How to Orient 3D Prints - 3D Printing 101 Video Lecture | What is 3D Printing: Basic Knowledge - IT & Software

when it comes to printing paper on a
regular old inkjet printer you don't
really have to think too hard about the
print orientation you can print it right
way up or upside down but it won't
really affect the print quality
SDM 3d printing on the other hand is a
whole different ballgame and it's really
playing one-on-one will discuss how
important print orientation is to your
3d printing success let's get started
[Music]
but until now is pretty printing 101
here on maker's news first let's go
through some of the factors you can
consider when deterring the best part
orientation number one gravity your 3d
print is constructed with many layers on
top of one another
created at your hot and extrudes molten
plastics through a small nozzle it
operates in air and the print is
affected by gravity as it forms and
cooled while layers can overhang each
other to a degree this is definitely a
factor you need to take into
consideration number two think ahead
about supports when a designer has
overhangs that would fail on their own
you need to consider using support
material think of support structures as
the scaffolding of your prints during
the 3d printing process you need
something that will hold up the unstable
areas until the construction is finished
with SDM 3d printing you can use support
structures to support your unstable
areas or areas that would have issues
due to gravity as mentioned before those
good factors to think about the best
build orientation depending on your
print orientation you may be able to
minimize the use of support or even
remove them entirely if you want to
learn more about support structures you
can check out our 3d printing 101 video
on them here number three free yourself
from what you see the SDM 3d printing
gives you the opportunity to print
something differently from how you would
see it or otherwise use it after the 3d
printing process is completed for
example these letters you see them
standing up fried but that's not the
best way to print them number four fit
and finish and strength requirements is
there a particular size or area of your
model that requires the best visual fit
and finish if so you may be able to use
your printed orientation to affect the
visuals of the final product
in print orientation will also play a
role in the overall strength of your
finished 3d print so is that theory out
of the way let's jump in to simplify 3d
and explore some examples here I've got
a basic design to demonstrate why print
orientation is so important a block with
text on one side when I load the STL
file into the software this is the
orientation it comes in but should it be
printed like this you see juste the
layer-by-layer nature of 3d printing the
layers of a 3d print are actually much
like a wood grain so standing it up
would be the weakest orientation with
the smallest layer cross section you
want to build with a plank of wood like
that
so why would you put your 3d print in
the same situation so with that
considered how about this orientation of
the text facing up this is probably the
orientation many newcomers eternity
would choose however it's not the best
solution you see although you tense when
you print down to very fine layer hope
your nozzle diameter yields the lowest
quality result for the detail on the top
and bottom surfaces of a 3d print
because of this you want to avoid
printing the text facing up so knowing
all of this what is the best print
orientation for details and strength
well in this case it would be lying on
its side with the text facing sideways
this gives us a large layer
cross-sectional area for higher strength
and the textile has more details thanks
to the higher detail gains on the side
of prints because of the finer layer
height you may also want to enable the
3d transform gizmo for more complicated
models the gizmo tool is a fantastic way
to quickly and intuitively reorient
files as well as do very complicated 3d
transforms to turn it on go to tools
options preferences and then select
always show the 3d transform gizmo this
way let me select rotate we can now see
all the axes of rotation and the model
can be quickly placed in any orientation
we wish let's look at another example
this cute phone holder is adorable this
is how it's designed to be used but how
should it be 3d printers well importing
the final super price really gives us
this orientation that doesn't look very
easy to print in a house does it
remember we want to minimalize or remove
the negative support materials or any
areas that would fail due to gravity
let's meet the 3d printers stick to our
print bed well
doesn't come loose and fail halfway
through instead this design will print
much better line on its side to do this
I want to introduce you to the place
surfaces tool possibly my most favorite
tool to quickly orienting objects it
works by selecting a surface and then
rotates the model so that surface space
is flat down on the printbed so despite
this model being a very strange
orientation I can click Play services
zoom in a bit on the area I want to
place down and there we go printing
perfection and this impressed with no
issues at all cool stuff now some of you
guys I have this model and I want to 3d
print it what would be the best printing
orientation let me know in the comments
and I'll give it a shot so I hope this
video has helped you think about gravity
and orientation a bit differently and
how you can use clever orientation to
get the best 3d prints possible on your
machine and a big thanks Pacific fly 3d
for sponsoring this episode
of 3d printing 101 on makers news if
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printing tips tricks and tutorials and
if you're hungry for more 3d printing
101 we've got you covered with a huge
playlist of previous episodes my name is
Angus and I look forward to singing and
very shortly here on makers news catch
you later
bye
[Music]
you