3D printer Bits and Pieces Explained...E&OE.

[The Hat]

3D printers all look different but in fact there’re all the same, they just come in different sizes to suite your pocket, this is the CR-10.

3D printer has just a few components to them and here I’ll named them.
First there is the filament reel, then you have the Extruder unit, Hot-end surrounded by a cooling fan and lastly you have the Heat Bed or Platform.

The Filament is needed as a material to print with.
The Extruder sends filament to the hot-end for printing,
The Hot-end turns the solid filament into a gel and is forced out of the nozzle to form an object.
The heated Platform received the printed object and its held in place by Adhesive.

Here are a few Pics. of extra pieces that I may have missed

The Heat Block, various metal throats and Teflon tubing

 

[Nifty]

Wow! @The Hat you made that graphic!?!?

A few other additions:

The control box (the big thing to the left) is what houses all the electronics that supply commands, power, etc. to the printer.

The hotend has an area between the heatsink and the heat-block as a transition zone for the solid filament to transition into more of a liquid / gel consistency.

Also, the head-block usually has a heater coil/rod and a thermostat / thermistor that get inserted into the block.

 

[stratman]

Well done, Mr. The Hat!

 

[apetitphoto]

So are the hot end nozzles fixed size or variable? (Fixed, I suspect.) Do you need to change nozzles depending on the strength needed by the object being printed?

 

[Nifty]

So are the hot end nozzles fixed size or variable? (Fixed, I suspect.) Do you need to change nozzles depending on the strength needed by the object being printed?

Great questions!

The size of the actual nozzle opening is variable. I'm ordering some bigger ones (mine is designed for .4mm, and I'm getting .6) so I can experiment with printing faster. Then there are threading, throat length, etc. MK8, Mk10, M6 etc. etc. etc. It's all pretty confusing!

Also, there are different materials. Most are brass and work fine, but some materials that are more abrasive (like carbon-fiber infused filament), can chew up the nozzle. Some are pretty amazing... like the expensive ruby ones!

This may help:

 

[stratman]

So are the hot end nozzles fixed size or variable? (Fixed, I suspect.)

Nozzles are available in several different diameters, however, you use only one nozzle in a typical consumer 3D printer and that nozzle is fixed in size. If you want a different diameter nozzle then you must manually swap out the nozzle with a different one.

 

[The Hat]

A few other additions:

I basically just wanted to show and explain all of parts that go to make up a standard 3D printer without getting into any technical jargon...

Of course as usual, I missed a few bits and that's why I added E&OE.

 

[Nifty]

No worries @The Hat, I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents to continue on the amazing work you had already done! I think this will be a VERY helpful thread and that graphic is fantastic!

E&OE

haha, had to look that up! Errors and omissions excepted

 

[FryingSaucer]

@The Hat what do you use to make that great graphic?

 

[The Hat]

The Hat what do you use to make that great graphic?

Adobe Illustrator and then PhotoShop to JPEG it..