Do you accept Purchase Orders?
Yes! You can send them to sales@polyprinter.com
Is there an educator's discount?
The majority of our customers are non-profit or educational institutions, so the printer is already at an appropriate price.
How much is the software?
Our printer driver and slicing software are free and can be downloaded here.
We do not make a 3D modeling software, but we do recommend Tinkercad for beginners. Any AutoDesk product should be good, we use and recommend Fusion 360 for designing and engineering. Solidworks is another great tool, but has a steep learning curve.
What makes a PolyPrinter different than a (insert other printer)?
It isn't one thing that sets PolyPrinter apart. Our philosophy of continuous improvement, to us means that when we see a way for our printer to be better we update it. Many of our printer parts are 3D printed. Firstly that allows us to rapidly update parts as we see potential improvements. Secondly, printing printer parts means we use our printers as manufacturing tools, and we expect our tools to work. It is a mutually beneficial situation for our customers and us.
Another differentiator is we view customer improvement suggestions. Many of our most functional improvements have come from customer comments.
What maintenance will I need to perform?
- You will occasionally need to retape the print bed: when the tape is torn or after 1-6 months of printing (depends on how much finger oil gets on the tape).
- Changing the nozzle when it gets clogged, or after ~1 solid month of printing.
- Adjusting Z-Height, aka calibrating the distance between the nozzle and print bed. This must be checked when the nozzle is changed, printer is physically transported or after a couple months of printing.
- Place a drop of oil on each rod (smooth and threaded) every 1-2 months.
- Replace the air filter after ~1 year of printing.
Do you offer training?
Yes, we highly recommend purchasing our initial training, which is a 2-3 hour session that covers the printer hardware and software . We schedule it for the same day and time that you will receive your printer. That way you can confidently start printing from day one. Initial training is $90 and lasts 2-3 hours on average.
Does the PolyPrinter only take PolyPrinter filament?
No, we do not have proprietary filament. Make sure the filament is 1.75mm in diameter. ABS and PLA should print well, you can try printing other materials but we recommend contacting us to see if we have already tried printing that material. Most of the time the answer will be that we have.
Note there is a lot of bad filament on the market so be careful. We are constantly testing new brands and only stock the brands that print the best (for the price). We also guarantee our filament meaning if it prints poorly we will replace the roll.
What materials can the PolyPrinter print in?
PLA, ABS, Nylon, and NinjaFlex.
NinjaFlex requires a separate extruder due to its physical properties. The NinjaFlex extruder costs $250.
PolyPrinters are optimized to print ABS.
What happens if the nozzle gets clogged?
Clogs occur when the filament is poor quality or when there is dust and dirt on the filament.
To fix a clog you simply unscrew the clogged nozzle and screw in an unclogged one. Be sure to heat the extruder to 230 Celsius otherwise the aluminum threading may be stripped. You will also need to stabilize the hot block with a 10mm wrench.
How do I use a 3D printer in the classroom?
Our first advice is don't make a 3D printer the lesson. Instead, use a 3D printer as a tool to enhance other lessons.
3D printers are the closest thing we have to a magic wand which when waved makes an item appear. Of course 3D printers are much slower than a wand and 3D modeling the design takes time, but still this ability to create has never existed before, at least not economically.
Most if not all physical products in our economy are partially prototyped on 3D printers, we already live in a 3D printed world, it's only now that the technology has become affordable. Products are simply physical solutions to a problem, so find a problem (or create one) and let students develop their creative problem solving skills.