Infill styles for FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) rarely come up and that’s because there’s not much to talk about, right? Wrong! Sure, in GrabCAD Print we have the classics: Sparse, Sparse Double Dense, Hexagram, High Density, and Solid. They each have their uses and most people know what they do, but are those your only five options? Not even close. With the Insight software (available on F370 and Fortus 3D Printers from Stratasys) you can use a much larger variety […]
There will be times when you will need to replace the print head or print heads in your Stratasys Objet 30 printer. If you are having a print quality issue there are a few things you can do to test whether the heads are working properly. The first thing you should do is run a pattern test. You can find the pattern test instructions here The next thing you should do is try to calibrate the heads by running the […]
Stratasys are requiring a slightly different head calibration procedure than you might be used to with the F123 Series 3D printers(F120, F170, F270, F370). This procedure is now the standard for F series printers and should greatly reduce the message that sometimes pops up on the printer stating “No Material Detected At Head”. Stratasys has begun requiring the manual calibration procedure be done prior to replacing a defective head as they have found that so many users were only performing […]
TPU or Thermoplastic Polyurethane is a flexible 3D printer filament available for most of the Stratasys F Series printers. TPU is an interesting filament with a Shore hardness of 92A. 3D printing TPU is useful for making models of gaskets, seals, dampeners, and any other application where some flex is necessary. Due to the flexible nature of TPU we should keep some things in mind when calibrating our TPU-dedicated print head. The TPU head is blue compared to the regular […]
INSTALLING YOUR STRATASYS J55 BUILD TRAY So you got yourself one of the brand new Stratasys J55 full color 3D printers. One of the many impressive features it has is the build tray size to printer footprint ratio. Today I will cover installation of the build tray into the printer. First open the printer door and locate the build tray turntable. There is a securing nut that is located in the center. Find the dedicated build tray wrench located in […]
The CATI office in Bellevue, Washington had their Stratasys J750 Polyjet printer upgraded into the J750 Digital Anatomy printer recently and I thought I would go through some of my first impressions of the machine and its exclusive materials. The Good Physical Accuracy: One of the first part I printed off the machine was a human heart model. I was stunned to see the accuracy of the heart! The model had the Chordae Tendinae, Tricuspid valve, Mitral valve, Aortic valve, […]
Creating custom machining and assembly fixtures is often a costly and time-consuming process. Using 3D printing, custom fixtures can be created in a fraction of the time at a cost that is justifiable for short run parts and one-offs. To demonstrate this, I have this scaled model for an engine cover. This shape is highly complex and cutting this from modeling foam can be a challenge because of the materials brittle nature. Because of the constraints of the machine I […]
In the last post we went over how the Desktop Metal 3D printing process can print larger parts than can be made with the metal injection molding (MIM) method. This is due to the ability of it to print parts with a hollow infill and how the debinding process works. Before the parts can move onto to the furnace to be sintered, they need to have to binding agents removed from them. This is done in a liquid chemical […]
GrabCAD Print can work with almost any file you can throw at it. But sometimes you really need an STL file. There’s no ‘Export to STL’ option… is there?
The J55 is the latest in a long line of Polyjet printers in the Stratasys family. With a revolving printing platform, this printer marks a change that promises to revolutionize the industry. To get a sense for how, looking at the similarities and differences helps to comprehend the capabilities of the J55. For an overview of the printer, check out one of our previous blog posts. Circular Build Platform The most defining characteristic of the J55 is the circular build […]