[57north-discuss] 3D Printers (multidimensional printer corner)

Hi all, TL;DR: The Formlabs printer and Lulzbot printer really need some love. Let's spend a couple of hundred quid on each or throw them out. Can we approve a budget of up to 400 GBP to get it under control? At the moment the printers are taking up space on a bowed desk in the lab and need maintenance to be usable for all. In the case of both, we're at the point of use it or lose it. We're carrying a lot of stuff and there's nothing less appealing for new faces than "oh yeah, i remember when so and so used that successfully once, but we've got 7 not-really-working-3d-printers". Let's get them moved to a dedicated, flat, stable workspace and invest in makign them usable and repeatable. I suggest the old radio area that currently houses a boat anchor and TV, maybe combined with the table housing a sewing machine. The Desks are flat steady and reliable. Formlabs (SLA): This has sat unused for a long time as we're a bit afraid of it, but it's an outstanding printer which is easy to use and, if dialled in and cared for, should be a pull factor to the space. Items/Parts/Hardware it needs are: * New Tank * Resin * Wash / Cure Tank: This is the thing the resin sits in and the print rises out of. Formlabs considers them consumable, and ours has sat with semi set / set resin in it since the last time anyone tried to print. [1] Resin: the printer will take all kinds - I sugest we standardise on something cheap from Amazon[2] and get that dialled in. Wash/Cure: Once someone has printed something, it needs exposure to UV to cure and IPA to wash off excess resin. Floating around there's an ultrasonic cleaner and a UV Lamp, but with the explosion of home resin printing there are dedicated products on the market that are affordable, we just need to match our print area in size [3]. Lulzbot (FDM): The hackerspace has always been a bit crap at FDM 3d printing with printers that almost work. The lulzbot is currently in the liminal state of mostly working but being a bit disappointing. Every print I've done this year has had a warping/lifting issue [4] and layer 1 is a bit crap, I don't really know where to start on improving that. It would really benefit from someone dismantling the hot head, cleaning it thoroughly and assessing if we need to repair/replace/update the whole thing or the nozzle or something else. Similarly, it has mounting holes for a plastic enclosure to improve temperature regulation of the print area. Is this something we need? [5] We have a lot of old filament that isn't well stored, which probably isn't a great starting point for good printing. Does anyone have any opinions on whether we can revive it, or are we best to chuck it out, invest in some decent storage [5] [6] and start from scratch? I lean towards a new and controlled start. Computer: Wipe it and restart//recover the root password and update. Cura LE [8] is now under active maintenance again, get that installed. Other Printers: When these two work, let's give away every other 3d printer we have as 'free to a good home, no warranty' on facebook marketplace/somewhere else as a ploy to both clear the shelves and get people in the door. [1] https://www.solidprint3d.co.uk/shop/spare-parts/3d-printer-spare-part/resin… [2] https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELEGOO-Washable-UV-Curing-Standard-Photopolymer/dp… [3] https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELEGOO-Mercury-Machine-Station-Double-row-Yellow/d… [4] https://www.simplify3d.com/resources/print-quality-troubleshooting/warping/ [5] https://www.3dupfitters.com/products/lulzbot-mini-enclosure [6] https://www.123-3d.co.uk/Polymaker-PolyBox-Edition-II-filament-drybox-70180… [7] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dry-Store-Multi-Filament-Container-Materials/dp/B0… [8] https://lulzbot.com/support/cura -- Dave Hibberd <hibby(a)debian.org> Debian Developer Packet Radioist MM0RFN