Printing a Cube on the Prusa

This tutorial will indicate the steps to create a cube on the Prusa 3D printers.

1.Make an account with Tinkercad. ---Tinkercad is a 3D environment for moving around basic shapes. The optional tutorials will take 15 minutes to get you familiar with the system and most important parts of creating your object.

After the tutorials click on the Tinkercad logo to be brought to your Dashboard which holds your in process and finished projects.

Click Create new design.

Now create whatever you want. If you want a simple cube then just place it towards the center of the workplane. If you want any other object or form then take time to make what you would like. Be careful that you are taking the appropriate steps to ensure there are no overhangs on your model which would cause errors.

Make sure you name your project. Tinkercad likes to give them random names but they can be changed by clicking on the generated name near the logo.

When you are done with your masterpiece use Export->Download-> either .obj or .stl.

The Prusa printers only recognize .gcode files. On one of the computers at the makers_space run Cura.

Load in your file. There are a lot of default settings, these are appropriate for nearly all the prints. One item to note is the time estimate in the bottom right of the editor window. This is the time to write on the sheet, and an indication of when you should come back for your project. (Please come back for your project.)

Use the save function of Cura to save your file to a .gcode.

Find an sd card from one of the Prusa printers which has a micro sd inside. (The micro sd's are smaller chips at the back end of the larger sd's.)

Find the SD/USB adapter (looks like a flash drive), stick the SD card in and use the computer to move your file onto the SD. Sometimes there are problems finding the drive if it is not in the left most port.

Remove the drive and put the SD into your preferred printer. (Put the drive back where you found it)

Turn the printer on with the switch on the right.

Push and turn the dial to get navigate through ---Print from sd -> [File name]

The printer should do a test to check if the bed is level.

If the printer does much other than tap at 9 spots on the print space then consult someone in the room.

The printer should now be printing, fill out the sheet in front of the printer and come back a few minutes before the printer is done for ease of collection.

To remove your print use one of the spatulas to get under the print and separate the print from the surface.