We’re often asked by new users,
“How does 3D Printing really work?”
We wanted to take a moment and explain so you can better understand how the Mantis 3D Printer functions.
Types of 3D Printers
There are a few different types of 3D Printers. Some print in UV cured resin, some print in plastic powder, some use advanced lasers to weld metal and cost over a million dollars… we’ll save all that for another day.
For hobbyist use, the most common class of 3D Printer is called “Fused Filament Fabrication”.
The Mantis 3D Printer is a Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D Printer, and uses plastic filament to fabricate designs in 3D space.
quick version: How does it work?
To use a simple analogy, the Mantis 3D Printer is basically a computer controlled hot glue gun.
The big difference is it melts down plastic, instead of hot glue…
Hot glue gun, where the “Hot Tip” melts glue
FFF 3D Printer, where the “Hot Tip” melts plastic
The computer provides extremely precise control over the position of the hot tip, and allows us to extrude molten plastic at a precise calculated rate. We extrude plastic as we move the tip around, to produce the shape we want.
To a new user watching the process, it looks like the tip moves around the surface of the build sheet, “drawing” a shape in plastic.
When that layer is complete, the print bed moves down a small amount (typically 0.2mm on a stock Mantis 3D Printer) and begins extruding plastic on the next layer.
Layer by layer, a part is built up in 3D space.
Here’s a short video to better illustrate the process.
Why is it important to know how FFF 3D Printing works?
Once you understand how your part is going to be fabricated, it allows you to begin thinking about design differently.
This layer-by-layer fabrication methodology has many advantages and a few limitations to consider… the better you understand how the process works, the better off you will be!
If you’d like to learn more, we invite you to check out this past blog post. It highlights a few rules regarding “unsupported overhangs” and will provide additional context to the information we have here.
An example of an unsupported overhang. This resource below provides more information, and solutions.
If you have any further questions, please reach out we are happy to help!
We hope you enjoy your journey into 3D Printing.