Congrats! You were quite lucky to get a 3D printer for the holidays. It may be printed on toys, other home goods, and almost everything else conceivable. Before putting together your gear and starting the game, there are a few more things you should think about besides choosing the best Docker hub (see more about Docker hub from JFrog).
Obtain Safety Equipment
Congratulations if you possess a 3D printer that utilizes resin, such as the Elegoo Mars or Prusa SL1! Currently, practically any object may be created from a pool of UV-cured liquid resin. The issue is that liquid resin is very toxic. Inhaling the vapors or even gently touching the resin may result in serious health complications. You will need a few things to prevent illness from your new activity.
First and foremost, disposable gloves are required. Black gloves are appealing to me. Aside from being hard to tear, the color lets me know when I have resin on my hands, so I don’t touch anything else.
Second, a respirator mask designed for solvent operations is necessary, such as this one from 3M. It is simple to wear and remove, does not obstruct breathing, and has filters that are simple to change. Importantly, it works! I am often unaware of how bad the air is at my workplace until I remove it. Create your 3D studio in a well-ventilated space! A device like the Dyson Pure Hot + Cool that can find pollutants in the air could be useful.
Keep in mind that your 3D printouts are still harmful if they are sticky to the touch. Before they can be properly handled, they need to be cleaned and cured. There are several methods for doing this, the simplest of which involves cleaning the prints with isopropyl alcohol and exposing them to the sun to dry.
Review the Manual
Have you gathered all of the required safety equipment? Great! Go read the handbook right now. All that is required to construct your printer is to read the instructions. Even pre-built Elegoo Mars kits need assembly. But if you just put the parts together without knowing how to calibrate them first, you will fail to print more often than you succeed.
The Prusa SL1 printer comes with good assembly instructions, so you can skip the rest of the manual. The guidebook, on the other hand, acts as an introduction to printing with a resin printer, instructing you on what to look for and what to do if your first prints do not come out as intended.
Patience is a Virtue
When dealing with 3D printing or laser cutting, time is the only guiding principle to remember. Even straightforward printing may take up to a half-day. That’s acceptable. For both resin and filament printers, it may be essential to dynamically modify the speed so that the light or heat has more time to lay the plastic.
And other tasks just need more time. The Glowforge is a precision gadget that can do remarkable feats despite its small size, such as engraving your design into the lid of your Macbook. However, delicate production requires precise calculations. This cannot be sped up.
Always Make Alterations
Three-dimensional printers and laser cutters are examples of precision machinery that utilizes messy materials. UV film may get clouded by widespread resin. Dust and dirt from your last cut may impede the Glowforge’s lens. The filament may solidify and become hard around the printhead. The 3D printer you use is not a home appliance. Resin printers are well-built gadgets that seem to be “push a button and leave” operations, but they need ongoing maintenance.
Keep note of the last time you cleaned and inspected your system’s critical components (lenses, UV film, etc.) to verify they were clear and unobstructed. Verify that the resin is fresh and that, if using CW1, the isopropyl has been changed if it has been a while.
Be Innovative
After printing the initial models that came with your printer and cutting a few items with your Glowforge, you should surf the internet for further ideas.
The Glowforge community offers so many free designs that you may spend the next month playing with and modifying ideas before you create your own. I suggest doing so moderately. Observing how others organize their project files and the effects of various settings and materials on the final product is fascinating. Moreover, there is no reason “basic” projects cannot be modified. I used my Glowforge to create a box and carved a 3D picture on the lid to provide a clue to what was inside.