User's Manual Part 2

Glossary 280
steps. In a 3D printer, stepper motors are typically used
to move the extruder and build plate. In particular, in a
Polar 3 D pri nter, there are three stepper motors: one con-
trols the movement of the print head up and down the Z
rod (z axis), one controls the movement of the build plate
shut t le (x axis), and one controls the rotation of the build
plate (✓ rotation). 181, See also build plate shuttle, polar
coordinates, print head & Zrod
.stl file
STL originally stood for the STereo Lithography file format
native to CAD software created by 3D Systems, describing
the surface geometry of a three-dimensional object. It does
not include features such as color or texture, nor does it
specify a fixed size; it solely represents the shape. It has
become the de-facto standard format used in 3D printing.
32, 36, 43, 47, 49, 52, 61, 63, 65, 66, 70, 80, 82, 84, 123,
125, 134, 136, 141, 180, 187, 193, 196, 199, 250, 253, 261,
267, See also CAD
telegraphing
A print defect caused by too thin of an exterior shell through
which interior printing penetrates leaving visible surface
blemishes. 240, See also shell
tool
In Gcode par l an ce, an extruder is a “tool” which is con-
trolled by the printer. That is, a “tool” is another name
for an extruder. If your printer has a single extruder, than
that extruder may be referred to as “tool 0”. If your printer