Testing 3D printers is an in-depth course of. Printers typically do not use the identical supplies, and even the identical course of to create fashions. I take a look at SLA, 3D printers that use resin and light-weight to print, and FDM, printers that soften plastic onto a plate. Every has a singular methodology. Core qualifiers I have a look at embrace:
- {Hardware} high quality
- Ease of setup
- Bundled software program
- Look and accuracy of prints
- Repairability
- Firm and group assist
A key take a look at print, representing the OG CNET brand, is used to evaluate how a printer bridges gaps, creates correct shapes, and handles overhangs. It even has little towers to assist measure how properly the 3D printer handles temperature ranges.
When testing velocity, we slice the mannequin utilizing the usual slicer the machine is shipped with on its customary settings after which evaluate the real-world length of the print to the assertion completion time on the slicer. 3D printers typically use totally different slicers, and people slicers can differ wildly on what they consider the completion time to be.
We then use PrusaSlicer to find out how a lot materials the print ought to use and divide that quantity by the real-world time it took to print, giving us a extra correct quantity for the velocity in millimeters per second (mm/s) that the printer can run at.
Each construct plate is meant to warmth as much as a sure temperature, so we use the InfiRay thermal imaging camera for Android to examine how properly they do. We set the construct plate to 60 levels Celsius — essentially the most used temperature for construct plates — waited 5 minutes for the temperature to stabilize, after which measured it in six separate places. We then took the typical temperature to see how shut the 3D printer obtained to the marketed temperature.
Testing resin requires totally different standards, so I take advantage of the Ameralabs standard test: printing out a small resin mannequin that appears like a tiny city. This helps decide how correct the printer is, the way it offers with small elements and the way properly the UV publicity works at totally different factors within the mannequin.
Many different anecdotal take a look at prints, utilizing totally different 3D fashions, are additionally run on every printer to check the longevity of the elements and the way properly the machine copes with varied shapes.
For the opposite standards, I researched the corporate to see how properly it responds to assist queries from prospects and the way straightforward it’s to order substitute elements and set up them your self. Kits (printers that come solely semi-assembled) are judged by how lengthy and troublesome the meeting course of is and the way clear the directions are.
