NWA3D A5 User manual

NWA3D A5 User Manual
1. NWA3D A5 3D Printer Part Diagrams
2. Assembling the Spool Holder
3. Calibrating the Build Plate
4. Loading and Removing Filament
5. Installing and Setting Up Cura
6. Operation: The Four Steps of 3D Printing
7. Troubleshooting
8. Glossary of 3D Printing Terms
9. Additional Resources
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NWA3D A5 User Manual
1. NWA3D A5 3D Printer Part Diagrams
(Section 8: Glossary of 3D Printing Terms contains a detailed description of all terms)
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NWA3D A5 User Manual
2. Assembling the Spool Holder
1. Loosen the nuts on the two bolts
installed on the spool holder side
pieces until they are near the end
of the bolt threads—but don’t
remove them completely.
2. Slide the base of the spool holder
into the side piece while at the
same time sliding the nut into the
small groove in the base.
3. Attach the side piece to the base by
tightening the bolt with a 3mm hex
key (Allen) wrench. Do not
over-tighten or it will crack.
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to attach the
other side piece.
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3. Calibrating the Build Plate
Video Tutorial: How to calibrate the build plate
To print good parts, the build plate needs to be calibrated—it needs to be at the correct
distance from the nozzle at all locations. If it’s too close to the nozzle, the nozzle will dig
into the build surface, or the melted plastic will not be able to come out of the nozzle. If it’s
too far from the nozzle, the part will not stick to the build surface or will warp.
If you use blue painter’s tape as your print surface, the nozzle needs to be about 0.10mm
from the build plate in all locations. This is about the thickness of a single sheet of copier
paper. If you use a LokBuild print surface, the nozzle needs to be about 0.20–0.25mm from
the build plate in all locations. This is about the thickness of two sheets of copier paper (or
one sheet folded in half to double its thickness).
You want to adjust the height of the build plate so that you can slide the paper between the
nozzle and the build plate with some resistance. You should feel the paper vibrating and
dragging when you move it between the nozzle, but not so close that the copier paper
buckles.
1. Select Setup > Auto home. This will move the nozzle to the home position at the front
left corner of the build plate, where the X, Y, and Z axis are set to 0,0,0.
2. When the motors stop, select Setup > Disable motors. This will allow you to move the
hot end of the extruder assembly (X axis) and build plate (Y axis) by hand.
a. Pro Tip: The Z axis motor is also disabled, yet you don’t want it to move at
all. So you should handle the printer gently during the calibration process.
Keep it on a flat surface and don’t tip it while calibrating.
3. For painter’s tape print surfaces, slide a piece of copier paper between the nozzle and
the build plate. For LokBuild print surfaces, first fold the paper in half to double its
thickness, then slide it between the nozzle and build plate.
4. Move the hot end (X axis) and build plate (Y axis) so that the nozzle is directly above the
front right corner adjustment knob under the bed. Adjust that knob until the paper
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slides with just a tiny bit of drag, then move the nozzle and repeat the process at the
other two adjustment locations. We recommend adjusting the knob on the front right
first, then the back one on the right, then the one in the center of the left side.
5. Repeat Steps 1–4 until the amount of tension on the paper is consistent at all locations,
including the center of the build plate.
a. Pro Tip: You can also use the “visual method” to calibrate. Move the hot end
above a plate adjustment screw. Tighten or loosen the adjustment knob to
create the same tiny gap created from using a folded sheet of paper. Feel free
to choose your favorite method and use it anytime you need to calibrate a
build plate!
b. Pro Tip: You can “Hot Level” your printer by carefully adjusting the knobs
during the first layer of the build while the plate is moving until the distance
between the build plate and the nozzle is producing smooth extruded lines.
Be careful of the moving parts so you don’t get pinched. After you have
fine-tuned the bed calibration during the first layer, you may want to stop the
build, clear the build plate, and restart the build so it will look better on the
bottom.
6. The first layer of the print will show whether the distance between the nozzle and build
plate is correct. Refer to the following graphic for clarity.
a. If the bed is too high, the extruded plastic will squeeze out the sides of the nozzle.
The nozzle will plow the plastic and leave a first layer that is too thin. Or it may be so
close that no plastic is extruded at all. You will hear the extruder gear clicking as it
unsuccessfully tries to advance the filament, because the filament has nowhere to
go.
b. If the bed is too low, the extruded plastic may not stick to the build plate. Even if it
does stick to the build plate, parallel lines of plastic on the first layer will look
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mounded, with gaps in between them.
4. Loading and Removing Filament
Video Tutorial: How to remove clogs, load filament, and remove filament
1. Loading filament
a. Load a spool of filament into the spool holder. Slide the bolt through the spool’s
center hole, and then place the bolt into the recessed grooves on the spool holder.
b. Cut the end of the filament at an angle so the irregular melted plastic at the end
doesn’t cause a clog. It will also be easier to feed into the extruder and Bowden tube.
c. Feed the end of the filament into the extruder by hand as you squeeze the extruder
release lever.
d. Push the filament all the way through the Bowden tube until it stops when it hits the
back of the nozzle.
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e. Select Setup > Preheat PLA.
f. When the printer is fully heated, remove all of the filament color left in the printer
from previous prints before you start a new print. To do this, manually push
filament through the extruder as you squeeze the extruder release lever until the
new color starts coming out of the nozzle.
g. Pro Tip: Never leave the printer preheated with material inside of it when it is not
printing. The filament will bake inside of the nozzle assembly and create a clog.
2. Removing filament
To remove the filament cleanly, you should do a “soft pull.” This involves heating the
nozzle to 100°C, then pulling the filament out of the printer.
a. Select Setup > Preheat soft pull and wait until the nozzle temperature reaches the
set temperature.
b. Wait a minute for the temperature to stabilize.
c. When the nozzle temperature is a stable 100°C, squeeze the extruder release lever
and pull the filament out of the extruder with a steady, firm motion.
d. Cut the end of the filament to remove the irregular melted plastic at the end.
e. Feed the end of the filament into the hole on the side of the spool.
i. Pro Tip: This will insure the filament doesn’t get tangled and cause a
build to fail the next time you use it.
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5. Installing and Setting Up Cura
Video Tutorial: How to set up Cura 4
Slicing is the process of converting your 3D model into the layered print language your
printer can understand, called G-Code. A program called a slicer automatically creates
G-Code for your printer. We recommend using free, open-source slicer programs. Our
favorite slicer is Ultimaker Cura. It’s free and easy to use. We’ve included Cura and its
setup profile on your printer’s SD card. For beginning users, we recommend that you
install Cura on a PC or Mac and use it to do all your slicing.
In this section, you’ll install and set up Cura for your NWA3D A5.
a. Install Ultimaker Cura on a PC or Mac. Both the .exe and .dmg versions are included
on your microSD card. You can also download Cura from the Ultimaker Cura
website.
b. Open the Cura application. When it’s opened for the first time, you’ll see the “Add
Printer” window. Select “Custom > Custom FDM machine.” In the middle right, type
“NWA3D A5” for the printer name, and then click the “Add Printer” button on the
lower right.
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c. In the Machine Settings window, enter the following settings:
X (Width): 125 mm
Y (Depth): 150 mm
Z (Height): 100 mm
Build plate shape: Rectangular
Origin at center: unchecked
Heated bed: unchecked
GCode flavor: RepRap
Number of Extruders: 1
d. Select the ‘Extruder 1’ tab in the top left corner and enter the final settings:
Nozzle Diameter: 0.4 mm
Compatible Material Diameter: 1.75 mm
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e. Don’t change any other settings. Click the “Finish” button at the bottom right of the
window.
f. Select Settings > Profile > Manage Profiles. Then click on the Import button. Select
“NWA3D A5 Normal Quality.curaprofile” from the microSD card. This is the
medium-quality settings for the NWA3D A5. We recommend that you use this
profile as your default. If you modify your Cura settings, you can always reload this
profile from the microSD card to reset your profile to this default.
g. Highlight the “NWA3D A5 Normal Quality” profile in the Profiles window and click
on the Activate button. Click “Close” in the bottom right.
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