[{"t":"3D Printer Enclosures and Air Filters: What They Do and Cost","k":"3D printing · Accessories","d":"When an enclosure makes sense for an open 3D printer, which variants exist and what HEPA and activated carbon filters can do.","u":"/en/3d-printing/accessories/3d-printer-enclosure-air-filter/","x":"Many entry level printers are open frame. For PLA and PETG that is not a problem. As soon as you want to print ABS or ASA, though, or the printer stands in a living space, or noise and dust bother you, the question of an enclosure comes up. This article explains what an enclosure does, which variants exist and when an air filter makes sense in addition. What an enclosure is good for Heat in the build chamber: ABS and ASA shrink strongly as they cool. An enclosure keeps the heat of the print bed in the build chamber and so reduces warping /3d druck/probleme/warping/ and cracks between the layers. No draughts: even an open window or an air conditioner is enough to make corners lift off the bed. Less noise: fans and stepper motors are dampened, but not silenced. How much it helps depends heavily on material and how well it seals. Less dust: on axes, print plate and filament. Containing emissions: particles and gases initially stay in the enclosure. Without a filter or exhaust, though, they escape at the latest when you open it. An enclosure alone therefore does not make the air cleaner. Protection: children and pets cannot as easily reach into hot or moving parts. What particles and gases are produced during printing and how to ventilate properly is covered in detail under 3D printing safety /3d druck/grundlagen/sicherheit/ . Variants at a glance Variant Typical price Advantages Disadvantages Fabric tent with aluminium coating about €30 to €80 cheap, quick to set up, stores compactly not very rigid, hardly any noise protection, hard to seal Enclosure from IKEA Lack tables about €30 to €100 plus panels and small parts cheap, many build plans, easy to extend DIY work, wood based material is combustible Kit from aluminium profiles and panels about €100 to €300 sturdy, often made to fit specific printers assembly, quality varies widely Manufacturer enclosure about €300 to €400 fits exactly, often with mounts for power supply, light and filter expensive, only for specific models A Lack side table costs around €10 at IKEA. For a typical enclosure you stack two tables and add side walls made of acrylic or polycarbonate panels. Panel prices depend heavily on size and material. If you print a lot of ABS, ASA or nylon, you should also take a look at enclosed printers /3d druck/drucker/geschlossene/ . A retrofitted enclosure with a filter quickly reaches the price difference to an enclosed machine. What to look for in an enclosure Electronics and power supply It gets warm inside the enclosure, quickly 40 °C and more with ABS. The mainboard, stepper drivers and power supply are not always designed for this. Many enclosure build plans therefore move the power supply and electronics outside. If that is not possible with your printer, ensure ventilation for the electronics and keep an eye on the temperature with a simple thermometer. The filament extruder and plastic parts on the printer itself can also soften at high chamber temperatures, especially if they are printed in PLA. PLA in an enclosed chamber PLA does not like heat. If the chamber gets too warm, the filament softens above the nozzle and the extruder clogs. The Prusa Knowledge Base names a room temperature above 35 °C, or above 30 °C with some filaments, as a common cause of this so called heat creep. A fully closed, unventilated enclosure is very likely to be a problem for PLA. For PLA and usually PETG as well, therefore open the door or lid or fit a fan. More under Clogged nozzle /3d druck/probleme/duese verstopft/ . Fire protection An enclosure shuts the printer in, including in the event of a fire. Therefore: Prefer non combustible or flame retardant materials , for example metal, glass or aluminium composite panels. Acrylic burns, polycarbonate is more flame retardant. Wood and wood based materials, as in Lack tables, are combustible. With fabric tents, check the manufacturer's heat resistance information and do not let them rest directly against the hotend. Do not store filamen"},{"t":"3D printer maintenance: what to do and when, with a schedule","k":"3D printing · Basics","d":"Maintenance schedule for FDM printers: what to do after every print, weekly, monthly and every few hundred hours, from build plate to PTFE tube.","u":"/en/3d-printing/basics/printer-maintenance/","x":"A 3D printer often runs for hundreds of hours a year. Dust and filament residue build up, belts slacken and nozzles wear down. Many print problems can be prevented with a bit of regular care before they arise. The schedule below is a guide. The exact intervals and lubricants are given in your printer's manual, which always takes priority. Maintenance schedule When What How Before or after every print Clean the build plate Keep it grease free, do not touch the surface with your fingers Tidy the build chamber Remove filament residue, support remnants and purge waste Inspect the nozzle visually No plastic crust, no blob at the nozzle tip Weekly with heavy use Clean the fans Blow away dust with compressed air, remove strings with tweezers Check the nozzle cleaner and wiper If fitted, keep free of residue Monthly Clean axes and rods Wipe with a lint free cloth and isopropanol Check belt tension Both belts equally taut Check screws and frame Retighten loose screws, do not overtighten Check the firmware version Read the changelog, then update Every 200 to 300 print hours Lubricate the axes Only as specified by the manufacturer and with the right lubricant Clean the extruder gears Remove filament dust with a brush or compressed air Check the nozzle, replace if necessary Much sooner with abrasive filaments Check the PTFE tube Check the ends for discolouration and deformation About once a year Check cables and connectors With the machine switched off and unplugged Replace filters Activated carbon filters every 1 to 3 months up to yearly, depending on use For context: Prusa gives cleaning and lubrication of the axes every 200 print hours and an electronics check every 600 to 800 hours for the MK4 series. For the X1 series, Bambu Lab recommends cleaning the fans weekly, cleaning the rods monthly and lubricating the Z lead screws every three months. Cleaning the build plate Fingerprints and grease are the most common reason why the first layer /3d druck/probleme/erste schicht/ suddenly stops sticking. For daily care, isopropanol on a lint free cloth is enough. Washing up liquid with warm water is more thorough and often more effective; dry well afterwards. For smooth PEI plates some manufacturers allow acetone occasionally, but usually not for textured plates. If in doubt, read the plate's instructions. Plates with scratches, dents or a worn coating hold less well. They are a wear part. Checking and replacing the nozzle A brass nozzle lasts a long time when printing PLA and PETG. Abrasive filaments with carbon or glass fibres, glitter or glow pigments wear it down much faster. Hardened nozzles exist for this. Signs of a worn nozzle: The nozzle hole looks larger or out of round Lines become uneven although temperature and flow are right Stringing or over extrusion increase for no apparent reason When replacing, only tighten the nozzle when hot unless the manufacturer says otherwise, and wear gloves. On many current printers you replace the whole hotend module instead of just the nozzle. If the nozzle is blocked, Clogged nozzle /3d druck/probleme/duese verstopft/ helps. Tensioning the belts Loose belts lead to inaccuracies, ghosting or layer shift /3d druck/probleme/layer shift/ . Belts that are too tight put strain on bearings and motors. Prusa describes the right tension like this: when plucked, the belts sound like a deep bass note. On CoreXY printers both belts must be tensioned equally. Many manufacturers offer a measuring function or an app that analyses the tone. Lubricating axes and linear rails Here it especially applies: follow the manufacturer's instructions. The parts differ greatly depending on the printer. Smooth steel rods with linear bearings: sparingly, with the recommended lubricant Linear rails: usually grease or oil via the lubrication nipples or directly onto the track Z axis lead screws: a thin coat of grease Carbon rods: clean only, do not lubricate Before lubricating, wipe off old grease and dust. Too much lubricant a"},{"t":"3D printer nozzles: choosing the right material and size","k":"3D printing · Accessories","d":"Brass, hardened steel or tungsten carbide? 0.2 or 0.6 mm? Which nozzle suits what, what high-flow means and how to change the nozzle safely.","u":"/en/3d-printing/accessories/nozzles/","x":"The nozzle is a small part with a big effect. Its material decides which filaments you can print and how long it lasts. Its diameter determines how fine or how fast you print. Almost every printer comes with a 0.4 mm nozzle fitted, often made of brass or, on newer machines, of hardened steel. The materials Brass The standard. Brass conducts heat very well, so the filament melts evenly. Brass nozzles are cheap and easy to clean. They are ideal for PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU, PC and nylon without fillers. Their weak point: brass is soft. Filaments with carbon or glass fibres, glitter, metal powder or glow pigments wear out the opening quickly. Hardened steel The usual choice for abrasive filaments. Hardened steel is much more wear resistant but conducts heat worse than brass, according to manufacturers around 16 to 22 W/mK instead of about 105 W/mK. At high throughput the nozzle can therefore reach its limits. Some profiles work with a slightly higher temperature or a lower maximum flow. Modern variants are coated, for example nickel plated, so that less material sticks and they do not corrode. Stainless steel Not as hard as hardened steel, but corrosion resistant and free of lead, which brass can contain in small amounts. Stainless steel nozzles are therefore often mentioned for parts with food contact. Caution: a nozzle alone does not make a part food safe; filament and layer structure play a part just as much. Copper alloys, nickel plated Copper conducts heat even better than brass. Coated with nickel or other layers, filament residue sticks less and the surface lasts somewhat longer. These nozzles are intended for fast printing and high temperatures. Against strongly abrasive filaments the coating helps only to a limited extent; the exact approval is given by the manufacturer. Ruby and tungsten carbide The long lasting ones. With ruby nozzles, a gemstone sits as the tip in a brass body. Tungsten carbide is extremely hard and still conducts heat decently. Both last a very long time even with fibre reinforced filaments. In return they cost many times as much as a steel nozzle, and a ruby tip can break on a hard knock. Worthwhile if you regularly print fibre reinforced filaments /3d druck/filamente/faserverstaerkte filamente/ . Material Abrasive filaments Heat conduction Price approx. Brass no very good €1 to €20 Stainless steel limited low €5 to €20 Hardened steel yes low €10 to €50 Copper, coated depends on the manufacturer very good €20 to €40 Ruby, tungsten carbide yes, very long life good €40 to €130 The range for brass is wide: replica sets cost only one to two euros per nozzle, branded nozzles considerably more. With quick change systems you buy a complete hotend module instead of the nozzle, where prices are around €15 to €60. The sizes The diameter determines how wide a line becomes and how tall a layer may be. As a rule of thumb, Prusa states that the layer height /3d druck/einstellungen/layerhoehe/ should be at most 80 % of the nozzle diameter. Nozzle Max. layer height approx. Use 0.2 to 0.25 mm 0.16 to 0.2 mm miniatures, fine lettering, jewellery, very small parts 0.4 mm 0.32 mm standard, a good compromise for almost everything 0.6 mm 0.48 mm sturdy everyday parts, holders, vases, considerably faster 0.8 mm 0.64 mm large functional parts, visible layers do not matter According to Prusa, a 0.6 mm nozzle prints many objects in about half the time of a 0.4 mm nozzle. Small nozzles have drawbacks: they clog more easily, print much more slowly and cannot handle filaments with fibres or larger particles. For fibre reinforced filaments, manufacturers usually recommend at least 0.4 mm, often 0.6 mm. After changing a nozzle you have to choose the matching profile in the slicer. Otherwise it keeps calculating with the old line width. High flow nozzles If you print fast, you eventually hit the limit of how much filament can be melted per second. High flow nozzles increase this throughput. Two approaches are common: a longer melt"},{"t":"3D printers for children: safety, materials, getting started","k":"3D printing · Buying guide","d":"What parents should look for: manufacturers' age guidance, hot parts, emissions, supervision, PLA instead of resin, Tinkercad to start, first projects and criteria for a suitable machine. No buying recommendation.","u":"/en/3d-printing/buying-guides/3d-printers-for-kids/","x":"Children and teenagers learn a lot from a 3D printer: spatial thinking, design, patience and dealing with mistakes. But a 3D printer is not a toy. It has a nozzle at over 200 °C, a hot bed, moving mechanics, and it releases particles. This article shows what manufacturers and authorities say, which material is suitable, how to get started with the software and how to recognise a suitable machine. There is deliberately no recommendation for a specific model here. What manufacturers and authorities say Manufacturers' age guidance: Manufacturers do not state a fixed minimum age, but they do set limits on supervision: Creality writes in its manuals, for example for the Ender 3 V3 SE and K1 Max: children under 10 years old must not use the printer without adult supervision. Anycubic writes in the Kobra 4 manual: the printer and small accessories such as screws and side cutters must be kept out of the reach of children. Check the safety instructions for your machine, as the wording differs. DGUV for schools: The German Social Accident Insurance DGUV published its own information on 3D printers in schools in 2024 DGUV Information 202 103 . The key points transfer well to the home: Pupils should only work with the printer under supervision. When it is not in use, no unauthorised person should be able to get to it. The build volume should be protected against accidental reaching in, especially during printing. If possible, the printer belongs in a room of its own, not in a classroom that is in constant use. Air the room by opening the windows wide at least after every print. A fireproof surface and nothing flammable nearby. The DGUV does not recommend 3D pens for reasons of prevention. They offer no protection from the hot nozzle, and children are directly exposed to the emissions. The hazards in detail The DGUV lists these hazards for teachers and pupils: Hazard What it means hot nozzle during heating up, during and after the print. Depending on the material, the nozzle reaches 200 to 300 °C. hot build platform risk of burns even after the print, the DGUV advises observing the cooling time moving parts crush injuries if you reach into a running printer emissions especially if the temperature is above the manufacturer's recommendation fire from overheating or flammable items nearby noise reduced concentration The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment BfR detected particles of about 50 nanometres when printing with PLA, which can reach the pulmonary alveoli. The higher the temperature, the more particles. How relevant this is to health is still being researched by the BfR. An assessment of the state of the research can be found under Safety in 3D printing /3d druck/grundlagen/sicherheit/ . Some simple rules follow from this: do not reach into a running printer, not even \"just for a moment\" only remove parts once the bed has cooled down let only adults clean or change the nozzle put away side cutters, scrapers and deburring tools the printer does not belong in the child's bedroom, see Setting up a 3D printer /3d druck/grundlagen/drucker aufstellen/ Which material? PLA is the material of choice for children and teenagers. It prints at a comparatively low temperature, and studies by UL Chemical Insights show significantly fewer particles and VOCs with PLA than with ABS. More on the material under PLA /3d druck/filamente/pla/ . No ABS, ASA or nylon in living areas with children. These materials have significantly higher emissions and need an enclosure with a filter or extraction. Well known manufacturers with a safety data sheet: The DGUV advises paying attention to the composition and origin of the plastics and, where appropriate, requesting a safety data sheet. The BfR points out that the ingredients of filaments ordered online are sometimes not clearly declared. Do not print hotter than necessary: The DGUV stresses processing plastics only at the temperature recommended by the manufacturer. Above that they can decompose. Resin is "},{"t":"3D Printing or Injection Moulding? Costs, Quantities and Strength","k":"3D printing · Trivia & knowledge","d":"When injection moulding beats 3D printing, what a mould costs, why printed parts are not equally strong in every direction and when printing stays better.","u":"/en/3d-printing/knowledge/3d-printing-vs-injection-moulding/","x":"For single pieces, prototypes and small runs, 3D printing is almost always cheaper, because no mould has to be built. Injection moulding only pays off at larger quantities: the mould is expensive, but every further part is very cheap. The manufacturing service Xometry gives 250 to 2,000 parts as the typical point at which injection moulding becomes cheaper. Depending on the part, though, it can be well below or above that. On strength, injection moulding has an advantage: the parts have no layers. Printed FDM parts are weaker between the layers than along the lines. How the processes differ Injection moulding: plastic granules are melted and injected under pressure into a metal mould. After a short cooling time the finished part falls out. Most of the cost is in the mould. 3D printing FDM : the printer lays down molten filament line by line and layer by layer. There is no mould, and each part costs roughly the same in material and print time. How exactly this works is explained in What is 3D printing? /3d druck/grundlagen/was ist 3d druck/ . What an injection mould costs For injection moulds, Formlabs gives a range from around 100 US dollars for a 3D printed mould for small quantities to over 100,000 US dollars for complex steel moulds with several cavities. Mould Typical quantity Cost according to Formlabs 3D printed mould small quantities, according to Formlabs 100 parts and more from about 100 US dollars Aluminium mould about 1,000 to 5,000 parts about 2,000 to 5,000 US dollars Mould for large runs from about 10,000 parts about 5,000 to 100,000 US dollars The granules themselves are cheap, with Formlabs giving about 1 to 5 US dollars per kilogram. For comparison: filament costs a multiple of that, and current prices are in the filament overview /3d druck/filamente/ . Worked example from Formlabs In one example, Formlabs calculates with three production runs. The figures are example values, not quotes: Quantity Mould Lead time Mould cost Cost per part 100 3D printed, moulded in house 1 to 3 days 100 US dollars 4.00 US dollars 5,000 aluminium, external 3 to 4 weeks 3,000 US dollars 2.60 US dollars 100,000 steel, external 4 to 8 weeks 20,000 US dollars 1.70 US dollars This shows the principle: the larger the run, the less the mould cost weighs per part. When does injection moulding pay off? Xometry uses examples to show how much the break even point varies: Small control knob: printed, it stays competitive up to about 2,000 pieces. Above that it costs about 0.80 US dollars per piece in injection moulding, not counting the mould. Large connector housing: printing alone already costs over 200 US dollars per part. The mould costs around 10,000 US dollars here, but injection moulding is cheaper from about 250 pieces. Important: Xometry's examples refer to industrial printing processes such as SLS and Multi Jet Fusion. For a part from your own FDM printer the calculation is different, because you mainly pay for filament, electricity and your time. How to work this out is explained in Calculating print costs /3d druck/grundlagen/druckkosten/ . Rule of thumb: the larger the part and the more pieces you need, the sooner injection moulding pays off. The smaller the part, the fewer pieces, and the more often the design still changes, the more likely 3D printing stays ahead. Xometry points out that design changes are expensive in injection moulding, because the mould has to be modified. Strength: the problem with layers FDM parts consist of lines and layers that only partly fuse with each other. Formlabs describes how tiny voids remain between the round lines, which is why printed parts are less dense than comparable injection moulded parts. An FDM part is strongest along the printed lines and weaker across them and between the layers. Experts call this anisotropy : the strength depends on the direction. Formlabs quotes a test in which the yield strength of an FDM part in the build direction upwards Z axis reached only about 55 % of the "},{"t":"3D printing records: the largest, smallest and fastest prints","k":"3D printing · Trivia & knowledge","d":"A giant printer in Maine, sculptures smaller than a hair, a Benchy in 59 seconds: documented 3D printing records and the story behind them.","u":"/en/3d-printing/knowledge/3d-printing-records/","x":"A boat you cannot see with the naked eye. A printer as big as a hall. A Benchy in under a minute. There are astonishing records around 3D printing, but also many headlines with \"largest\" or \"first\" that do not stand up to scrutiny. Only records with a reliable source are listed here: Guinness World Records, universities or trade media. The largest prints The largest polymer printer and the largest solid object On 10 October 2019, the University of Maine in the USA set three Guinness records at once. Its large format plastic printer has a build volume of 343.61 m³ and was recognised as the largest prototype polymer 3D printer. As proof, the team printed a boat: the \"3Dirigo\". It is a good 7.6 metres long, weighs around 2.3 tonnes and was printed in three days. This earned the records for the largest 3D printed boat and the largest solid 3D printed object, at 2.06 m³ of material. \"Solid\" really does mean solid here: 100 % infill, with no honeycomb structure. In April 2024 the university presented a successor. According to its figures, it is four times as large, can print parts of about 29 × 9.75 × 5.5 metres and processes up to around 225 kg of plastic per hour. The largest printed structure Since 25 February 2025, the Guinness record for the largest printed structure by volume has been held by a restaurant in Dubai. The companies Proto21 and Myata Platinum Restaurant used 13.75 m³ of printed material. The interesting part: this included perfectly ordinary desktop printers. According to Voxelmatters, FDM printers, resin printers and large format printers ran for three months, producing over 10,500 parts in PLA, PETG and glass fibre reinforced PP. More on these materials in Filaments compared /3d druck/filamente/ . Be careful with headlines about the \"world's largest printed building\": the well known office building by Apis Cor in Dubai 2019 is often called that. According to an enquiry by 3DPrint.com to Guinness, however, the company has never held a Guinness title. The tallest printed sculpture of a human The British YouTuber James Bruton printed an oversized version of himself in 2018: 3.62 metres tall, printed on two printers in about 500 hours, using around 50 kg of filament. Guinness recognised the figure in April 2018 as the tallest printed sculpture of a human. A nice example of the fact that large objects can also be built on ordinary printers in many individual parts. The smallest prints For tiny objects, you use not a nozzle but a laser. In two photon lithography also multiphoton lithography , a laser is focused into a drop of resin. Only exactly at the focal point does the material cure. This produces structures smaller than the width of a hair. The smallest sculpture of a human In 2015, the artist Jonty Hurwitz had a figure called \"Trust\" printed at the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility in Germany. It measures 80 × 100 × 30 micrometres. Guinness confirmed the record on 13 February 2015. Shortly afterwards the figure had disappeared, according to Guinness probably crushed accidentally by a finger. The smallest Benchy In 2020, researchers at Leiden University printed a 3DBenchy /3d druck/wissen/benchy/ that is only 30 micrometres long. The boat was made for a study on tiny swimmers in liquids and was described in the journal Soft Matter. It is not an official Guinness record, but it is considered the smallest Benchy ever printed. The fastest prints There is no official record for speed, but there is a lively community competition: the SpeedBoatRace . The aim is to print a Benchy as fast as possible. The rules specify layer height and line width, among other things; appearance is secondary. Time Who Printer When 2:09 min Monika McWuff heavily modified Ender 3 Pro January 2024 under 2 min Jan Roetz home built \"Minuteman\" 2025 74 s Jan Roetz home built \"Minuteman\" before May 2026 59 s Jan Roetz home built \"Minuteman\" May 2026 As of October 2026. These are community records , not officially certified values. They are documente"},{"t":"3D printing safety: fumes, fire protection and children","k":"3D printing · Basics","d":"What gets into the air while printing, how to ventilate sensibly, avoid fires and protect children. Factual and with sources.","u":"/en/3d-printing/basics/3d-printing-safety/","x":"A 3D printer is a device with a hot nozzle, a hot bed and molten plastic that often runs for hours. That is no reason to worry, but it is a reason to get a few things right. This article covers what research says about emissions and which measures actually help in everyday use. What gets into the air while printing Melting filament produces two kinds of emissions: Ultrafine particles UFP : Particles smaller than 100 nanometres. They are so small that they can reach deep into the lungs. Volatile organic compounds VOC : Gases, some of which smell and some of which do not. Depending on the material, these include, for example, styrene with ABS or caprolactam with nylon. Studies by UL Chemical Insights have detected over 200 different compounds in the emissions of FDM printers. One clear result: ABS releases orders of magnitude more particles and more VOCs than PLA. Higher printing temperatures generally increase emissions. A study by the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing BAM commissioned by the German Environment Agency also shows that most particles are produced during the heating phase, after which the rate drops significantly. And filaments of the same base material differ considerably depending on the manufacturer. The Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the DGUV IFA writes that, according to current knowledge, the guideline values for indoor spaces are met if the room is ventilated regularly and sufficiently and the material is not heated above its decomposition temperature IFA project 3142 https://dguv.de/ifa/forschung/projektverzeichnis/ifa3142.jsp . That is no guarantee for every printer and every filament: how much is produced depends heavily on the material, additives, nozzle temperature, machine and ventilation. Long term health effects have not yet been conclusively researched. So caution is appropriate, panic is not. Ventilating and filtering Measure Effect Ventilate the room regularly, at least air it thoroughly after every print Significantly reduces particles and VOCs in the room Do not sit directly next to the printer Exposure is highest close to the printer Closed enclosure Keeps emissions in the build chamber, but without a filter they escape when you open it HEPA filter Filters particles Activated carbon filter Binds some of the gases and smells Exhaust air to the outside The most effective solution for ABS, ASA and nylon Practical rules: Do not run the printer in the bedroom or a child's room. Print ABS, ASA and nylon only with an enclosure and a filter or exhaust air. With enclosed printers, wait a few minutes after printing before you open the door. Do not print hotter than necessary. You can find the right temperature with a temperature tower, see Printing temperature /3d druck/einstellungen/drucktemperatur/ . Prefer filament from known manufacturers with a safety data sheet. Important: draughts interfere with printing. So ventilate in short bursts rather than leaving a window tilted open directly next to the printer. Fire protection Fires caused by 3D printers are rare, but not impossible. The cause is usually defective heaters, loose cables or missing protective functions. Thermal protection in the firmware: Current printers switch off the heater if the measured temperature does not respond as expected, for example because a temperature sensor has slipped out. With old machines or self compiled firmware, check whether this protection is active. Smoke detector in the room with the printer. This is inexpensive and sensible. Non flammable surface , with no papers, cardboard boxes or curtains directly next to the machine. Check cables , especially at the heated bed. On bed slingers the cable moves constantly with the bed and can break over time. No overloaded power strips. The heated bed briefly draws a lot of current while heating up. Do not leave long prints running completely unattended. If you are not at home, a camera with remote shut off helps. Long prints overnight are c"},{"t":"3D Scanning Technology Compared: Structured Light, Laser, Infrared, Photos","k":"3D printing · 3D scanning","d":"How structured light, blue laser lines, infrared scanners, photogrammetry and smartphone LiDAR work, and which technology suits what.","u":"/en/3d-printing/3d-scanning/scanning-technology/","x":"Almost all scanners for makers work optically: they shine light onto the object and use cameras to evaluate how it comes back. The differences lie in the type of light. That determines how accurate, how fast and how robust a scanner is. Many current devices combine two methods in one housing. Structured light fringe projection A projector casts a pattern of stripes or dots onto the object. One or more cameras see how the pattern bends on the surface. From the angle between projector and camera, the software calculates the distance for each point. This method is called triangulation . Because many points are captured at once, structured light is fast and forgives movement. It is the most common technology in handheld scanners. Ambient light can interfere. White or blue light: Blue light is used for fine detail on small objects, for example with the 3DMakerpro Seal, which has an object range of 10 to 300 mm. Infrared NIR, VCSEL : Invisible light that dazzles nobody. That makes it well suited to people. Shining 3D specifies the infrared source of its Einstar as a Class 1 laser product, meaning eye safe. Infrared scanners such as the Creality Otter Lite /3d druck/3d scanner/creality otter lite/ often have a large working distance and also capture large objects. Blue laser lines The scanner projects several thin laser lines, often in a cross or parallel arrangement. The cameras capture the lines very precisely. Laser scanners are regarded as the most accurate technology for makers. Revopoint and Creality state that their laser modes often capture dark and glossy surfaces without spray. Transparent and reflective parts remain difficult even for lasers. For the MetroX Pro /3d druck/3d scanner/revopoint metrox pro/ , Revopoint states up to 0.02 mm, and Creality likewise up to 0.02 mm for the Raptor. In return, laser scanners almost always need markers , small sticky dots that the software uses for orientation. For laser mode, Shining 3D writes: if the device does not detect markers, it does not emit laser lines. The working distance is shorter, usually 150 to 400 mm. Laser is less suitable for people. Pay attention to the laser class: for the MetroX, Revopoint specifies Class 2M for the laser projector. Hybrid scanners Many current devices combine laser for detail with infrared for large objects and people, for example the Einstar 2 /3d druck/3d scanner/einstar 2/ , the Creality PIKA /3d druck/3d scanner/creality pika/ or the Revopoint POP 4 /3d druck/3d scanner/revopoint pop 4/ . You choose the mode depending on the object. Photogrammetry Here there is no projector of its own. The software calculates the model from many photos showing the object from different directions. This works with any camera and with smartphone apps such as RealityScan, Polycam or KIRI Engine. All3DP gives 50 to 1,000 images for this. Photogrammetry is the cheapest, but also the least accurate. It is better suited to artistic models than to precisely fitting spare parts. LiDAR in the smartphone iPhone Pro and iPad Pro have a LiDAR sensor that, according to Apple, measures distances up to 5 m. It measures the time of flight of light and is fast but rough. That is enough for rooms and large objects, but not for printable detailed models. What accuracy figures mean Accuracy is the deviation from the real part. Manufacturers' figures are best values, mostly for a single capture under laboratory conditions. Across a large object the error grows. Some manufacturers therefore state a volumetric accuracy , for example 0.05 mm + 0.1 mm × length in metres for the Revopoint INSPIRE 2. Resolution or point spacing says how densely the measuring points lie. Details smaller than the point spacing are lost. According to Formlabs, inexpensive scanners are at roughly 0.1 to 1 mm, more expensive ones down to 0.02 mm. Only compare values that were measured the same way. Sources Wikipedia: Streifenprojektion https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streifenprojektion , Photogrammetrie https:"},{"t":"3D scanning with a smartphone: apps, LiDAR and limits","k":"3D printing · 3D scanning","d":"What photogrammetry apps and iPhone Pro LiDAR can do, how accurate they are, where the limits lie and when a real scanner pays off. Plus: printing from a photo.","u":"/en/3d-printing/3d-scanning/3d-scanning-with-a-smartphone/","x":"Before you spend money on a 3D scanner, the obvious question is: can't a phone do it too? The short answer: for figures, decorations and large objects, often yes. For precisely fitting spare parts and small details, usually not. This article shows how smartphone scans work, which apps there are and where the line to a real scanner lies. Two routes: photos or LiDAR Photogrammetry works with any smartphone. You photograph the object from all sides, and the app or a server calculates a 3D model from the photos. To do this, the software looks for the same features in many images and calculates where they lie in space. How the method compares with other scanning techniques is explained under Scanning technologies compared /3d druck/3d scan/scantechnik/ . LiDAR is a dedicated sensor that measures distances using the time of flight of light. Apple introduced it with the iPhone 12 Pro and has built it into the Pro models ever since. The data sheet of the current iPhone 18 Pro lists a LiDAR scanner, as does the iPad Pro. According to Apple's data sheet, the standard iPhone 17 does not have one. LiDAR delivers a shape quickly, but it is coarse and better suited to rooms and large objects. Many apps combine both: LiDAR for rooms and quick capture, photos for detailed objects. Apps at a glance A neutral overview, not a recommendation. Prices and terms according to the App Store, Google Play and manufacturer pages, as of 16 October 2026. Offers change often. App Provider Platforms Price Notes according to the provider Polycam Polycam Inc. iOS, iPadOS, Android free with in app purchases Free plan: 10 photogrammetry captures, export only as GLTF. \"Basic\" plan 150 US dollars a year or 30 US dollars a month, with unlimited captures and six mesh formats. LiDAR modes only on devices with LiDAR. KIRI Engine KIRI Innovation iOS, iPadOS, Android, Mac with Apple chip free with in app purchases Free plan with photo scan and LiDAR scan, export as STL and OBJ among others with no export limit since version 4.0 . Up to 150 photos per upload. A mode for shiny and transparent objects is part of the paid plan. RealityScan Mobile Epic Games iOS 16.0 and later, iPadOS, Android free Photo scan with AR guidance, upload to Sketchfab Scaniverse Niantic Spatial iOS 16.6 and later with A12 chip or newer, Android free Mesh export as OBJ, FBX, GLB, USDZ and LAS, plus Gaussian splats. The provider does not list STL. For 3D printing, the export matters most. The slicer needs STL, OBJ or 3MF. A GLTF or GLB model can be converted with programs such as Blender, but that is an extra step. Which formats exist and how they differ is explained under 3D scanning: basics /3d druck/3d scan/ and File formats /3d druck/3d modelle/dateiformate/ . Gaussian splats look very realistic on screen but are not a closed triangle mesh. For printing you need a mesh. How to get a good photo scan KIRI Engine's guide describes what matters: Textured surface: Wood, stone and patterned surfaces work well. Smooth, single coloured, shiny or transparent objects are unsuitable for photo scans. Overlap: Neighbouring photos should overlap by about 70 %. Three heights: Walk around the object once low, once at the middle and once from above, with at least 50 to 60 photos in total. Close ups for fine details in addition. More photos usually give a better result. You also need even light without harsh shadows. The object must not move during capture. How to prepare objects, for example with scanning spray against gloss, is explained under Preparing for scanning /3d druck/3d scan/scannen vorbereiten/ . How accurate is it? For LiDAR there is a reliable measurement: a study in Scientific Reports Luetzenburg and others, 2021 tested the iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro. Result: the sensor captures small objects with an edge length of more than 10 cm with an absolute accuracy of about ±1 cm. For a coastal cliff 130 m long, the accuracy was about ±10 cm. That is impressive for terrain models, but for a spare part that"},{"t":"3D scanning: the basics for makers","k":"3D printing · 3D scanning","d":"What a 3D scanner does, what point cloud, mesh and texture mean, what makers scan for and where the limits lie.","u":"/en/3d-printing/3d-scanning/","x":"A 3D scanner captures the shape of a real object and turns it into a digital 3D model. Many devices also record colour. For makers this is mainly interesting when a part is to be reprinted, adapted or processed further digitally: a broken bracket, a figure, a face for a bust. You will find all the scanners in the wiki with technology, accuracy and price in the overview of 3D scanners /3d druck/3d scanner/ . What happens during scanning The scanner measures a very large number of points on the surface of the object. Together they form a point cloud . The software connects the points into a network of triangles, the mesh . This is the actual 3D model. If the scanner has a colour camera, the software additionally lays a texture over the mesh, meaning the colour of the surface. A scanner only sees what it illuminates and captures with its camera. For a complete model you therefore need many individual captures from different directions. The software assembles them. For this to work, it relies on the shape of the object, on its surface structure or on markers stuck onto it. What it has never seen, such as the underside, remains a gap. File formats STL stores only the shape as triangles, no colour and no unit. It is the standard format for 3D printing. OBJ stores shape and texture coordinates. The colours are in an additional MTL file with an image. PLY can store colour directly at every point and is suitable for point clouds and coloured meshes. The common scanning programs export all three formats. What makers scan for Spare parts and reverse engineering: capturing an existing part to reprint it or to use as a basis for your own design. Figures, sculptures and art: digitising objects, scaling them down or up, or printing them as a replica. People: scanning a face, torso or whole person, for example for a bust. Handheld scanners are suitable for this because they are fast enough if someone does not keep completely still. Parts that fit exactly: designing a holder around an existing object, for example for a tool or a device. Limits Dark, shiny and transparent surfaces are difficult. Dark ones swallow the light, shiny ones throw it back uncontrollably, transparent ones let it through. Depending on the technology, a scanning spray /3d druck/3d scan/scannen vorbereiten/ helps. Movement distorts the scan, because the points are captured at different times. Fine details below the scanner's point spacing are lost, even if it is otherwise very accurate. Deep recesses and undercuts are often out of the scanner's reach. Holes remain there, which the software can only estimate. From scan to print The scanner delivers a model at real size. Before it goes into the slicer, you usually tidy it up: remove stray points, close holes, reduce the triangle count. How this works is covered under From scan to print /3d druck/3d scan/scan zum druck/ . Which technology suits which use is explained in the article Scanning technologies compared /3d druck/3d scan/scantechnik/ , and a decision aid for buying can be found under Which 3D scanner is right? /3d druck/3d scan/welcher 3d scanner/ . Sources Wikipedia: 3D scanning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D scanning and Streifenprojektion https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streifenprojektion Wikipedia: STL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STL file format , OBJ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavefront .obj file and PLY https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLY file format Formlabs: How to Choose the Best 3D Scanner for 3D Printing https://formlabs.com/blog/how to choose a 3d scanner for 3d printing/ Shining 3D Support: Preparation for IR Scanning https://support.shining3d.com/en/support/solutions/articles/60000857016 preparation for ir scaning"},{"t":"3DBenchy: why everyone prints this little boat","k":"3D printing · Trivia & knowledge","d":"Where 3DBenchy comes from, what the little boat reveals about your printer, how to evaluate it, and which records and curiosities exist.","u":"/en/3d-printing/knowledge/3dbenchy/","x":"Almost everyone who has a 3D printer has printed it: a small boat with a cabin, chimney and portholes. The 3DBenchy is considered the most printed 3D model in the world. This is no coincidence, but a well thought out test for your printer. Where does the Benchy come from? The Benchy comes from the Swedish company Creative Tools. It was designed by Daniel Norée and Paulo Kiefe and published on 9 April 2015. In July 2015, a version for multi colour and multi material printing was added. The name is a play on \"benchmark\", meaning a comparison test. Creative Tools itself called it a \"torture test\" for 3D printers. The idea: a model that prints quickly, needs no supports and yet contains many typical difficulties at once. A few key figures at original scale: Feature Value Length 60 mm Width 31 mm Height to chimney 48 mm Volume 15.55 cm³ Print time usually under 2 hours according to the manufacturer What the boat tests Each part of the Benchy tests something different: Hull: the curved surfaces show how even the surface turns out and whether patterns such as ghosting appear. Bow: the underside of the bow projects flat to the front. This is an overhang that needs good cooling. Cabin: the top edges of the windows and door are bridges, and the cabin roof is another overhang. Chimney and anchor hole: round holes and cylinders show whether circles really come out round. Sharp edges and thin parts: here you can see stringing, blobs and problems with retraction. Lettering: at the stern there is a small nameplate, and on the underside an engraving. This tests fine details and the first layer. Symmetry and dimensions: if the boat is crooked or warped, something is wrong with the axes or the adhesion. From test model to dispute For a long time the Benchy was under the CC BY ND licence. You were free to print and share it, but not to publish modified versions. For years this bothered hardly anyone, and remixes were everywhere anyway. In March 2024, the NTI Group took over the company Creative Tools and with it the rights to the Benchy. In January 2025, the Printables platform removed Benchy remixes after a third party reported them. The community was outraged. NTI stated that it had not taken any steps itself. Shortly afterwards, on 14 February 2025, NTI, Norée and Kiefe announced that the Benchy is now in the public domain. Since then you may modify, remix and redistribute it as you like. What licences otherwise mean is covered in Licences for 3D models /3d druck/3d modelle/lizenzen/ . Records and curiosities The speed Benchy The community has its own competition: the SpeedBoatRace. The aim is to print a Benchy as fast as possible. The rules prescribe layer height and line width, among other things, but the result does not have to look good. The times have fallen sharply over the years. In January 2024, Tom's Hardware reported on a modified bed slinger that managed a Benchy in 2 minutes and 9 seconds. In May 2026, Jan Roetz printed a Benchy in 59 seconds with his home built \"Minuteman\", after earlier personal bests of under 2 minutes and 74 seconds. These are community records, not officially certified ones. More in 3D printing records /3d druck/wissen/rekorde/ . The tiny Benchy In 2020, researchers at Leiden University printed a Benchy that is only 30 micrometres long, about a third of the thickness of a hair. It was printed using two photon polymerisation, in which a laser cures resin in a drop only at the focal point. The boat was part of a study on microswimmers, meaning tiny particles that move through liquids. The results appeared in the journal Soft Matter. How to evaluate your Benchy A Benchy is only as useful as the way you look at it. Here is how to go about it: 1. Change only one thing. If you print several Benchys for comparison, change only one setting per print. 2. Measure rather than estimate. With callipers, check length, width and height against the target values. If all dimensions deviate in the same direction, it is worth l"},{"t":"7 persistent myths about 3D printing","k":"3D printing · Trivia & knowledge","d":"Compostable PLA, food-safe prints, more infill means more strength: seven common misconceptions and what is really true.","u":"/en/3d-printing/knowledge/3d-printing-myths/","x":"Plenty of half truths circulate about 3D printing. Some date from the time of the first hype, others are simply passed on in forums and comments. Here are seven myths that keep coming up, and what is actually behind them. Myth 1: \"You can print anything with a 3D printer\" A home printer can do a lot, but by no means everything. An FDM printer processes plastics that soften when heated. Metal, glass or ceramic parts in final quality are made on other, mostly industrial machines. On top of that come limits in the printing itself: the build volume limits the size, steep overhangs need supports, and printed parts are weaker between the layers than along the layers. A part that fits in theory can break in practice at exactly this point. What can sensibly be printed is explained in What is 3D printing? /3d druck/grundlagen/was ist 3d druck/ . Myth 2: \"More infill makes a part stronger\" Only partly true. More infill does make a part somewhat stronger, but beyond a certain point every additional per cent brings hardly anything, while costing time and material. The outer walls carry most of the load. The engineer and YouTuber Stefan Hermann CNC Kitchen also concludes in his tests that more wall thickness usually brings more strength than more infill. A part with four walls and 20 % infill is therefore often stronger than one with two walls and 50 %. You will find specific values in Setting infill /3d druck/einstellungen/infill/ . Myth 3: \"I can throw PLA on the compost\" PLA is often advertised as biodegradable. That is not wrong, but it is incomplete. PLA only breaks down reliably under industrial conditions, meaning controlled moisture and temperatures around 60 °C over weeks to months. According to NABU https://www.nabu.de/umwelt und ressourcen/ressourcenschonung/kunststoffe und bioplastik/30018.html , testing to the standard EN 13432 takes place at around 60 °C, and according to the testing laboratory Measurlabs https://measurlabs.com/de/blog/biologische abbaubarkeit kompostierbarkeit norm tests/ , the associated test standard ISO 14855 is usually run at 58 °C. A garden compost heap does not get hot enough for that. There, a PLA print lies for a very long time without much happening. PLA does not belong in the organic waste bin either: many composting plants cannot process bioplastics to the standard and sort them out. Where leftovers belong instead is explained in Disposing of and recycling filament /3d druck/filamente/filament entsorgen/ . More on the material in Printing PLA /3d druck/filamente/pla/ . Myth 4: \"3D prints are food safe\" A filament can be approved as a raw material for food contact. The printed part is far from automatically so. The Prusa Knowledge Base gives several reasons: Food residue settles in the grooves between the layers, and bacteria can multiply there. This can hardly be cleaned thoroughly. Washing up liquid can also lodge in the grooves. The usual brass nozzle wears down, and the abrasion ends up in the print. Dyes and additives in the filament are often not tested for food. Prusa explicitly advises against using prints as food containers. What a declaration of conformity from the filament manufacturer means and what printed parts are still good for in the kitchen is explained in Food safe printing /3d druck/filamente/lebensmittelecht/ . Myth 5: \"An expensive printer automatically makes better prints\" A more expensive printer can save you a lot of work: automatic calibration, enclosed housing, multi colour system, higher speed. But print quality depends just as much on things that every printer needs: a clean print bed, suitable temperature, dry filament and sensible slicer settings. A well tuned cheap printer often delivers better results than an expensive machine with damp filament and wrong settings. How to set up your printer properly is explained in Calibrating your printer /3d druck/einstellungen/kalibrieren/ . Myth 6: \"3D printers are toxic\" or \"completely harmless\" Both fall short. Studies by UL "},{"t":"Air assist for lasers: airflow, pump and how to use it","k":"Laser · Settings","d":"What air assist does when laser cutting, how much air you need, when to use less air for engraving, and how a pump differs from a compressor.","u":"/en/laser/settings/air-assist/","x":"Air assist is a jet of air that blows through a nozzle on the laser head straight onto the laser spot. It looks unremarkable, but when cutting it often decides whether the edge comes out clean or charred. Here you will find out what the air does, how much you need and when less is better.