3D Printing


Churchlands SHS STEM Club has THREE 3D Printers for use by STEM Club Members! The model printer we use is the Flashforge Dreamer and Flashforge Inventor

3D Printing Software

Building a 3D Model:

The first step to 3D printing is 3D designing! Use either of the software packages below to start your 3D Designing journey.

Tinkercad - Easy models can be made online using this wonderful resource

Fusion 360 - This is for when you want to make more complex 3D models

IMPORTANT: FlashPrint will need an "STL" file, so make sure you export from Tinkercad or Fusion 360 as an STL.


Printing your 3D Model:

To use our printer, you'll need the following free software installed on your computer:

FlashPrint - This is the software you will use to finalise, position and slice your 3D model for our printer

IMPORTANT: When printing, ensure you set the filament type to PLA:

Becoming a 3D Printing Master

To obtain 3D Printing Mastery, you should first complete the following 2 Beginner Quests:

Part 1: Download and Print your first 3D Model

Head on over to thingiverse.com or your other favourite place to download 3D Models. Download some models and learn how to import them into the software. Use the preview function to determine what settings will allow your model to be printed within 60 minutes. Once you think everything is ready to go, take your model to a STEM Club teacher to review. Finally, you can set up the printer and watch your model being printed!


Part 2: Design, draw and print your own 3D design

Time for you to create your own 3D design. You can use whatever software you like, and create whatever you wish. You could create something like your name on a badge (see below), a personalised desk toy or Christmas ornament, or even your own 3D drawing made in Blender! You could also design your print using Minecraft! Your print should take less than 1 hour to print like the example below. Especially amazing designs may be given more printer time!

If you haven't already, download the free Fusion 360 software to start your designs (see the top of the page). However, if you wish to use something else, you certainly can.




Now it's up to you!

Once you've become a 3D Printing Master, you are able to use the STEM Printers for your STEM-related project. Just see the teacher to get started. Many students find using YouTube tutorials to be an excellent way to learn by yourself!