RE: [rp-ml] Connex500 Operating Settings

Hi David

Thanks for the excellent reply to all things Connex.

My understanding is the same as yours, that the 27 shore hardness TangoPlus is still in the testing phase. Like you our printer won't be able to print with the TangoPlus but we're also interested to know what additional combinations this resin will give us.

You mentioned purging resin when changing between 'digital' and 'high quality', do you know how much wastage this creates? Our existing system is an old Objet Quadra Tempo that's been upgraded to the Eden range (I have to add that the printer has been extremely reliable, in four years we only experience two breakdowns), when changing from a Vero resin to a Tango we lose approximately 120g on a short cycle change-over and 200g on a long cycle change-over. We try to only perform the long cycle change-over when we are changing from black to any other resin.

Is it a similar process time and wastage wise?

Regards,

Gary



Best Regards

Gary Miller
Head of Rapid Prototyping

Industrial Plastic Fabrications Ltd
Tel: 01992-893231
DD: 01992-840129
Fax: 01992-893530
Mob: 07971589053
Email - gary@ipfl.co.uk
MSN - garymiller79@hotmail.com
Visit our new website www.ipfl.co.uk
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi [mailto:owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi] On Behalf Of David Gurrola
Sent: 12 March 2008 00:32
To: rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi
Subject: [rp-ml] Connex500 Operating Settings

Thank you Rob for that valuable information. We have had our Connex for a
little over a month now and did have one issue with the tango materials
early last month that seemed to be just a fluke. I will keep this in mind
when we have a long period where materials could settle. Other than that
initial phenomena, we have had incredible results while using it in it's
Multi/Digital Material mode. It's uses have been endless not only for our
direct RP clients, but also with our engineers. Being able to build an
integral seal for example to test a new product has been priceless in
shortening our design cycles from days to as little as a few hours. If you
would like more information read the most recent press release at
www.2objet.com.

Even though it has been an undeniable asset to our engineers, it has been
a love hate relationship when it comes to the operating settings and
trying to swap back and forth between the "digital material" mode and the
"High Quality" mode. For those of you who have not received your connex
yet, anything that you want to build as a Multi-material or digital
material has to be grown in 30 micron layers. Without going into too much
detail, the system is split into 8 separate print heads, 4 for support and
4 for build. When building in a digital material mode with tango and
vero, two of the print heads are flooded with the opposite build material
which requires a purging of that channel. Once you have set the operating
mode to digital, it will not allow you to grow parts in high quality
without again purging the system back to all four heads using vero
material. It can be a large waste of material if jobs are not planned out
correctly or if you intend to offer all of the available combinations. We
have decided to offer all of the available combinations and have found
ways to minimize the waste of material, but it is something you should be
aware of before hand.

As far as Gary Miller's question about combinations with TangoPlus, it is
not yet available on the Connex. I have been following up with Objet on a
regular basis because we understood it would be. Unfortunately, they have
not released the capability. I will try to update the list as soon as it
is, because we have had a lot of interest in this combination and look
forward to the potential results. Is your Connex supposed to have this
ability?

To answer your question in regards to acceptance in the US, 3D printers,
especially the Objet line of printers have been highly accepted here in
the states. We are located in Southern California where I hear we have
the largest concentration of Objet machines in the World. Not sure how
true that is, but they have been well accepted.

I look forward to hearing from other Connex owners/operators in the near
future and hope that we can all help develop this very useful technology
to its full potential.

Regards,

David Gurrola
President
GROWit LLC

Direct: 714 683-1602
www.growit3d.com




Received on Wed Mar 19 09:44:03 2008