The Lab is a college wide resource, giving both students and faculty accesses to fabrication equipment and a production space in a multidisciplinary setting. The lab is open to all CoMAD students and faculty. During the academic year the Lab hosts a variety of college wide workshops, and actively promotes interdisciplinary design research and teaching.

The Hybrid Making Lab has a variety of micro and small scale tools geared toward model making and small scale prototyping. In addition the Lab has two Universal Laser Cutters.

To use the Hybrid Making Lab all students and must attended an orientation session. The orientation covers the basic use of the lab tools and the laser cutter.

General Laser Cutting Guidelines [PDF]

Cutting File Guidelines [PDF]

Laser Cutter Materials [PDF]

3D Printing

The Hybrid Making Lab has 3 different types of 3D printers for student, faculty, and staff use.

If you wish to 3D print a file – read though the following instructions, then either come to the Hybrid lab when it is open or upload your file. The printers are available on a first come first serve basis. We will 3D print your file if you upload and pay for it via paper cut, which you then can pick up at a later date.

Files: All printers will print an OBJ or STL file. Your files must be volumetric and “watertight”. The 3D printers will not print single surfaces or lines/curves. Having these items in your OBJ or STL file will cause your print to either be rejected or fail.

Printer detail: All three types of printers will print surface details, but in general all file elements should be no smaller than an 1/8” thick. Thinner surfaces and members will often print fine but tend to break during the cleaning process.

MakerBot Replicator

The MakerBot Replicator is the most readily available and inexpensive of the printers. The MakerBot prints a white PLA plastic, that needs to be printed with both a raft and supports, so there is a need for cleaning and finishing of the print. The optimal print area is about 6”x6”x6” (xyz)

The print will be printed at .02mm layer height with a 10% infill.

The MakerBot print cost $ 0.06 a gram, a print with a 3”x3”x3” solid volume will cost approximately $8.00, and will take around 5 hours to print.

MakerBot best practices: https://www.makerbot.com/learn/

Common print issue: Peeling up and warping of prints with large surface areas. If your print has a large flat surface area, either adjust the print so the flat side is off or perpendicular to the bed- or model “coins” under the corners of the surface, reducing the amount of area printed directly on the raft.

Form 2

Form 2 is the printer with the highest detail and resolution available. The Form 2 prints a white resin with supports that are easily removed- cleaning and post processing is necessary.

The optimal print area is 5”x5”x6” (xyz)

The print will be printed at .01mm layer height.

The Form 2 print cost $ 0.20 a milliliter, a print with 3”x3”x3” solid volume will cost approximately $25.00, and will take about 4 hours to print.

Form 2 best practices: https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Model-Orientation?language=en_US

Common print issue: The Form 2 uses a Photopolymer resin (a resin the cures in UV light). The prints, even after post processing, can often be sticky to the touch. You may need to keep the print in direct sun light for several hours to get your print completely cured.

Fuse 1

Fuse 1 is the best printer for movable parts, multiple prints and for larger finished prints. The Fuse prints with a black/dark grey nylon powder. The printer part needs no support, but it does need to be extracted from powder and scrubbed thoroughly before finishing.

The optimal print area is 6”x6”x10” (xyz)

The print will be printed at a .01mm layer height.

The Fuse 1 print cost is $ 0.20 a milliliter, a print with 3”x3”x3” solid volume will cost approximately $25.00, often this printer requires a 24 hour turn around

Fuse 1 info and best practices: https://formlabs.com/blog/what-is-selective-laser-sintering/#Meet%20the%20Fuse%201%20SLS%203D%20Printer

Common print issue: The Fuse uses a nylon powder, so even after the cleaning process, often the part will have a fine grainy texture to the final print.

Paper cut instructions:

1. Upload your OBJ or STL file. (Make sure your file is volumetric and watertight- if your file has issues, it will not be printed and will be sent back for you to fix)
2. Put in the xyz dimensions of your file in inches and decimal to the nearest thousandth (0.000”)
   For example: 1/4”=.250” 1/8” = .125” 1/16”= .062”
   If you need your objects dimensions to be precise- make sure you export the OBJ or STL in the exact xyz orientation you want it printed.
3. Indicate which printer you’d like to use (MakerBot, Form 2 , Fuse 1)
4. Upload the file.
5. A confirmation will be sent back that includes the projected time and cost within 24 hours.
6. Pay for your 3D print.
7. You’ll receive an email when your print is ready to pick up.