3D Printing Terminology For Beginners

For beginners, a 3D printing terminology manual is necessary to help them learn the printing process. It is required to become familiar with the jargon used in learning about 3D printing and its application.

Some of the most commonly used jargon in 3D printing terminology are:

• Belt – Toothed gear for transfer movement.
• Build Plate – This is the surface where the printer deposits the materials used for printing. Other therm is Print Bed.
• Build time – Time for 3D printer to print some object.
• Calibration – Process of adjusting a device so it can perform correctly or more efficiently.
• Carriage – The moving assembly that holds the nozzle and hot end of the extruder.
• Cura – A software that is used for slicing.
• Extrude – The process of dispensing build material onto the build platform through a small nozzle, also called a “hot end.”
• Extruder – The assembly that handles feeding and extruding filament during a print. 
• Fan – Extruder Fan that cools the heat sink of the extruder.
• Extruder Motor – Stepper motor of the extruder assembly.
• Nozzle – Steel funnel-shaped die through which melted plastic is extruded.
• Hot End – The heated portion of the extruder assembly that includes the nozzle and heating block.
• Print Speed – The rate at which a 3D printer is capable of moving while extruding plastic. 
• Printing Temperature – The temperature of the hot end at which the filament is melting and extruding.

3D printing terminology

• Retraction – Backwards movement of an extruder motor that will reduce the amount of material stringing or oozing.
• Support – Additional removable structures. You should print them to support overhangs or other parts of a model.
• Infill – A value that represents in percentage how much a solid model should be filled in with material when printed.
• Post-processing – Process of improving the appearance of the object after printing.

• Print head – The part of a 3D printer where you extrude the material.
• Rapid prototyping – The process of creating physical prototypes from digital data.
• Sintering – The process of fusing particles to form a solid mass of material.
• Wall thickness – The thinnest dimension of a wall that is printing and supporting the model.
• Compressed File – A reduced size of the computer file. You can reverse the size to recreate the original file.
• Distortion – The deflection of a part from the shape created by the additive manufacturing process.
• Feeder – The motor that pushes the filament towards the nozzle.
• Melting – This is a process where a solid material is heating. The result is that its phase changes from solid to liquid. 
• Warm-Up Time – The length of time that it takes for a 3D printer to reach its recommended operating temperature. 

File formats

• SLS – Selective Laser Sintering is a technology that uses powder.
• .STL – Name of the most common 3D printing file format. The files generated by CAD programs usually have an extension . stl.
• OBJ – This file stands for Object File. The file is an alternative to the STL file format.
• G-code – Code for transmiting instructions from a program to a 3D printer’s control system. In that way, the printer know how to print the 3D model.