Begin by registering on our 3D Printing website. Once you've registered and verified your email address, you can upload your print jobs using our 3D Printing Services website. Staff will review the details of the job and provide you with a cost estimate (note: jobs submitted prior to Sept. 22, 2020 qualify for free printing).

Once you approve the estimated cost your job will be approved and  we will print the object to your specifications. The final price for your job will be calculated when  the job has completed. You are able to check your job status any time using our 3D Printing interface. You will receive an email when your job is printed. When you pick-up the print job, you will then need to provide payment.

Customers will require a valid library card and must register for a 3D printing account. You must be 14 years of age or older to register and supply a valid email address.

Customers do not have to be from Regina - they must be prepared to pick up their print jobs from Regina's Central Library.

First, make sure that you've checked your spam folder and have @reginalibrary.ca whitelisted so you can receive our emails. If that doesn't fix matters, feel free to contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Typically, printing costs $0.10 per gram, rounded to the nearest gram (which includes the job, bed adhesion, and support). However, jobs submitted prior to Sept. 22, 2020 qualify for free printing.

We will print all requested jobs using the 3D printers at Central Library. You are welcome to visit Central Library to watch the 3D printers work, however we can't guarantee when we will proceed with your project (we might be printing someone else's job first). You will receive an email when your print job is completed.

Your 3D print job will be supplied to you with raft and supports. Raft helps the job stick to the print bed while printing, and supports ensure that overhangs and fine details print properly.

Raft typically peels away but if it sticks to the bottom of your job use pliers to gently pry it away from each corner of the print and then use a palette knife or scraper to separate the raft from the job. Be careful while doing this as the scraper can slip.

Support also typically peels away but you may need pliers or strong tweezers to pull it away from the various nooks and crannies in your job. You can also use a metal file or sandpaper to smooth out your job.

STL only. Please ensure that your file is no larger than 100 MB.

STL files are unitless. So the designer (you in this case) has to ensure that the export is in sync with the printer unit. Most 3D printers and their software use mm as their units. Many 3D design programs made in the U.S. design in inches.

When you export your design, set the output of your software to mm. If you just use "units" or allow the software to use a default, the size can be unexpected.

We use the most current version of Ultimaker Cura as our slicing software. We have several extensions installed to assist us with customer files and the extension Mesh Tools helps us determine whether the file you have sent us has a good chance of successfully printing. We also use our previous 3D printing experience.

If we can, we will attempt to repair simple defects but many times the issues are too profound for us to repair so we will need to cancel the job and notify you of the issue so you can redesign or find a more suitable file.

The object or part thereof must fit within the confines of the build area in the printer. Our largest printer (the Ultimaker S5) has a maximum build volume of 330 mm (W) x 240 mm (D) x 300 mm (H). Be sure to account for bed adhesion when designing jobs.

PLA plastic glues together well with super-glue (Gorilla Glue, specifically). Acetone also works well to join PLA pieces together though you should be careful when using it as acetone is highly flammable. Hot glue guns tend not to work well as they require too much glue to work and are prone to melting the PLA.

PLA will also take screws if you design screw holes into your pieces or if you use a high enough infill percentage. Attempting to screw or drill through low-infill PLA jobs usually leads to fractured PLA.

All print jobs are subject to staff approval and we reserve the right to deny any print job. We will not print keys, weapon components or copyright-restricted designs, or anything that isn't in keeping with our Terms and Conditions. 

There will be times when a submitted design will not work due to technical issues. This is usually caused by one of two things:

• The design isn't appropriate for the kind of printing process employed by the machine we have available.

• The design might have flaws which make it impossible to print successfully.

We will do our best to identify these issues to you before moving forward with a print job. We may ask you for alterations to the design at any point. If the design will not produce a viable printed object, you will not be charged for the failed job, and we will retain the material used in the attempt. 

We currently house the on-demand printer at the Central branch. Other branches house our programming 3D printers on a rotating basis.

If you are interested in a ready-made design, we recommend checking out the collection of free designs on a website such as Thingiverse.

On-Demand Printing

We currently have two Ultimaker printers: an Ultimaker 3 and an Ultimaker S5.

Experimental Printing

We currently have one LulzBot printer: the TAZ 6. 

Programming

We currently have one Makerbot printer: the Replicator (5th Generation).

Our printers "print" (extrude) PLA plastic, a corn-based product. We usually have several colours of this plastic available.

No. We use PLA for safety reasons (for both our staff and our customers) as well as the efficiency of our 3D printing service.

We are considering ways of adding other types of materials to our 3D printing service.

No. There are 3D scanning services available commercially and there are also scanners that can be purchased. Please be aware that consumer-level 3D scanners generally provide only a rough approximation of any given object.

Regina Public Library staff are not able to take on 3D design work or instruction. However, there are several tutorials available through LinkedIn Learning that cover a wide range of 3D design software and practices.

In addition, our computers in the Digital Media Studio are capable of 3D design if you wish to work through lessons or do the work yourself. If you would rather have an expert do the designing, there are a number of commercial services available online that can connect you to professional 3D designers.