FAQ - Prusa MK4s/Self Service Printers

How do I reduce print time?

The three ways you can reduce print time is by changing the scale/size, infill, or print quality of your part.

To reduce the size of your part, you can go to the "Layout" button on the original uploaded .stl file, then go to the "scale" tab. (Make sure you are clicked onto the part, otherwise, the move, rotate, and scale buttons will be greyed out.) Make sure the "keep proportions" toggle on the right is enabled, and then you can either click and drag your mouse or input measurements or scaling percentages to reduce the size of the part.

To change infill, you will need to hit the "Slice" button on your part to pull up the slicing settings menu. Depending on the part, infill should never be below 5-15%.

You can also change the printing profile to "Course", which will dramatically decrease print time. To to do this, go to the slicing settings on your part, click the drop down menu underneath "Profile" and select "Course". NOTE: DO NO select the Extra Course, Extra Fast, or Extra Fine printer profiles, those settings exceed the limits of our printers and will cause your part to fail. (To learn more about why those profiles don't work well with our printers, go to the Layer Heights page on the 3DPOS Slicer Settings page.

What printers can I use at the ITLP?

Are there other places on campus I can 3D print?

I took the workshop, but I can't see any active printers. Help?

All the printers are in use, can I put my name on a waitlist for the next available printer?

Our printers are strictly first come, first serve due to their high demand. (We've tried waitlists/queues in the past, it doesn't work.) The printers are most busy during the month leading up to the end of semester, with students often having to wait several hours to get onto a printers. We advise students to plan the 3D printed parts of their projects accordingly around equipment bottlenecks. In general, printers are most available when our building opens.

On 3DPOS, you can check when printers will be close to finishing by hovering your mouse over the printer icon on the "Printers" tab in your 3DPOS account.

Why is there an 8 hour print limit?

I have a print that is going to take more than 8 hours, can I still print it?

When I upload my file to 3DPOS, it fails and shows a black square. How do I fix it?

How do I submit a print request to the HD3DP system?

I'm having issues logging into 3DPOS, who do I talk to?

I have questions about 3D printing and/or designing for 3D printing, who do I talk to?

How do I print with TPU?

How do I print with PETG?

Can I use my own filament?

I’ve already taken the 3D printing workshop with the old Lulzbot printers. (i.e. before AY23/24). Do I need to take it again?

Yes, even if you have previously taken a 3D printing workshop, you will need to take the new workshop to get access to the new printers. You should have a $5 credit in your ITLP account, so you do not need to pay to retake the workshop.

If you have taken the workshops over 5 years ago, please stop by the ITLL administration office and they can manually add you to an upcoming workshop.