FAQ

Neither. We are the Technical Operations unit inside Engineering Information Technology which is inside the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland.  We mainly serve the campus community but do work with select external audiences.

Terrapin Works is a collection of rapid prototyping, advanced manufacturing, and digital design resources provided as a service to the campus and surrounding community. These resources range from 100+ consumer, research and industrial grade 3D printers, to high end subtractive production systems capable of creating complex parts in a variety of materials. Terrapin Works offers production and design services as well as access to equipment in our 17 locations and 28,000 square feet of lab space across campus.

Yes. Contact us for more info.

Check the machine you would like to order from on maker.umd.edu. When you select a due date you will be given a range of dates that accounts for factors that influence lead time on that particular piece of equipment. Lead time depends on a lot of factors, such as what machine you order from, how many other people are placing orders for that same machine, and how many orders we are getting overall at a given point in time. While sometimes you may see your request finish early, we cannot guarantee completion before the set date.

Yes. Check your email for order progress messages.

We follow all UMD guidelines. Please refresh yourself using this link if you are unsure. Drug paraphernalia and weapons are strictly prohibited.

You can see the different methods we accept here.

A PI should fill out ter.ps/addkfs to create an account in PaperCut. Once the account is created (confirmation should be sent in 2-3 days of account creation) then the user can fill out the same form and get access to use the shared account. When the form is submitted by the user, the PI will get a confirmation email. This part of the process will also take 2-3 business days.

Visit ter.ps/addfunds

$0.10 - $0.20 per gram. Check our pricing page for more info and estimates.

1. Have a 3D file of type .stl ready. Thingiverse is a good source of files and inspiration.
2. Go to our order platform Papercut (same link as button below)
3. Sign in with CAS
4. Look for one of the above listed printers (Ctrl + F helps)
5. Hover the image of the printer so that the "Start Order" button appears
6. Click "Start Order"
7. Fill out the form that pops up
8. Click "Submit" in the lower right hand corner

Go to Papercut and Start Order

Until further notice, we are doing all Advanced 3D Printing and Basic 3D Printing part pick ups inside the Advanced Fabricaion Lab (AFL) located at AJC 2123.

Pricing varies depending on machine. Rough pricing examples/estimates can be found on our Pricing page. When placing an order on maker.umd.edu order forms may be configured to help you estimate a price. Otherwise, you can feel free to contact us for a quote.

We only accept .stl files.

We have a wide variety of colors available, especially for Basic 3D Printing. Select a 3D printer at maker.umd.edu, select a material, and look in our drop down list to see the available colors for that printer + material combo.

Yes. Customers are expected to provide the material for their parts. The Instructional Fabrication Lab (IFL) does not provide material to make customer parts.

The IFL can store material for a maximum of 2 weeks for personal projects. Material must be labeled with a name and a means of contact. After 2 weeks, if the material is not picked up and the person is not able to be contacted, the material becomes property of the IFL.

The vast majority of the machines and tools in the IFL are open for any student, faculty, or staff to use. We provide training free of cost for our machines. Once trained, they may use the machines free of cost at any time the lab is open and that there is a staffer. Please note that we do not train people on the CNC machines or the Waterjet.

You can visit https://ter.ps/iesreserve to reserve a time slot to use one of our electronics workbenches in the Instructional Electronics Shop for free.

Visit https://ter.ps/iesreserve to reserve time with our LPKF equipment, which includes access to a workbench, solder, a reflow oven and pick and place machine for easy placement of parts. For a fee we can even produce a stencil for your board which will make applying solder paste a breeze!

We take gerber files only for processing PCB requests.

Yes. We have self-service models for our pick and place and reflow ovens. If you have a board manufactured outside of Terrapin Works that needs components placed, you can use our machines to do that.

4 mils

229 mm x 305 mm x 43 mm (9” x 12” x 0.3”)

Up to 8 layers.

Researchers can reserve time on the Nanoscribe if they complete the training.

The vast majority of the machines and tools in the IFL are open for any student, faculty, or staff to use. We provide training free of cost for our machines. Once trained, they may use the machines free of cost at any time the lab is open and that there is a staffer. Please note that we do not train people on the CNC machines or the Waterjet.

The computers in the front space, the Keyence, and Epilog are available for student use. The computers can be used anytime during lab hours for free and students can schedule a time to come in to use the other two machines at an hourly rate.

We have electornics workbenches fitted with the tools you would find in an Electrical Engineering Laboratory (Oscilloscope, function generator, multimeter, soldering iron, etc.). You can visit https://ter.ps/iesreserve to reserve a time slot to use one of our electronics workbenches in the Instructional Electronics Shop for free.

Visit https://ter.ps/iesreserve to reserve time with our LPKF equipment, which includes access to a workbench, solder, a reflow oven and pick and place machine for easy placement of parts. If you have a board manufactured outside of Terrapin Works that needs components placed, you can use our machines to do that.