In YorCreate in the University Library, we have six Flashforge Adventurer 3 3D printers.

You can find out more about the specs of the Adventurer 3 if you're interested, but here's the key information you'll need if you want to book and use these printers:

• They can print in one colour, with the filament either loaded into the side of the printer or stored in a material station next to the printer and fed into the side.
• They have a build volume (maximum size of prints you can make) of 150 x 150 x 150 mm.
• You can use FlashPrint software to slice your 3D models ready to print using the Flashforge printers
• You need to put your sliced file into .gx format onto a USB stick to put into the printers to send your job to print.

The basic workflow for printing on a Flashforge 3D printer is as follows:

1. Get a 3D model.
2. Import your model into FlashPrint, choose the settings you want to use, and slice your model.
3. Book your Flashforge printer using the booking system, ensuring you use the estimated print time with extra time on each side (at least 10-15 mins) for setting up and finishing.
4. Bring your sliced file in .gx format on a USB drive to the Flashforge printer you booked.
5. Choose your file on the Flashforge printer and start your print.
6. Watch the printer at least a few minutes to ensure your print starts as expected.
7. Stay in YorCreate whilst your print is completed.
8. Once your print has completed and says so on the Flashforge's screen, open the doors and remove the glass plate once it feels cool enough, then remove the model from the plate.

See our document for a full walkthrough of how to use a Flashforge Adventurer 3 in YorCreate (and some cleaning tips when using the printers):

FlashPrint is the default software you can use with the Flashforge printers to get your 3D model ready for printing on an Flashforge printer. You can get it for free on your own device and set it up to be able to print on an Adventurer 3 Series printer so you get the right settings.

You can also slice for Flashforge printers in Ultimaker Cura, though you will need to tweak some settings. You'll find guidance on this elsewhere on this page.

FlashPrint allows you to slice your 3D models, meaning that you set up the layers that will be printed using the 3D printer and settings such as how thick the layers are and how much the model is filled in. Once you slice a 3D model, you'll have a file that you can send to a 3D printer to print. For the Flashforge printers, you'll save a .gx file from FlashPrint onto a USB stick and put that USB stick into the printer to access the file to print.

Steps for using FlashPrint

1. Open FlashPrint on your device (see link above to download it).
2. Using the Model File button (or File < Load File), open a 3D model to work with.
3. If you need to, adjust the size, position, or orientation of the model using the controls on the right-hand side of the window.
4. Choose Start Slicing to open all the options for your print. Check the details are correct (it should have a 0.4mm nozzle size and PLA 1.75mm material type for the Flashforge printers in YorCreate) and choose a Slice Profile, or go to Export Mode to adjust any settings such as the Infill, Supports, or Raft as you want (this is often better as you have full control of settings).
5. Choose Slice.
6. Your model has been sliced. Choose Slice Preview to see estimated print time and material, and see the layers/raft that will be printed.
7. Use the Save icon to save the sliced file to a USB stick (or save to your device and later move to a USB stick).
8. Book your 3D printer and go print your creation!

You can also slice models to use on the Flashforge Adventurer 3s using Ultimaker Cura, which we discuss on the Ultimaker page. You might find it easier to control settings this way and it means you can only use one slicing tool for both kinds of printers.

To do this, you need to add the Flashforge Adventurer 3 as a printer in Cura. It is not one of the default printer options, so you will need to use Flashforge's guidance on setting up the printer for this to work.