you say potato, I say colour.
You can import file types:
16 bit colour 4mil layer resolution, x-y resolution is as good or better than this. This printer makes good looking but reasonably fragile things. It is much faster than the Stratosis.
Press "Online" button to toggle between on and offline as indicated by the green LED. Set printer to offline.
You can see two beds in the printer. One, the Feed Bed, is filled with fresh filtered plaster. The other, the Build Bed, should be initially empty. This is where your 3D object, supported by loose plaster powder will take form.
There is an insert plate that fits onto the Build Bed. This is helpful for removing fragile pieces, and is generally used. Be careful not to raise the insert above the table edge, as this would cause an collision with the printer carriage. Lower the Build Bed (+ insert) to about 1 cm (~ 3/8") below the cartridge height.
Press the down arrow for the Feed to lower the bed (holding down the button will toggle the bed to continue moving until you press it again). Open the cover (plaster dust can be messy, don't put your vacuum cleaner on blow). Add more plaster, from the bucket labelled "Filtered Plaster" with the shovel if needed. Once plaster is added, aerate with the tip of the shovel, then used the wire gauze with a handle on it to press down, and flatten the plaster.
Now raise the plaster bed to about 1/8" above the top of the table with the Feed up arrow.
Each time you press the Spread button the cartidge carrige passes over the Build Bed once, spreading any excess plaster (above the level of the carrige) as it moves. The printer will also raise the Feed Bed before each move of the spread from left to right to supply a fresh layer of plaster.
Spread the Feed a couple of times to start to level off and excess plaster. Then use the vacuum (with the larger attachment) to clean excess plaster from around the beds.
Close the cover and switch to online.
Login to the computer on the MAS863 account and open the Z-Print program.
To transfer a smooth fill of plaster into the Build Bed (this will
act
as the layer of plaster on which your object will sit), select
406Service > Fill Bed, and click start. the printer
will proceed to
make a series of passes (~12) over the beds, transferring plaster from
the feed to the build bed with each pass. It does this as several
coarse fills, followed by finer, smoothing fills.
I think John said you could only partially fill the build bed for a small print job if you wanted, but generally just fill it all.
Excess plaster can act as an abrasive on the printers machinery, so it needs to be cleaned away before each use.
Take the printer back offline. Open the cover and vacuum the plaster outside the bed perimeters. This time use the smaller nozzle for the vac, as "the small head doesn't suck so much". Press the spread button to move the carriage away, to vacuum the area under its home position. Press the spread button again to bring it back.
The plaster that you vacuum up should not be thrown away, it will be filtered and reused.
Take the small bottle of oil, and apply a drop two the two small pads of the print carriage. This is for the rollers, and should be done before every job.
Set the printer back online. Returning to the computer, select
406Service > unpark to reveal the pads and felts used
to load binder
onto the print heads. Remove the metal plate cover. Squirt water from
the bottle onto the pads and felts. Leave the felts wet. Wet, and then
pat dry the pads with a paper towel. This should be done before every
job. Replace the metal cover. Press ok on the computer to re-park.
Import your file. In the Transform menu are the Scale and Justify
options. If you share you free space with other jobs, everyone will
love you more. Import more jobs with File > Import.
Clicking the "3D Print Setup" button in the toolbar at the top of
the
window will show you the print settings. The z unit should be 4 mil "
per layer. In general, keep all the default settings. To add your
e-mail for error updates (and so your errors don't spam the previous
user), go to Edit > Preferences. Exciting.
There should be a time estimate for the part in the File menu. It takes longer for colour, as the print head makes several prints for each pass of the bed, to build up the desired colour.
To switch to colour choose 406Service > Change Binder
Supply.
This
take a few minutes, as the binder lines are flushed and filled.
We want to do lots of things with colour. It will make us cooler. John warns: If parts of your object are smaller than ~ 1/8" they will be very fragile.
Clicking the "3D print" button in the toolbar, will bring up a final check list. Open up the cabinet below the printer to check the overflow bin, binder levels and waste container. Top up the binder, and remove excess plaster or waste as need be.
Then just click ok to start.
Click the Pause or Stop buttons, to do so. Pushing Pause should not effect the registration of your job when you resume. You can leave this machine to look after itself.
Your plaster object will be fragile, but supported in plaster dust when finished. If there is no one after you, try to leave your model in the machine to dry for as long as you can to reduce the chances of damage.
Then brush away the loose plaster powder from you object. Lower the Feed Bed and use the brush to sweep excess plaster back into the feed, but sift through it first to check nothing has snapped off (putting any solids into the feed will muck up the next print job and the 3D printer elves will hate you). You can also vacuum excess powder away, as this will be filtered and reused (but carefully does it).
You can then transfer the object to the cleaning chamber (this is where the build bed insert comes in handy, for ease of lifting). Again, the longer you leave the model to dry and strengthen the better - this will take longer for thick pieces (~hours).
In the chamber, air brush off any excess plaster. When dry, your object will be strong enough for you to lightly scrape or brush the surface (to smooth it if desired), but not very strong.
You can then apply low viscousity cyanoacrylate glue to strengthen and finish your surfaces. Apply enough to seep into the surface, but not too much as it may drip. Dot over the entire surface.
The architecture department bake their models before coating to strengthen them. Over there, you can also use an automated wax dip method to coat your surfaces. This may appeal for large or intricate designs, but may also effect surface finish.
Now go and show off your wicked cool 3D speed boat.