New to 3d printing

Question

Karl, I am new to 3d printing, and have just ordered the Ender3 v2. If I down load your files do they just load into Cura or do I have to load them into Fusion 360 first, then load them into Cura, then into the printer or will they just load into the printer and run. Sorry for being a pain. Mick

Bart · Accepted Answer

Hi Mick,I'm not Karl but might be able to help you. It all depends a bit on which files you bought from Karl. CAD files are the model source files. You can use those to adjust the models yourself in Fusion or any other 3D CAD Software. Eventually, all CAD files will need to be saved / converted to STL files since Cura cannot work with CAD files. STL files cannot be adjusted anymore. You can think of STL files as 'dumb' CAD files. They still contain the 3D model but lost all parametric information.Cura is a piece of software that converts the STL files to a piece of code which in turn can be used by your 3d printer. It slices the model into horizontal layers and adds other relevant information for your printer. Like fan speed, nozzle temperature, etc. These settings are different for all printers, so its up to you to program your own printer by creating the code in Cura, using the STL files created by Karl.    I hope this makes sense, good luck!

Karl Clarke · Answer

Bart, well done! That was a very good answer!  Thank you

mickbass53 · Answer

Thanks Bert for your reply, and Karl for replying.