ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how to design and fabricate a 3D printer that will be the most accurate and cost-effective printer possible, while still being faster than the rapid prototyping (RP) Lab's Stratasys FDM-1650 at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). This project is done in order to greatly increase the capability of the RP lab in addition to exposing students to the design and fabrication of a 3D printer. The fabricated printer can print nearly every RP material including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA), giving it a huge advantage over the other printers in the LMU RP lab. The 3D printer was first designed in Solidworks, a computer-aided design program, in order to show the compatibility of parts, size of the printer, logistics for construction, and to provide the builders with a reference. Recently, patents have been filed within the field of RP with regard to subtractive processes.
