printers are large form factor printers thus they can print large objects. Maximum build size is 270mm x 270mm x 220mm.

The Taz printers are not enclosed due to there size printing with HIPS and ABS can be a problem see use if you wish to use these materials.

The Taz 4 is setup to print with a rubber material (NinjaFlex). This material is highly flexible and strong allowing the creation of flexible parts.

The Taz 5 is setup to print sold plastics like PLA, ABS, HIPS, Nylon, T-Glase etc.

The Taz 5 Duel Head is setup to print a mix of flexible and solid materials allowing the creation of semi-ridged structures.

Using The Printer

1x SD Card is required to save your model.

Materials available

  • PLA (Velleman)
  • ABS (Velleman)
  • HIPS (village Plastics)
  • T-glase (Taulman)
  • Nylon 645 (Talman)
  • NinjaFlex (advance mode required and material profile downloaded here)

The model can be designed in any 3D CAD package that can export\save your model as an STL File.

Run Cura on a lab computer</p/>

If using your own computer\laptop Cura for the Taz can be downloaded from https://www.lulzbot.com/Cura.

On 1st use you maybe asked to setup the printer especially if this is on your own computer.

 Choose the following options (These are critical if you are not sure see a lab technician)

Settings for TAZ5 (Solid material i.e PLA, ABS, etc)

  • Machine = Taz4 or Taz5
  • TAZ 4-5 Selection = Stock TAZ 5 (PEI & v2)
  • Nozzle size = 0.5mm
  • Finish

If any options for installing drivers\firmware are requested after these steps. PLEASE skip them they are not required.

When cura loads you will need to setup another TAZ.

Select machine and add new machine

Settings for TAZ 4 (flexible material i.e NinjaFlex)

  • Machine = Taz4 or Taz5
  • TAZ 4-5 Selection = Modified TAZ 4 or 5
  • Bed Surface = PEI
  • Tool Head Hot End = v1 (Budaschnozzle)
  • Tool Head Selection = Flexystruder v1
  •  Finish

If any options for installing drivers\firmware are requested after these steps. PLEASE skip them they are not required.

Select Machine and choose TAZ5 for solid print or Taz4 for flexible .

On the left hand side.

Select All under Material ease of use.

Select the material you want to use.

If material is not listed or printing flexible see a technician as a material profile is required.

Load your Model (STL file) and rotate the model so it lays flat with minimum over hangs.

Select print profile as Standard.

Select if required a Print support structure.

Select Print a brim. (always recommended to stop\reduce warping at the base)

Save code to SD Card.

To Print see a technician for a 1st time breif operational guide to printing your model.

Dual head printing see lab technicians, as this is advanced printing and calibration must be done before for each user