3D printing

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3D printing

Technical manager of Innovation Wing: Timothy Ng
Contact: timng94@hku.hk

Introduction

To the Designers,  Innovators, and Engineers of tomorrow. 

Have you always wanted to build something, but found the manufacturing part extremely difficult and cumbersome? That’s where 3D Printing comes into play. While traditional manufacturing technologies have matured throughout the entirety of the industrial revolution, it is a fact well known that the lead time for development is high, it can take up to 1 to 2 weeks, if you know what you’re doing.

The beauty of 3D printing is this: it’s cheap to fail. As design goes, the more iterations you have, the better your end design. There is simply to many factors to consider when designing, and building your prototype will help you weed out the non-essentials for your project. If anything, failure is a sign of growth. Fail more, but remember to learn from them.

You’re limited by your creativity and ingenuity. If you can vizualize it, that means you can design it, which means you can print it. So don’t be afraid to try! 

As with everything, designing a functional engineering prototype for people takes time and effort. We’re here to support you in your endeavors to learn, and we’ll share our knowledge so that you don’t have to start from ground zero. 

At the end of it all, we’re part of a larger community of makers. We learn, develop, evaluate, and most importantly we share. We share our ideas, our solutions, and our silly experiments. When we all come together with a shared goal, then, as a whole, we will be able to accomplish more than we could as individuals. It’s the collective effort that pushes our boundaries to achieve more. 

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get printing! 

Contact: timng94@hku.hk

Timothy Ng, 

Design Specialist at Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing. 
 

Access Rights to the 3D Printing Lab

Access to the 3D printing facility is available to members of the Innovation Wing only. Members are normally part of Project Groups supported by the Innovation Wing. Other groups interested in using our facilities may contact our technical manager to arrange access, or to aid with specific designs. Please consult the table below regarding possible charges. 

Steps to Get Access

  • Pass General Safety quiz

    Pass the general Safety Quiz from Innovation Wing. This is required for all Innovation Wing members. 

  • Read Training and Safety Materials

    Content available below, covers the general usage of the Innowing 3D printing farm, file submission, and printing, with outside references on how to design and slice files. 

  • Pass General 3D Printing Farm Quiz

    Take the general 3D printing farm quiz to test your knowledge! Upon passing, you'll be able to attend the 3D printing workshops

  • Pass Specific 3D printer Practical

    Show that you understand by printing your very own name tag as proof of your mastery! We have one session per week, register quickly before spots run out!

Printer and Prices

As of now, the 3D printers are reserved for projects under the Innovation Wing, and the use of the printer is free of charge, as dictated by the rules of InnoWing membership. Below shows our currently available printers for use: 
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Ultimaker 3

HK$ 2 per gram
  • Material: PLA
  • Suitable for Smaller Prints and Proof of Concept Designs
  • Print Volume: 215mm x 215mm x 300mm
The Ultimaker is a well known printer best suited for smaller prints, with a special emphasis on aesthetics. If you have a print project that requires a lot detail, this printer is the choice for you! If ever in doubt, do contact our Design Specialist Team.

Raise 3D Pro 2+

HK$ TBD Material Dependent
  • Material: PLA, (Future: ABS, PolyCarbonate, Nylon)
  • Suitable for Larger Prints and Functional Engineering Components
  • Print Volume: 305mm x 305mm x 605mm
The Raise 3D Pro 2+ is designed for much larger engineering projects. With the large build volume, it can take a variety of designs for engineering projects. It has a large variety of tunable settings, which is great for very specific project needs!
Printing Procedures
Design Your Creation with your favourite 3D modelling software
Download Slicer Program
Ultimaker Cura 4.0
Click Here to Download
Slice your design files
Save your design files (Solidworks/Autocad) as an .STL file and save as a .gcode
A step by step guide to using Cura Ultimaker
Upload it to the Google Drive
Fill up the form with your print request. Our design specialist will help you print, and when it is completed, we will bring it to the dreamlab for collection in the morning. Alternatively, you can pick it up at Yam Pak 3rd Floor at 2.30 pm - 3.30 p.m daily.
Link to Google Drive Print Request Form
Congratulations!
You finished you've completed the process!
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Reading Material

Please read through the training material thoroughly!

Policy and Etiquette

  • 1. Only send one job to the Queue at a time so other users can have equitable access.
  • 2. All prints over 24 hours in length will be deleted unless approved by a Design Specialist.
  • 3. No Personal Projects, only projects approved by Innovation Wing.
  • 4. Files promoted to the top of the queue will be deleted.

Available Materials

As of now, the available printing materials are PLA and TPU. We’re currently working on bringing in ABS, Nylon and PolyCarbonate (PC) for printing. 

A Brief Summary

We can classify materials in to two parts, mainly basic materials and advanced engineering materials. The basics are PLA, ABS and TPU. ABS is a stiffer version of PLA, but it’s used mainly for its flame retardant properties. TPU on the other hand is a flexible material. Great for creating compliant mechanisms that can move!

We then have the more advanced materials, such as PETG, Nylon and PolyCarbonate (PC). Typical use for PETG is as a food grade plastic. Imagine creating your own custom spoon!

Then we go to Nylon and PolyCarbonate(PC). These are the king of plastics as their engineering properties are extremely desirable compared to PLA. The difference between the two are their flexibility, with Nylon being more flexible than PC.  

Finally we have special R&D Materials such as carbon fibre infused material, industrial grade ABS, and the list continues. If you do have special requests, do contact our Design Specialist!

Have a look at the full notes here: 

3D Printing Material Notes

 

3D Printing Material Notes

Introduction to 3D Printing

We believe as part of a larger community of 3D printing enthusiast that there are a plethora of reading materials available online. As 3D printing is a technology that is developing continously, we would encourage in fact, expect that our members will look for solutions from outside! Though we understand that some of use have other priorities and might not have the luxury of time. However, a basic understanding of 3D printing will take you far, as it would help you understand how to design for 3D printing. Please read through the guide! 
 

The Free Beginner’s Guide