3D Printing

3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital STL file. It uses 3D digital models to create solid fixtures by printing layer upon layer of plastic material. 3D printing has been around since the mid 1980’s. It has only became practical in the past seven to 8 years as 3D printers have come down in price. 3D printers are good for rapid prototyping. Currently the University has four 3D printers available for use such as the MakerBot Replicator 2, two Sindoh 3DWOX, and the FlashForge Creator.

3D Printing Machines available
The available mechanical engineering printers are located in the Metrology Lab (Room 123) inside the Gauss Johnson Engineering Lab. The sign up process to use these machines is based on a first come first serve basis. For more information on how to use these machines find a graduate student and/or go to the IEW office (GJ 113). Listed below are a few examples of graduate students that could be contacted.

Sarah Willis (will9753@vandals.uidaho.edu)

Office:GJ 113

Marshall Townsend (town7125@vandals.uidaho.edu)

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Makerbot

 * style="vertical-align:top;"|The MakerBot was purchased by the University of Idaho in 2012. This is the preferred printer to use for most cases due to its cheaper operating cost and ease of use. Tutorials on how to print using the MakerBot are below.
 * Printing Steps (MakerBot)
 * Part Design (MakerBot)
 * Code Generation (MakerBot)
 * Machine_Setup/Maintenance (MakerBot)
 * Post Print Processing
 * Reasons Parts Fail (MakerBot)
 * Reasons Parts Fail (MakerBot)



Sindoh 3DWOX
Sindoh Printer is 3D printer with a high quality based on friendly functions and easy to use for first timer user, with internal cameras and filament insulation and other advanced features.
 * Features (Sindoh)
 * Operation and Maintenance (Sindoh)
 * Trouble Shooting (Sindoh)


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Mark 2 MarkForged
The Mark 2 MarkForged is a newer addition to the 3D printer collection. It behaves similarly to the Makerbot so it is relatively easy to print on.

Naming convention for STL files
For appropriate accounting, save your STL files in the following formats below. Make sure the print operator name is included because often the people signed in are not the ones that should be charged. This information is collected monthly from the printer and sent to Molly in the department (mollym@uidaho.edu). If there is confusion in charges contact her.

Class project example (Class name, Print Operator) Widget1

Ex: (ME 426, Washington, George) Widget 1



Non-Class Project Example

(Out of House, Print Operator) Thingy2

Ex: (Out of House, Lincoln, Abraham) Thingy2

Research Example

(Research, Professor, Print Operator) Gizmo3

Ex: (Research, McCormack, Adams, John) Gizmo3

3D printing policy
The mechanical Engineering Department maintains and furnishes 3D printers for sole use by faculty, staff, and students. The use of the Printers shall be consistent with the purpose of the Department, which includes facilitating research and learning. In accordance with these purposes, the department has developed policy and procedures for use of the Printers:

1.	Administration. All projects (I.e components) to be printed shall require permission from a faculty member. All projects must originate from U of I classroom, lab, or research. To clarify, personal projects are probihited.

2.	Certain Uses Prohibited. Regardless of viewpoint, certain uses of the Printers are prohibited and violate this Policy:

(a)	Printing any object that us unlawful, threatening, abusive,tortuous, obscene, and racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;

(b)	Printing any object that is intended to physically harm, or attempt to harm, an animal or person in any way. This includes any type of weapon (e.q.knife, firearms, etc.) or parts of a weapon (e.g blade, gun trigger, etc)

(c)	Printing any object that infringes upon a patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party unless consent from the rights-owner has been obtained; The Copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The deparment reserves the right to deny use of Printers if, in its judgement, use of the Printers would violate Copyright law.

(d)	Printing any object or any part of an object that is regulated. For example: Undetectable Firearms Act of 1998 which specifically bans plastic firearms.

3.	Usage Subject to Refusal or revocation. The Printers are provided to further the purposes of the Department. In accordance with this policy, the Department may refuse usage of the printers at any time. Failure to abide by the Policy may result in revocation of the user’s Printing privileges.