Background
My name is Bernardo Pacini, I am a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student at Princeton University, USA; and my passion is 3D printing. My personal experience regarding 3D printing is visible in the example below. This article will talk about a complex project – building a 3D printed rocket prototype.
Rocket engine assembly: Prototyping with the Leapfrog HS
3D printing has become a standard for engineering and for prototyping products and projects. This application of printing requires precision of print dimensions, accuracy of printed parts, and strength of prints. Those requirements prove to be an easy job for the Leapfrog 3D printer.
Over the course of six months we have designed and developed a four combustion-chamber rocket. Currently we are printing the model to verify the feasibility and efficacy of the design. This print consists of fifty-two parts all printed in ABS requiring approximately twenty-five separate print files. The prints thus far have tested different capabilities of the printer, from efficiency to print quality to accuracy.
The Creatr HS’s ability to print parts that connect and fit together is visible when we print and assemble the four-chamber rocket engine. The thirty parts that comprise the rocket engine all fit together smoothly and have top tier print quality. Notably, the prints all lock together with the properly sized bolts and fasteners. This way, we display how conventional fasteners and locking mechanisms integrate seamlessly with parts printed using the Creatr HS.
“The Creatr HS is a powerful engineering tool for a variety of reasons. Leapfrog’s design, development, and construction reflect various important aspects of the printer. Those aspects allow for rapid, reliable, and high-quality parts for engineers.”
Simplicity
The Leapfrog Creatr HS is powerful in its simplicity and clean design. This simplicity is present in all aspects of the printer, from the built-in display to the filament feeding mechanism. Moreover, the elegant and accessible interface is a testament to the Leapfrog team, as it is highly user-friendly and allows for ease of control on even the most complex, two-nozzle prints.
Beginning with the on-screen display, the system allows the user to work with the printer using its very intuitive display. For example, loading and unloading the filament is a quick and easy process using the item selection wheel. As users become more experienced with the machine, they can begin to utilize more complex modes on the printer, for example interfacing between the Creatr 2.1 or Simplify3d and the printer. This connection allows for printer calibration, active monitoring of the print, and even control of special operations such as loading PVA soluble support filament, among other useful features.
The simplicity of the actual build of the printer makes it very easy for the user to become familiar with its functions and provides experienced users with a good platform they can count on for complex prints. For example, the print head is comprised of various components that serve to cool the material, heat the nozzles, or sense the temperature of the nozzles. Leapfrog made a very clear system that organizes all the cables into one “ribbon cable” that extends all the way to the main motherboard of the printer. In addition, these sorts of simple and effective design elements make the Leapfrog particularly easy to debug and repair if there are any issues with the machine.
Reliability
In addition to the printer being extremely simple in its use and functions, it is also very well built and reliable. My personal experience with the Leapfrog Creatr HS has been that of printing very large and time-consuming prints. It has run for hundreds of hours without powering off. For example, my longest individual print was just over 72 hours long and the machine ran without any issues. Leapfrog’s ingenuity with systems such as the drive-motor cooling fans and print head cooling unit ensure the printer’s ability to run continuously.
Quality
The print quality of the Creatr HS parallels the professional, full enclosure printers that I have worked with before. Even new users can follow the basic guidelines and obtain top-quality prints. Moreover, experienced users can adjust the printer to produce professional-grade, smooth prints.
Overview
The Leapfrog Creatr HS is a professional grade printer priced as a conventional desktop printer. The printer is perfectly suited for beginner users as well as for experienced developers. The Creatr HS is a quick, effective, and top-quality prototyping machine. The machine is ideal for engineering applications that require top quality prints that can be used for scale models or even for functional machinery parts.
Find out more about our Leapfrog Creatr HS Educational pack https://www.lpfrg.com/en/education-value-pack/