3d printer glossary

Bowden tube—The tube that the filament moves through. When the filament drive mechanism is placed on a non-moving part of the 3D printer, the filament can be pushed into the PTFE (Teflon™) tube. This configuration keeps the extruder light: the lighter the extruder, the quicker you can move the toolhead when not extruding.

Build Plate—The platform, sometimes referred to as bed, that the model is printed on.

Build Platform—What the build plate is supported by.

Build Volume—Also known as Build Envelope. The X, Y and Z dimensions of the printable area of your 3D printer. These dimensions define how large your 3D model can be. For example the Ultimaker 2+ has a build volume of 223 × 223 × 205 mm , and the Ultimaker 2 Extended+ has a build volume of 223 × 223 × 305 mm

Endstop—The switches that help protect the machine from moving past its intended range and damaging itself.

Extruder—The group of parts of the 3D printer which handles feeding and extruding of the build material. 

Hot end-The bottom of the extruder that heats up to melt the filament.

Nozzle—The nozzle is the part of the printing head that extrudes the plastic.