The Five Commandments of 3D Printing on a Markforged Mark One

It would be very easy to talk about the 3D printed pope statue but 3Ders and 3DPrint.com already got that story covered. I’m sure we talked about it in the #3dNewsAtNoon, too.

Instead, we’re going to cover a papal-inspired topic, the Five Commandments of 3D Printing on a Markforged Mark One

Thou shalt level the print bed, every timeThou shalt wash the bed with pure, warm water and dry it with clean, lint free towelsRemember the glue stick and use it every printThou shalt not let pride get in the way or brim or supports when neededOptimize they designs for the z-axis and they shall flourish

The Commandments Explained in Depth

1. Thou shalt level the print bed, every time

This is actually the single most important factor in making a successful part with the Mark One. Completing the leveling routine religiously will have an immediate impact on your success rate.

Read more about leveling on the Eiger support site.

2. Thou shalt wash the bed with pure, warm water and dry it with clean, lint free towels

After leveling, this is the second most important way to increase your success rate. A clean, dry and level bed gets you most of the way to consistent, high quality results.

3. Remember the glue stick and use it every print

This is the third critical commandment; using a thin layer of glue on the print bed radically improves the quality of the resulting print. The glue helps in a number of ways, both in adhering the build and as a release agent after the build is finished.

Read our how-glue article here.

4. Thou shalt not let pride get in the way of brim or supports when needed

MarkForged’s Eiger software lets you turn on a brim feature or fine-tune the supports. Both add a little bit of time to work the part after it is printed but can be your salvation for thin parts (brim reduces curling) and complicated parts (supports can be magic).

Support your part with supports for complicated builds.

5. Optimize designs for the z-axis and they shall flourish

This is a simple, but often overlooked one. If you orient the model so the largest, flattest facet is nearest the build plate and the majority of the part builds up the z-axis perpendicular to that facet, it will have the best chances of success and use the least support material.However, you should break this commandment if you are orienting the part to maximize the possibility for success.

Our design guide can get you oriented in the right direction.