3DMakerWorld Artifex User manual
CONTENTS
Contents
1 Introduction 3
1.1 Specifications ................................... 4
1.2 Safety ....................................... 5
1.3 Acknowledgements ................................ 6
1.4 Overviewofchapters ............................... 7
2 Getting Started 8
2.1 Setting up software environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.1 Installing electronics driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.2 Uploading firmware (Kit package only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.3 Installing and configuring printing software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2 Setting up printer hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2.1 Checking mechanical motion (kit package only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2.2 LevelingHBP............................... 30
2.2.3 Loadingfilaments............................. 34
2.3 Printing out your first 3D model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 Working with 3D Models 43
3.1 Getting3Dmodels ................................ 43
3.1.1 Creating your own 3D models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.1.2 Downloading 3D models from online repositories . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2 Generating G-code from 3D models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.2.1 Loading3Dmodels............................ 44
3.2.2 ConfiguringSlic3r............................. 45
3.2.3 Slicing3Dmodels............................. 48
4 Printing with ABS Filaments 51
4.1 Configuring printing settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.1.1 Theprintersettings............................ 51
4.1.2 The slicing settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.2 Preparing print surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5 Support 55
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1 INTRODUCTION
1 Introduction
The 3DMakerWorld Artifex (Figure 1.1) is an open source desktop 3D printer. It makes
three-dimensional objects out of PLA and ABS filaments layer by layer. The printer’s frame
is based on the frame of MendelMax-2.0, and the design was heavily modified for print-
ability, strength, wire management, vibration reduction, filament feeding, and compatibility
with other features in the extruder and heated build platform (HBP). The printer uses an
MakerGear hot-end and its compact extruder design. A durable 24v silicone rubber heater
is used in the HBP to achieve fast heating-up. The design of 3DMakerWorld Artifex 3D
Printer is open to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Un-
ported license (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Figure 1.1: The 3DMakerWorld Artifex 3D printer
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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Specifications
Printing
Print technology
–Fused Filament Fabrication
Build space
–W×D×H: 230 ×310 ×190mm (9 ×12.2 ×7.5in)
–Volume: 13,547cm3(827 in3)
–Height extendable to 220mm (8.7in) in the middle of x-axis for additional 198
×310 ×30mm (1,841cm3, or 112in3) space
Layer resolution
–0.05mm (0.002in)
Nozzle diameter
–0.35mm (0.014in)
Print materials
–1.75mm PLA and ABS
Speed
–Top print speed
∗Infill or inner perimeter: 150mm/sec
∗Outer perimeter: 100mm/sec
–Top non-print speed: 300mm/sec
Acceleration
–Top print acceleration:
∗Infill: 3000mm/sec
∗Perimeter: 1500mm/sec
–Top non-print acceleration: 3000mm/sec
Electrical
Power requirements
–110/220 VAC
Electronics
–RAMBo
Hot-end
–MakerGear hot-end with 0.35mm nozzle
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1 INTRODUCTION
Heated bed
–24V 200W heated bed up to 120C
Cool fans
–Three 24V cooling fans for filament drive, print surface, and electronics
Mechanical
Overall dimension
–W×D×H: 484 ×482 ×480mm (19 ×19 ×19in)
Weight
–11Kg (24lb)
Frame
–Aluminum extrusions
Motion
–X and Y axis: linear rails and GT2 belts
–Z axis: precision linear shafting and ACME leadscrews
Printed parts
–Black ABS
1.2 Safety
WARNING: The 3DMakerWorld Artifex 3D Printer generates high temperature and contains
fast moving mechanical parts which may cause injury or damage. Please follow the guidelines
carefully to operate the printer safely. 3D Maker World assumes no liability for any loss or
injury caused by operating the Artifex 3D Printer.
•Provide sufficient clear space around the printer to permit free motion of moving parts,
including the front-back movement of build platform, the up-down movement of X-axis
assembly, and the rotation of filament spool.
•When the printer is in operation, never touch moving parts, including belts, pulleys,
motor shafts, rail carriages, and lead screws.
•Never touch the extruder nozzle and heated bed without turning off the power and
allowing them to completely cool down.
•Always power off the printer and disconnect USB cable before any service or trou-
bleshooting operation.
•Always discharge yourself by touching a grounded source before touching the electron-
ics.
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1 INTRODUCTION
•Never leave flammable materials near printer.
•Place the printer in a well-ventilated area for printing with ABS filaments.
1.3 Acknowledgements
As an open-source 3D printer, the 3DMakerWorld Artifex was designed with the inspiration
from many others’ work in the open source 3D printing community. We would like to address
our sincere acknowledgement to the following folks/groups for their great work, which has
inspired us in our design process:
•Makers Tool Works for the design of MendelMax 2.0
•kludgineer for the design of MendelMax 1.5: thingiverse.com/thing:20355
•MakerGear for the hot-end and extruder design
•Ultimachine for the creation of RAMBo electronics
•Ultibots for the design of power supply unit fan duct: thingiverse.com/thing:53876
•The RepRap community for the sharing of various 3D printing knowledge
The operation of Artifex 3D Printer is based on an open source software toolchain. We
want to thank people who have developed the following open source programs:
•Repetier-Host: the printing user interface
•Slic3r: G-code generator, included in the Repetier-Host
•Marlin: the firmware of 3D printer
•Arduino: used to upload and edit the firmware of Artifex 3D Printer
We would also like to thank makers for creating the following fantastic 3D models, which
we have printed out on the Artifex 3D Printer to demonstrate the machine capability:
•Torture Test by MAKE: thingiverse.com/thing:33902
•Surface Finish Test by whpthomas: thingiverse.com/thing:39050
•Cute Octopus by MakerBot: thingiverse.com/thing:27053
•Rubber Duck by willie: thingiverse.com/thing:139894
•Gear Vase by JelleAtProtospace: thingiverse.com/thing:19031
•Eiffel Tower by approx: thingiverse.com/thing:24068
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1 INTRODUCTION
1.4 Overview of chapters
Chapter 2 will be focused on how to set up the software environment and the printer hardware
for printing using PLA filaments. By the end of Chapter 2, you will be able to print out
your first 3D model using a pre-generated g-code for the Artifex 3D printer.
Chapter 3 will discuss how to generate g-code from a 3D model of your choice, either
from your own creation or from an online 3D model repository. A few 3D modeling tools
and online 3D model repositories will be introduced. And the main content of Chapter 4
will be focused on the slicing settings of Slic3r.
Figure 1.2 shows the structure of Chapter 2 and 3.
Figure 1.2: Structure of Chapter 2 and 3
Chapter 4 will cover the printing parameter configuration and printer set-up for printing
with ABS filaments. Chapter 5 will list our support information for future assistance.
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2 GETTING STARTED
2 Getting Started
2.1 Setting up software environment
The software set-up in this section is based on a Windows operating system. The similar steps
applies to set-ups for Mac or Linux based computers. All the software can be downloaded
on our website.
The set-up in this chapter The printing parameter configuration and printer
2.1.1 Installing electronics driver
Like other device drivers, the electronics driver of your 3D printer allows your computer to
recognize the printer when you connect it to the computer. The Artifex 3D Printer uses
the RAMBo electronics from Ultimachine. No installation is required for Mac and Linux
systems. The driver file for Windows, RAMBo USBdriver.zip, can be downloaded on our
website. Follow steps below to install the driver for Windows:
1. Download the driver and save it in a folder of your choice. In our case, we saved the
file on the desktop.
2. Unzip the compressed file using 7-Zip or other archive programs. (Figure 2.1)
Figure 2.1: Unzip the driver file using 7-Zip
3. Connect the printer to your computer via the provided USB cable. At the first time of
connecting Artifex to your computer, your computer will likely fail to allocate a driver
for the hardware to work correctly. We will manually update the device driver.
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2 GETTING STARTED
4. Open the Device Manager under ”Control Panel →System and Security →System”.
Under ”Other devices”, you will find the RAMBo device, right click and select ”Update
Driver Software...”. (Figure 2.2)
Figure 2.2: Update driver software
5. A window will pop up, asking whether to ”Search automatically...” or ”Browse my
computer...”. Select ”Browse my computer...” (Figure 2.3)
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2 GETTING STARTED
Figure 2.4: Allocate the location of driver file
7. A security window may pop up (Figure 2.5). If so, click ”Install”.
Figure 2.5: Confirm software installation
8. After the installation, you will be noticed that ”Windows has successfully updated
your driver software”. Click ”Close”. (Figure 2.6)
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2 GETTING STARTED
Figure 2.6: Installation completed successfully
9. Now, the RAMBo electronics will appear under the ”Ports (COM & LPT)”. Write
down the COM port which the electronics uses. We will need this information later
when setting up the printing software. In our case, it is COM3. (Figure 2.7)
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2 GETTING STARTED
Figure 2.7: COM port used by the electronics board
2.1.2 Uploading firmware (Kit package only)
The firmware of your 3D printer is like the operating system of your computer. The Artifex
3D Printer uses a customized Marlin-based firmware.
•For a fully assembled Artifex 3D Printer, its firmware is already loaded before the
shipment. You can skip this section. In the future, if you need to update the firmware
for your Artifex 3D Printer, please follow steps listed in this section.
•For an Artifex 3D Printer kit, after you install the electronics, you need to upload its
firmware.
1. Download the Arduino software
The RAMBo electronics used in your Artifex 3D Printer is an Arduino-compatible con-
trol board. The Arduino integrated development environment (IDE) software will be
installed on your computer to communicate with the printer electronics. The Arduino
IDE software runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and can be downloaded from
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2 GETTING STARTED
http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software. The following steps are based on the current
Arduino 1.0.5 released version for Windows.
•Download the Zip file of Arduino software (arduino-1.0.5-windows.zip), and
save it to your computer’s Desktop or a location of your choice.
•Unzip the file using 7-Zip or other archive software (Figure 2.8). The unzipped
files will appear in a folder named “arduino-1.0.5”.
Figure 2.8: Unzip the Arduino zip file using 7-Zip
•Open the folder and there is a file named “arduino.exe” (Figure 2.9). It is
the executable program of the Arduino IDE software. No further installation is
needed.
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2 GETTING STARTED
Figure 2.9: The unzipped Arduino 1.0.5 files
2. Upload the firmware of Artifex 3D Printer
The Artifex 3D Printer is shipped with a customized Marlin-based firmware.
•Download the Artifex firmware from http://3dmakerworld.com/support/downloads,
save it to your computer’s Desktop or a location of your choice.
•Unzip the file using 7-Zip or other archive software. (Figure 2.10)
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2 GETTING STARTED
•Click “File →Open...” (Figure 2.12).
Figure 2.12: Open files in the Arduino IDE software
•Select the file “Marlin.ino” in the unzipped Artifex firmware file folder
“C:\Desktop\ArtifexFirmware1.0\Marlin” (Figure 2.13), and click “Open”. Fig-
ure 2.14 shows the Arduino IDE with opened Artifex firmware files.
Figure 2.13: The main file of Artifex firmware “Marlin.ino”
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2 GETTING STARTED
Figure 2.16: Select the serial port of Artifex electronics
•Select “File →Upload” to upload the Artifex firmware to its electronics (Fig-
ure 2.17). Before uploading, the Arduino IDE will first compile the firmware files.
The progress of compiling and uploading is shown in the bottom status window.
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2 GETTING STARTED
Figure 2.17: Upload the Artifex firmware
•If the uploading is successful, you will see the message of “Done uploading” in
the bottom status window (Figure 2.18). If the compiling or uploading is not
successful, the error message will be shown in the status window as well. Common
causes of uploading failure include: wrong Arduino board type, wrong serial port,
or serial port conflict (e.g., the same serial port is used by your printing software,
which will be covered later in this section). For other error message, please refer
to the Arduino manual or contact our technical support.
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