Where is the I2P Lab at CSU?
We are in room A8 in the basement of the engineering building on CSU main campus, just south of the intersection of Meldrum and Laurel. You can find more information here or a map here.
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What are the hours of the I2P Lab at CSU?
The I2P Lab is open from 10 am to 5 pm weekdays. During the summer we are open from 10 am to 2 pm on weekdays. We are closed weekends and CSU holidays.
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Do you have to be an engineering student to have access to the lab?
No, anyone at Colorado State University can have access to the I2P Lab if you complete the free training workshop pay the lab fee.
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What does the certification process look like in order to operate the printers?
There is a hour training workshop you will need to attend in order to use the FDM printers. You can sign up here.
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What is the cost of using the equipment?
There is a lab fee required and users need to supply their own material, which can be purchased from RamTech in the Lory Student Center. To find out more about Lab Fees, check out this page.
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What does my lab fee pay for?
(1) Help and assistance from trained, experienced staff who are on-site during lab hours; (2) Maintenance of lots of equipment for you to choose from, so it’s ready to use when you want it; (3) Replace/new tools, including software, so you have some of the basic tools you need to complete your work; (4) Supplies and materials to keep the lab running (not user-specific), such as printer cleaning supplies, print beds, bearings and the like; (5) Samples printing materials so you can decide what would work best for your project before you purchase material of your own; and (6) Use of our large collection of Rep-rap printers (non-Rep-rap printers carry an extra cost due to higher material and maintenance fees); (7) Use of the lab after-hours and on weekends, subject to approval by lab staff.
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What is the cost of materials used in printing?
It ranges from $0.12 per meter to $0.87 per meter depending on filament type and user group. Our photopolymer printers use a different type of filament provided by the lab that costs about $1.40 per gram. If you want help figuring out pricing, feel free to ask staff or get in contact with us!
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How do I determine how much material my part will use?
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A fast and easy way to estimate is to use your favorite software tool to determine the volume of the part, then assume 1cm^3 is approximately 1 gram. Filament is about 6.7g/m for 3mm diameter filament, and 2.5g/m for 1.75mm diameter filament. A more accurate estimate can be found by loading your mesh into the slicing software, then host software, or by using a .gcode preview tool, such as gcode.ws.
What is the limit of use? (how many un
its/how many hours per person?)
3 reservations per user per day, maximum of 12 hours per reservation.
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Why wont my print stick?
You may need to apply some glue to the bed. We usually keep glue sticks around the lab for this purpose. Ask staff for one if you cannot locate one. If this does not fix the issue, talk to staff. That’s why they’re there!
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What other FAQ/forums are available as online resources?
/r/3dprinting, /r/functionalprint, /r/blender, and /r/reprap.
There is an IRC for RepRap. You can check that out by going to webchat.freenode.net and entering an alias (any name you want) and the room is #reprap. Fill out the captcha and click connect.
lulzbot.com/support/faq and forum.lulzbot.com,
hackaday.com for discussion of interesting projects.
filament guide for a list of filaments available.
RepRap.org is ok, but a lot of the stuff there is outdated and they seem to have intermittent server issues so it is down a lot. Things include this pictoral troubleshooting guide, the RAMBo driver for windows and the search feature. There is an absolute goldmine of information there.
Here is a great troubleshooting guide with pictures.
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I don’t see my question answered here!
Visit our tutorial videos page for help on basic concepts covered in our lab training. For a more thorough walk though, access the “read me” file located on the desktop of each of our lab computers. If you need further help, don’t hesitate to contact us by email, or directly in the lab.
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