Z Corporation 406 User Manual

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Z Corporation 406 User Manual Manual pdf 15 page image

Z406 System User Manual Z Corporationwww.zcorp-users.com 151.5 PRINTING A PART OVERVIEWPrinting a part using the Z406 3D Printer is fast, easy, clean and fully compatible with an officeenvironment. This manual will show tips on how to print the most challenging parts, but for mostpurposes, printing a part is as simple as 1-2-3.1.5.1 STEP 1: PREPARING THE 3D PRINTERCarefully following the steps outlined in Chapter 3, you can prepare the 3D printer in less than tenminutes. You will put powder in the feed piston, and ensure fluid levels are correct and that thepowder overflow bin is empty.1.5.2 STEP 2: IMPORTING THE FILEUpon launching the ZPrint Software, you will be presented with the ‘Open’ dialog box. Select the fileyou wish to print. The software allows you to open a variety of monochrome and color file formatsincluding STL, PLY, SFX, VRML (WRL), BLD, ZEC, ZBD and ZCP files. The software also allows youto move, scale, and/or rotate your part. For more information, refer to the ZPrint Software UserManual.1.5.3 STEP 3: PRINTING THE PARTThe Z406 3D Printer prints most parts in minutes and prints even the largest parts in a few hours.You may then remove the part, depowder any excess powder and dry and infiltrate the part with waxor other materials to give the part the desired strength and finish. The post-processing phase takesless than ten minutes for small parts and only an hour or so for large parts.Once you have completed these steps you are ready to start using parts to improve design,communicate with other departments and reduce the time it takes you to get new products to market.1.6 USEFUL TIPS1.6.1 PART SETUP AND POST-PROCESSING1.6.1.1 Part Setup, Orientation, and Print Settings• Do not tightly pack parts into the build. Keep in mind that you will need to depowder andremove them from the build box. Allowing a little bit of room around the part so you canvacuum the powder away and get your fingers around or under it.• Orient parts so delicate features are supported in the z-axis, i.e. keep the attaching featuredirectly below the fragile features. If a delicate feature is only supported by unprinted powderthe chances of breaking that small feature during depowdering is greatly increased.• When building delicate parts use the “Fixture” function to cradle the part. Raising the part0.25” (6.4 mm) from the bottom of the build and creating a fixture under the part will producea cradle that can be handled. The part inside the cradle can easily be transported to an ovenor the depowderer.• Do not enable the bleed compensation feature if you are building a part with features under0.050" (1.27 mm). Enabling bleed compensation may reduce the feature size.• To increase the strength of thin parts, you can decrease the layer thickness to 0.0035” (0.089mm) if you are using one of the zp® 100 series (plaster-based) powder systems. Then chooseto override the saturation values. Input the saturation values used for printing at 0.004” (0.102