CR-10 Smart Basic Printing Instructions

These instructions provide a general guide for printing a 3D STL file using the CR-10 Smart 3D printer. They are intended for those with a basic understanding of 3D printing.

These instructions assume that the following requirements have been met:

1. Ensure that the CR-10 Smart 3D printer has been properly set up, calibrated, and auto-leveled.
2. Download, install, and configure Cura software with the CR-10 profile.
3. Download the STL file using the Chrome web browser.

1. CR-10 Smart 3D Printer
2. A PC or Laptop with:
3. Windows 10 Installed
4. Google Chrome Browser
5. Ultimaker Cura slicing software
6. A standard SD card
7. An SD Card Reader attached to the PC or Laptop

Find an STL that you would like to print. There are many community sites that are available to download a standard STL file for printing (STereoLithography). Here are few that are very popular amongst the 3D printing community:

1. Thingiverse
2. Cults 3D
3. My Mini Factory
4. Printables

For the purposes of this instruction set, we will use a very standard STL file that is used to test the capabilities and setup of the 3D printer: "3D Benchy". To read more about how 3D Benchy, check out this link.

Download the file to a location on your hard drive that you will reference later to perform the next steps:

1. Navigate to: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:763622
2. Click "Download all Files"
3. You will notice that a file with the extension "ZIP" was downloaded. Note that zip files are very common format by which STL files will be compressed.
4. Right Click on the image that downloaded in the lower navigation bar in Chrome
5. Click the menu item "Show in Folder"
6. A new Windows Explorer window will appear
7. Right click on the file and click "Extract All" and click the "Extract" button on the window that appears.
8. The STL files will have been extracted to a folder with the same name as the original ZIP file.
9. Open the newly created folder and open the "Files" folder.
10. In this folder you will see the STL files. We will load one of these files into Cura in the next step.

Now we will load the STL file into Cura. We have to do this in order to prepare a set of instructions that we will send to the printer via our SD card. An STL file has to be processed into a set of individual "slices" that will print layer by layer on the 3D printer.

1. Start Cura
2. See that Cura opens with a 3D rendered field that will display our model
3. Resize the Cura window so that Windows Explorer and Cura are side by side
4. Drag and drop the STL file from Windows Explorer to Cura

Now the STL file is ready for slicing.

Now we will confirm that that Cura is setup properly before we slice the file.

1. Confirm that "Creality CR-10" is selected
2. Confirm that "Generic PLA" is selected and the .4mm Nozzle is set
3. Confirm that "Standard Quality - .2mm" is selected

Now we simply click "Slice". Slicing creates a set of instructions that tell the printer how to create our model. The instructions include the temperature of the build plate, the temperature of the nozzle, the feed rate of the filament and where within the XYZ field to place filament. There are many other instructions that are created and stored in the set. As you become more familiar with the operation of the CR-10, you will inevitably begin customizing settings in Cura which will in turn, create new instruction sets.

Now we are ready to print the GCODE file. Once the SD card is inserted into the machine, you can navigate to the file on the printer control console, select the file and begin the print.

1. Insert the SD Card into the CR-10 Smart machine
2. Navigate to the file via the control console on the machine
3. Select the file and begin the print