Introduction: About Ember

By Shalom Ormsby
About: I'm a UX designer who used to work at Pier 9 as the UX Designer for Ember, Autodesk's 3D printer.

Front View

A. Access door: When closed, the amber access door prevents UV and blue-spectrum light from entering into the build chamber and curing the resin. To open the door and access the build chamber, rotate it clockwise.

B. Build chamber: The build chamber is the upper portion of the machine, inside the access door, and is where the 3D printing happens.

C. Build plate: This is the metal surface upon which your model is printed. The build plate is removable to allow you to easily clean and remove your part.

D. Build plate fastening lever: Release this lever to release the build plate; tighten it to secure it.

E. Control panel: The round OLED screen at the front of the printer, the two user input buttons, and the LED ring that encircles it. While printing, the percentage of lit LEDs in the ring indicates the percentage complete.

F. Electronics bay: The lower portion of the machine that contains the electronics.

G. Resin tray: The resin tray contains the photosensitive liquid build material. When exposed to UV light, the resin solidifies, building your model layer by layer. The tray is secured in place with keying features.

H. Resin tray window: The silicone window in the bottom of the resin tray through which the projector shines successive layers of UV light onto the build plate to build your model.

I. Rotation plate: The metal plate upon which the resin tray is installed. The rotation of this plate enables successive layers of the model to peel away from the resin tray window and build upon each other in the printing process.

J. Z-Axis: Moves the build plate vertically and controls the layer thickness of your part.

K. Mini USB port: Load your print data using this port (if not loading via Spark).

Step 1: ​Rear View

  1. Ethernet port: Plug in an ethernet cable if you'd like your printer to have a wired connection to the internet.
  2. Power port: Plug in your power supply here.
  3. Vent: The printer is cooled through this vent, so be sure to leave open space behind it.

Step 2: Specs

  • Build volume: 64mm (X) x 40mm (Y) x 134mm (Z)
  • The X-Y resolution is 50 microns
  • The layer thickness varies according to the resin, ranging from 10 to 100 microns