Print City Induction

Well, since it will be my first time using 3D printers at Printcity (actually the first time I'd be using them in my life) I needed to be Inducted so as to understand the basic workings of the 3D printers, the Health and safety procedures, and tools that were available to me to ensure I have a good time in there.

Luckily for me, Printcity who understand the need for its potential users to not only understand the processes involved in using its equipment but also its do's and don'ts scheduled out a day in a week (Thursday) to assist students like myself who were new to 3D printing with an induction.

This ceremony ( If I may say so)was held on Friday by 10 am, on the 25th of march. Miss Emma Rothwell who is a Technical Officer at Printcity and also the new entrant coordinator carried out this task for me and another student in my class who was present that morning.

During this induction, I was informed that there were currently 55+ printers present at Printcity.

I saw the Ultimaker which makes its print by extruding hot material through its core over a bed adding the material layer by layer to create the model. This sparked up my curiosity and I had to ask miss Emma about it

"How hot does this get?" I had asked and she replied, "It gets so hot that you wouldn't want to put your hand in when it's printing" which is also from a health and safety perspective.

With Marvel characters becoming superheroes after having an incident with an element or object I think I think I'm having ideas to become the next "Print-Man", what do you think?

Also, Emma advised that when I go printing with the Ultimaker (not as print-man) that I should ensure that I perform an initial pre-extrusion so as to ensure that all leftovers on the core are removed before my print starts. I say that piece of advice there is GOLD as it will help ensure your print is only of the material that you want.

Next, was the form labs which I will say operate rather uniquely from the rest of the printers as it makes use of laser and resin in printing. Its printing technique is rather more of a submerged and heated method than an extrusion method.

Again Emma in her grounded wisdom gave some experienced good practice advice as to things to do when using the form labs printers. She advised that to avoid spill and contamination of the tray, the form lab tray should be put first before the cartridge when loading material. But when unloading material that it should be removed the other way around. Also that when it comes to the laser, the bottom of the tank shouldn't be touched to avoid affecting the laser view. Some Real Experienced Tips I'd Say!

Although Emma mentioned that we would only be using the form lab and Ultimaker printers for the duration of this coursework, she also took it upon herself to show other printers in Print city.

I saw the Creality printer which operates like the Ultimaker but utilizes a conveyor type system in printing, rather than printing within a box. I think the goal with it is to create a continuous print system or mechanism that will be of good use in the industry where continuous manufacturing is required.

Also, I saw the Markforged which primarily can do printing using metal and nylon materials, I think the name is brilliant as you can only "Forge" metal. Well, it operates the same way as the Ultimaker as well extruding its prints layer by layer on a bed.

Last but not least was the concrete printer, Yes! Concrete Printing. it was mind-blowing for me as well. Vertico ABB printer just shows you the advancement and use of 3D printers. As I believe you would be imagining, houses are now being printed. Isn't that awesome! you can literally print an ancient housing masterpiece as your home. I personally can't wait to try it out. What would you print first?

The Printcity induction that I had on the 25th of march, fortunately, was not my first experience of this amazing place. I'd also love to share with you a previous print city walk around that was conducted by my lecturers, Gary and Peter (Emma From the previous post) where I was shown various 3D scanning equipment and the CNC Datron machine which can be used in scanning and measuring prints.

Nevertheless, all these exciting manufacturing pieces of equipment that are at man's fingertips only seem to arouse the one question that has always plagued me. A question that has been brewing in me;

"Can Man keep off the Fast-Manufacturing and produce what he needs only when he needs it?"

Only time will tell I believe.

However, every good work that needs to be done needs to have a good plan behind it. The next blog post is about the planning stage for this coursework.

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