RAISE3D Pro2 Standard Operating Procedure
Revision: 1.01 | Date: June 23 2022 | Author: Frank Gauthier |
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This page describes the standard operation of the RAISE3D Dual Extruder FDM 3D Printer in the Device Development lab. This document will guide you through the basic use of the Rais3d 3D printer from 3D model to finished print.
Preparing the printer
Firstly, ensure the printer is turned on, there is a power switch on the back left side of the printer. Once the printer has booted up, you will presented with the home screen. You can use this screen to manually set nozzle temperatures and the bed temperature by tapping one of the buttons and typing in the temperature you want. You generally would only do this to preheat the nozzles and bed. When you start a print this will be done automatically based on your slicing settings.
The utilities tab allows you to move the print nozzle in the X, Y and Z planes. You can change the size of the movement by selecting the 0.1mm, 1mm or 10mm options and then move the printer nozzle or bed by pressing one of the arrow buttons. Pressing the Home buttons will set the nozzle or the bed to their '0' location.
If you want to load or unload a filament you can set the Load/Unload temperature by pressing the up or down arrows for the corresponding nozzle and then select load or unload. The printer will then give you instructions to complete the Loading/Unloading process. There are two holes in the top of the extruder head where you feed the in the filament for each nozzle.
The filament guiding tubes detach from the extruder assembly so you can gently guide the filament in or out of the extruder during the loading/unloading process. Orient the filament roll such that the filament wraps underneath the roll and extends upward straight into the guiding tube as demonstrated in the following picture, to ensure minimal stress on the filament.
If you want to move the extruder head by hand you can press the motor icon with the X on it on the top left and It will disable the motors and allow you to manipulate the extruder head manually.
You may want to clean the print bed by wiping it down with some alcohol to remove any oils which will help with adhesion between your print and the print bed.
Now that you have your filament loaded and your print bed prepped, prepare the model for printing.
Preparing your 3D model for printing
Convert your 3D model into an STL file for slicing. This process may be different depending on your 3D modeling software, but in Fusion 360 for example, you can export your model as an STL file by: right clicking on the body you want to print in the hierarchy, click ‘Save as Mesh’.
A ‘Save as Mesh’ menu will appear. Make sure you have the 3MF format selected, then choose your level of refinement (high works well) and click OK. Then select where you want the STL file to be saved.
Setting Up The Slicing Software
Make sure you have the IdeaMaker software installed on your computer. This software will take your STL file and slice it into the layers that will be printed and then convert it into the step-by-step code required for the printers operation (.gcode).
Open the IdeaMaker software and click on the ‘Printer’ tab on the top toolbar then highlight: ‘Current type of Printer’ and select ‘RAISE3D Pro2’.
Now you can import your model by clicking the 'Import Models' button at the top of the window
Browse to the location where you saved your STL file. Select the file and press ‘Open’. Now that your model has been imported, make sure the ‘View’ tab in the top left corner has been highlighted, and then select your object by clicking on it. Now select which extruder you want to print your object with. If you have a particular filament loaded in the left or right extruder already you will want to select your extruder accordingly.
If you want to do a dual nozzle print make sure that you select the extruder for each individual object on the build platform.
You can manipulate the Scale, Location and Orientation of your object on the build platform to suit your needs using the Scale, Move and Rotate icons. You will want to position your print so that the maximum area possible is supported by the print bed.
Slicing
You can start the process of slicing your model by clicking the ‘Start Slicing’ button. This will open a window where you will select your slicing template.
Now, make sure the extruder you are using has the correct filament profile set; for example 1.75mm PLA is the most common filament used in the lab. Select your slicing template. When in doubt you can always just choose the ‘Standard - Pro2 - PLA’ template. Slicing templates are available in the ‘Slicing Templates’ section of this document so you can download them and import them using the ‘Import’ button on the template screen.
Once you have your template selected click ‘Slice’.
Slicing Templates
These two templates will print PLA with exclusively the right nozzle or the left nozzle:
This template is for a dual nozzle PLA print:
Adding Supports
If you want to add supports to your print you can click the ‘Support’ tab at the top of the window, enter the amount of overhang you want to start supporting at, and click ‘Create Auto Supports’.
As you can see in the model above, there is no material supporting the underside of the indicated screw pillars. This would not print well at all, so we will generate supports for any overhangs 45 degrees or greater. Once you have generated the supports they will show up on your model as seen below.
Make sure you re-slice your model if you have previously sliced it and added supports afterward. The current templates do not have support generation enabled so when you slice with these manually added supports you will get this prompt:
We want to include the supports we just manually added, so click ‘Yes’.
Uploading to the Printer
Once the model has been sliced you will see the following window:
You can preview the sliced version of your model to ensure that your print will have all the desired settings applied. You can ‘Export’ your resulting GCode file to your computer or a USB drive. Or, In this case, we will upload the file directly to the printer by hitting ‘Upload to Printer’.
Note: You must be connected to the ‘Device Development 2.4 Ghz’ Wi-Fi network to upload directly to the printer.
If you do not see the printer as in the image above, make sure the printer is powered on and it has finished its booting process and then try hitting refresh. Once you see the printer you can click ‘Upload’.
Printing your model
Once you have uploaded your file to the printer you can start printing by opening the ‘Print’ tab, then selecting ‘Local Storage’ and selecting your print. The most recently uploaded file will be the top left corner of the local storage menu.
Select your print file and then select ‘Print’.
The printer will then heat up the nozzle(s) and print bed to the specified temperatures in the Slicing template. The printer will then ‘Home’ the X,Y, and Z axes. It will then lower the bed and extrude out some filament to prime the nozzle with plastic.
3D printing resources
Print Quality Troubleshooting Guide
