Operation Manual

Glossary of 3D printing vocabulary

5. Glossary of 3D printing vocabulary

5.1 3D printing vocabulary

Slicing what?! We know that the vocabulary of 3D printing may be quite new to you. That’s why we

are proving you with a short glossary below.

Extruder

The extruders of your Creatr HS can be found in your printhead. They handle the feeding and ex-

truding of the laments. They consist of two assemblies: a cold end to pull and feed the thermoplas-

tic from the spool, and a hot end (nozzle and hot end) that melts and extrudes the thermoplastic.

The Creatr HS is tted with a dual extrusion system allowing it to use two plastics in the same

print.

Extruding

Extruding is the term for the process during which lament feeds through the nozzle. It is the op-

posite of retracting.

Extruder handle

The extruder handles are the two parts at the back of your Creatr HS that you pull out to feed the

lament through.

FDM or FFF

Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) or Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the 3D printing tech-

nique that is used in your Creatr HS. FDM/FFF works on an additive principle by laying down mate-

rial in layers; a plastic lament is unwound from a coil and supplies material to produce a part.

Filament

Filament is the material that is used by the 3D printer to build the 3D object. The Creatr HS uses

spools of lament with a thickness of 1.75mm of a variety of plastics and composites. For an over-

view of different laments and their characteristics, revert to page ..

Filament drive unit

This is the part at the back of the printer with the quick release knob which is designed for easy

feeding of the lament.

Filament guiding tube

These are the white tubes that guide your lament from the feeding hole in the bottom all the way

to the extruder.

Gcode

The computer language that the Creatr HSunderstands and receives its instructions from. The

Simplify3d software is used to create a gcode out of a stl le. The instructions encrypted within a

gcode can range from moving the printing head in X and Y direction to setting the temperature of

the hot-end.