Practical 3D Printing: Printer Performance & Metrics
Watch This Course
$199 USD $99.50 USD
-OR-
Or
8 easy payments of only $12.44 USD
Instant access. Easy checkout. No fees.
Printer Performance & Metrics
07.07
| 00:00 | In the previous module we touched on some of the features of FDM or FFF 3D printers and how these can differ between models. |
| 00:08 | In this module we'll dive a bit deeper to give you a better understanding of what you might want to consider when looking to purchase a printer of your own, but remember there'll be a lot more information throughout this course that'll also be helpful in guiding your decision. |
| 00:23 | Like any CNC machine there's going to be a significant cost involved and FDM printers can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars into the hundreds of thousands, but don't worry you don't need to invest big money to successfully use this technology. |
| 00:37 | In the current market printers under a thousand dollars or so are considered entry level or hobbyist although they are still very useful. |
| 00:45 | Over this price point we start to see more professional grade equipment and once we get up into the tens of thousands price range and up from here we're looking at industrial units. |
| 00:56 | That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep the expensive printers in mind, as many companies now offer 3D printing services meaning it's possible to make use of these machines without actually having to spend the big money buying them. |
| 01:09 | So, what metrics actually differ between the printers and lead to such a difference in price? Firstly, it shouldn't be overlooked that aspects like build quality, overall design, customer support, market and manufacturing location all play a large role here and these can be difficult to quantify. |
| 01:28 | Not only do these factors influence the user experience but they can also have some bearing on the print quality and performance. |
| 01:36 | Since it's just not feasible for us to review and own every brand and model of printer your best bet in understanding this is going to be reading reviews or word of mouth, especially with this technology evolving so fast and new products being released continuously. |
| 01:52 | What we can comment on here is that the quality of the kinematics of the machine has a direct impact on the quality of the resulting print. |
| 02:00 | Assuming that we all have some mechanical understanding as car enthusiasts it's clear that a stiffer printer chassis with less compliance and a lighter hot end will make it easier for the kinematics or motion system to control the position of the nozzle with more speed and accuracy. |
| 02:17 | This is just like how a stiffer chassis means less compliance in our suspension joints and lighter wheels can make a car's handling more precise. |
| 02:25 | Of course, the quality of the components used by the printer all factor into this as well. |
| 02:30 | Prime examples are the motors driving the motion and the quality of the components in the hotend. |
| 02:36 | An easier metric to understand would be the build or print volume, essentially what size part can be printed. |
| 02:43 | Small scale FDM printers will be limited to around 150x150x150mm3, although the standard size machines are more typically around 250mm3, and the larger machines can allow for up to 400mm3. |
| 03:02 | Industrial printers are usually considerably bigger, say around 900mm3, although there are even examples that are much larger than this, with equally large price tags. |
| 03:14 | In a unit limited to a 250mm3 print volume, if we want to print a part larger than this in any dimension,itt might be able to be printed on an angle depending on its geometry, but it'll most likely need to be split up into multiple pieces, which may or may not be an issue depending on the application. |
| 03:33 | All other things being equal, a larger print volume will be better if we have space for a larger machine. |
| 03:40 | But consider what you're using it for. |
| 03:42 | If you know that you'll never print anything over 250mm3, then the extra cost for a larger unit just wouldn't be justified. |
| 03:50 | Another easily comparable metric is the print speed, and while this is a print setting that needs to be changed between different materials, which we'll be discussing soon, some printers can simply print or move between printing operations a lot faster. |
| 04:05 | If the printer is capable of doing this without sacrificing quality, then this is naturally going to be beneficial and help reduce the print times. |
| 04:13 | One of the more common deciding factors for printers comes down to the materials that they're able to print, and this mostly depends on the temperature range of the nozzle. |
| 04:22 | As we know, the nozzle is accompanied by a heating element that melts the material before it flows through the nozzle and is printed onto the build plate. |
| 04:30 | All of the different materials we'll discuss soon have different melting points, ranging from around 150 to 350 degrees Celsius, or 300 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit, which need to be achieved in order to print them. |
| 04:44 | So, that means printers that can achieve hotter temperatures can print a wider range of materials. |
| 04:51 | Of course, there's more to consider here than just cranking up the temperature as high as it'll go, as we need to stay within the advertised range of the printer to ensure safety and accurate control for good print quality. |
| 05:03 | As we touched on earlier, some printers also have a temperature controlled chamber, which helps to control the rate of cooling and cure of the material, essentially leading to a more dimensionally accurate final part and a better surface finish. |
| 05:17 | Some materials are more susceptible to issues here than others. |
| 05:21 | The nozzle, chamber, and print bed temperatures are all aspects that determine which materials can be printed. |
| 05:28 | Past this, some printers can also print multiple materials during the same build. |
| 05:34 | This could be as simple as using different material for the support, or different materials for different sections of the part. |
| 05:41 | In more advanced examples, the color of the part can also be changed continuously during printing. |
| 05:47 | Many other features and metrics can be used to compare printers that all have the same temperature and temperature and are all A lot of this will depend on the application that they're being used for. |
| 05:58 | Additionally, while some people might enjoy working on their machine and fine -tuning or upgrading it, others will want more of a plug-and-play or set-and-forget experience. |
| 06:08 | In this course, we're going to be making the assumption that the latter is preferred, as we're simply using this as a tool to aid our automotive project, rather than it being a project in itself. |
| 06:18 | Let's recap the main takeaways from this module before moving on. |
| 06:23 | Other than the build quality, overall design, and other supplier-specific factors, there are a range of metrics that determine the performance of an FDM 3D printer. |
| 06:33 | The build volume determines the maximum size of a part that can be printed in a single piece, and the print speed determines how fast we can complete a print. |
| 06:42 | Nozzle temperatures determine the range of materials that we can print, but other features like heated chambers or soot also have an impact here as well. |
| 06:50 | Outside these core metrics, there are a seemingly endless amount of features and variations between printers that may or may not be relevant to your application, so as always, we need to understand our requirements alongside the printer specs. |
