Kevin show his new 3D printer, a Cerberus 3D 400 series. “It has a few bells and whistles,” he says.
He gives a quick tour of the 3D printer. All of the electronics and computer are under the print tray. He shows the on / off switch and a connection for a USP to the computer for transferring files there, too.
He flips a switch on the other side to turn on lights that run up the inside of each towers. They allow you to monitor a print at night without turning on all the lights. They also look cool!
Kevin shows the big 1/2″ piece of aluminum print tray – it’s nice and solid. It’s clipped to the 3D printer’s heated bed, which is underneath. The clips let you remove the print tray to to clean it.
In the back, Kevin shows the extruder motor, which has a drive cable that runs to the printhead. By removing the extruder motor from the printhead, Cerberus 3D has reduced unsprung weight. On the Cerberus 3D 250 3D printer, which has its extruder motor on the printhead, you have to compensate for that inertia. Removing the extruder motor makes the print head lighter and it contributed to a much more uniform print.
To set the Z-height – an important part of 3D printing – Cerberus 3D has added three set screws, one on each of the three towers. So rather than having to edit G code, you just run your printhead down to the print tray and adjust the three screws to get to your Z-height set on the three corners and right in the middle.
Kevin points out the nozzle and the hotend. The Cerberus 3D 400 also has a cooling fan that helps cool the hotend and a little blower right here that blows right down on the print itself. That’s really important when you are printing something that comes to a fine point, like the top of the sculpture Kevin is showing that he printed on this 3D printer.
As a print gets smaller and smaller, the printhead is going faster and faster, leading to heat build up when it gets into these real tiny, delicate parts. The blower is there just for that type of application. He shows how smooth the top of the sculpture came out. “This is this is how well this machine prints,” says Kevin.
Then Kevin shows the little LCD control panel for the 3D printer. He shows how to select files and put the machine to work. A nice feature of the LCD screen? It’s attached to the printer with magnets, so it’s out of the way and at eye level most of the time, but you can bring it down to use it, too.
The reason Kevin bought this 3D printer is that it can go much much hotter than the 250 3D printer. That means he can print many different types of filaments, including copper, ceramics, nylons, and more. This machine opens up a whole new world of filament to play with.
Kevin is ready to create something with this 3D printer, but you might want to wait around for another moment to see just how familiar he is with this equipment ….