Specifications

Software

Items for printing can be prepared using Bambu Labs software. This is available via Software Centre on Managed PCs or can be downloaded from the Bambu website.

Printing overview

An STL file is required for printing, and we can support users in configuring material strengths etc for printing. STL files can be obtained from online repositories or self designed using CAD software. The library provide training in 3d modelling.

Printing with one colour is fastest, as the entire print can be carried out with a single printing nozzel. Two colour printing is fairly quick with dual extrusion. Greater than two colours requires filament changes during the printing process, which slows down the printing significantly, and can be very wasteful if many filament changes are required, as filament has to be purged during each change.

Filament

There are lots of different filaments available, both for material type and colours. The default filament is PLA, which is a good general purpose filament. The printer is primarily printing molecular models, so a good range of colours are stocked for the various elements. Teaching labs also has small quantities of a few other filaments which can be used as necessary. It may also be possible to buy some filaments, however we are not able to accommodate printing some filaments, due to the printer location, eg ABS which has specific ventilation requirements.