Makerspace

Information about our spaces and upcoming courses

Our 3D Printers

Ångström Makerspace has two types of 3D printers:

  • Creality Ender 3 S1 Pro
  • Creality Ender 5 Plus

Booking

To book and use our 3D printers you must first attend an introductory 3D printing course.

When you have attended the course you can book a 3D printer using our booking calendar, below is the rules and guidlines for booking.

  • Add about 15% to the time Cura estimates, for a good margin.
  • If you are booking for +12h, please note that you need to provide a motivation/description in the "Description" field of your booking.
  • If you are booking for +24h or want to use several printers in parallel, you have to email makerspace-angstrom@uu.se with a request (time estimate and project details) and we will approve it.
  • If you don't show up for your time within 30 minutes, anyone can use it.
  • Please contact someone in the Makerspace Team or on Discord if you want to cancel your time.
  • If you don't want to share your personal information (email address and name) then contact us under the above address and we will fix an anonymous booking for you.

The rules more in depth can be found on the booking site.

Octoprint

The 3D-printers are accesed using OctoPrint, a digital file transfer system installed on Ångström Makerspace's own computers. Assuming you've already booked a printer and prepared a .gcode file, you can follow these step by step instructions in order to print.

1. Go to one of Makerspace's computers and log in using your uu account.

2. In the search bar, type the name of the printer you have booked followed by ".local:5001":

example: I have booked The Sphinx, then in the search bar in Edge/Chrome I would type sphinx.local:5001.

2.5 If you do not connect to OctoPrint and the page says that it cannot be reached after having typed e.g. "sphinx.local:5001" or "piggy.local:5001", you can instead enter the ipv6 address for the printer into the search bar. Each printer has it's own ipv6, wich you can find in the list below.

The Sphinx: [fe80::2092:83ff:fe79:6437]:5001 - [fe80::2092:83ff:fe79:6437]:5001

Balthazar: [fe80::f0e2:b8ff:fe63:7295]:5001 - [fe80::f0e2:b8ff:fe63:7295]:5001

The Piggy: [fe80::142a:47ff:fed0:ed6c]:5001 - [fe80::142a:47ff:fed0:ed6c]:5001

The Slacker: [fe80::688f:57ff:fe4b:dd87]:5001 - [fe80::688f:57ff:fe4b:dd87]:5001

The Panda: [fe80::943c:c3ff:fe91:f7f6]:5001 - [fe80::943c:c3ff:fe91:f7f6]:5001

The Whale:     [fe80::688f:57ff:fe4b:dd87]:5001

The Rooster:  Incoming

3. Log into OctoPrint using the following credentials:

Username: creality

Password: creality

4. Upload your .gcode and press print!

Guides/compendium

Finding 3D models (.stl file)

To use the 3D printer you must first have something to print! There are numerous ways to acquire a 3D model that include finding one on a website, creating one in a CAD program or scanning one with a 3D scanner.

Webpages

Thingiverse.com - A huge library of 3d files and objects. Chanses are, if you thought of it it's already on this site. All files can be easily downloaded in .stl format.

yeggi.com - a search engine specifically for finding 3d objects

desktophero3d.com - Perfect for customizing your own mini for role playing games. It's currently in beta and a bit cumbersome to use, but fully usable!

CAD programs

OpenSCAD - Script based software, installed on the Makerspace computers. You can run the Windows executable also without installation. 

Tinkercad - Online CAD editor, easy to use and get started. This is also a website where you could find other peoples designs.

Fusion 360 - another popular 3D CAD program

3D Builder - Installed on the Makerspace computers. Easy to use.

Cura Basics (.stl to .gcode)

Before a printer can start printing, it needs instructions about how to interpret the 3D model (.stl file) and what options to apply to the print. The instructions that the 3D-printer can use is called a G-code, and turning your 3D-model into a G-code involves "slicing" the model into thin layers. This is done in a program called a slicer. We recommend using Ultramaker Cura.

In Ångström Makerspace, we have Ultramaker Cura installed on the computers. If you want to use your own computer, the software is free to download here: Get Ultramaker Cura.

The instructions below are made for Ultramaker Cura 4.8.0. Earlier versions may have another graphical layout, but the steps are similar.

Cura profiles 

You can download a profile with all of our recommended settings and import them to Cura. Under the "Profile" menue press "Manage Profiles" where you will find a big "Import" button in the right corner.

Ender 3 S1 Pro Cura Profile

Octoprint (.gcode to printer)

Our 3D-printers are controlled by Raspberry Pi minicomputers running the Octopi/Octoprint environment. This means that you can access the printer via your favorite web browser. However, you need to be on one of our computers at Makerspace.

Accessing from your own laptop connected to the university wifi will not work.

Instructions

1. Slice your 3D model using Cura and create a .gcode file to be uploaded to the correct Octoprint server

2. Open a web browser and go to the site corresponding to your printer. Read more under "Octoprint for the ipv6 addesses).

3. Login into the system

Username: creality
Password: creality

You can now see and access the full control interface for the printer:

4. Drag-and-drop your .gcode file over the browser window and release it into the left half of it, "Upload locally" or press "Upload file".

5. In the file area, click on your .gcode so that it turns up in the status area

6. Click print! (And make sure the first layer is ok before leaving)

Changing Filament

Our 3D-printers Creality Ender 3 S1 Pro and Ender 5 Plus are of the so-called FDM type, filament deposition method. These work by melting a wire (=filament) of plastic material. If you want to use a different color than the person before you you'll have to change the filament.

Heating up the printer nozzle

In order to remove the old filament you need to heat up the heater nozzle so that the remaining plastics at the very end of the filament melts and releases from the interior of the print head. The normal print temperature of 200 °C to 215 °C is enough if we are dealing with PLA.

Using the printer's front panel

You can completely control the printer from its own digital screen by following the steps:

  1. Ready
  2. Manual
  3. Nozzle temperature, setting the temperature to at least 200 °C

Wait for the nozzle to be compleatly heated before continuing.

Using the Octoprint web interface

You can also use the web interface to heat up the nozzle before changing the filament by:

  1. Log in to Octoprint of the desired printer
  2. Edit the temperature under "Tool" to at least 200 °C
Removing the old filament

In order to remove the filament you have to unlock the extruder by pressing together the spring loaded clamp.

Then you should be able to drag out the filament completely from the feeder with very little effort.

If the filament is stuck inside the print head, then it might help to slightly push the filament forward instead. If this doesn't help, then please contact the Makerspace team.

Preparing the new filament

The new filament passes more easily through the extruder mechanics when it is first cut with a wire snipper at a sharp angle of about 45 degrees.

Loading the new filament

Feed the tip of the filament through the opening of the extruder while again pressing together the spring loaded clamp. This opens the gap between the driving capstan and the idler of the extruder.

Push the new filament all the way into the printer head. The plastic should immediately melt inside the hot end and you are able to push out the remaining rest of the old filament.

Finishing

That was all, now you should be able to print with your new filament!

Troubleshooting

There is a great trouble-shooting guide at Simplify 3D!

Filament

There are several types of plastics which are used for FDM printing. In Makerspace, we only use PLA to avoid clogging on the nozzle and toxic gases that some other material releases when printing.

PLA
  • More information: Simplify 3D
  • Made from corn starch and other renewable resources
  • Softens already at 60 °C (inside a hot car in summer...)
  • Slowly becomes brittle in sunlight
  • Available locally in Uppsala at Clas Ohlson and Kjell & Co as well as diverse online sellers
  • Make sure to use 1.75 mm diameter filament - 3 mm filament will not fit our printers