Embedding items into a 3D print

[Casey_Halverson]

Hello,

I am new to 3D printing and we are playing around with our MakerBot Replicator+. Is there a good method to pause a 3D print or set a specific break point in print job, place in something like a circuit board or battery, and then resume the 3D print?

I haven’t been able to find too much on such a technique so I am posting here.

[Enza3D]

Hey @Casey_Halverson,

You should just be able to pause the print (either from the machine or from slicing software/cloud hosting), and insert your part then resume. For Cura, there is a “Pause at Height” plugin (may be included in the most recent Cura versions) that’s commonly used to change color during printing, and it should work well for this. Just keep in mind, that this will retract filament once the print is paused so you may end up with gaps at the layer you paused the print. You can tweak this under the “Retraction Amount” setting in the plugin.

You can set a specific break point manually, but this will require a knowledge of the syntax of G-code and how to manipulate it.

[Perry_1]

The Makerbot Replicator runs firmware called Sailfish.

Manual is here: http://www.sailfishfirmware.com/doc/sailfish.pdf.

In it, it tell you how to pause a print using the front panel.

Now, the next issue is putting an object in that will not then get hit by the extruder when you unpause.

You can mess with settings like filling from the inside out, and thing’s like that to get your sotware to slice in a way that does this, but can be impossible based on the shape of the item you are inserting.

IF you are inserting an item that can be fully inserted without the extruder hitting it, you can pause the layer that is just above the height of the object you are inserting, and drop it in, then unpause and continue the print.

[jfield]

See the March 1 2016 post from this blog: http://tgaw.com/wp/

Explains a way of doing something similar.

Also check out the picture on my hub where I insert molded a part for a customer.

[Perry_1]

Your prints are top quality, I must say!

[jfield]

Thanks, especially coming from someone with 95 good reviews!

[Perry_1]

95 PERFECT reviews. Perfect.

Except 6 monthes ago, when someone did not like the color of grey I used.

And today, for some reason, person gave me a great written review, but I received my first 4 star for quality. For a perfect print.

I actually have hundreds of commercial prints under my belt, and this was the first time someone gave me a 4 out of 5.