The membrane contained within each resin tray is the most fragile component of the Figure 4 Standalone Printer. It must be handled with care. Follow all resin-tray guidelines and procedures to avoid membrane damage and failure.
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HARMFUL IRRITANT WARNING: Wear protective clothing, disposable nitrile gloves, and goggles while handling the resin tray. |
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CAUTION: If a leak/spill occurs, do not run the machine. UV curing will harden the resin on unwanted surfaces and will make the resin very hard to remove. A nonabrasive cloth and IPA will help clean up any spilled uncured resin. |
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CAUTION: Failure to clean the resin tray of partially cured resin will lead to membrane failure and failed prints. |
NOTE: A print platform should not be installed during this procedure. |
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CAUTION: If tension system is damaged in some way, do not attempt to force any components to engage/disengage. Doing so could further damage the tension system, as well as other parts of the printer. Contact 3D Systems Service immediately. |
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Wear 100% nitrile gloves whenever reaching inside the print chamber. |
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Once a material type has been loaded, this is the material that the printer is expecting for the next print job. But you may wish to change the type of resin you are using. Most of the time, you will be changing the material as part of the printing process. However, you can also tap the Change Material button at the bottom of the Material tab home screen to change the material type to be used on your next print. You can also use this screen to add print material for the first time. If you have not yet activated your printer, you must do so in order to get through the following steps. Please see the section Printer Activation for more information.
NOTE: The screens in this section will be slightly different depending on whether you are changing the material type or adding material for the first time. |
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You are now ready to perform the print process with a new material.
You may clean the resin tray with >90% alcohol solvent between builds, enabling you to use different resins in the same resin tray (not at the same time). However, if a clear resin is poured into a tray that previously had a pigmented resin, it could result in undesirable coloring of the printed part. Because of this, if you intend to use the whole family of Figure 4 print materials, you will need a minimum of two resin trays for your Figure 4 Standalone Printer. The chart below shows which resins can share the same resin tray (provided that you have cleaned them with >90% alcohol solvent in between uses), with the minimum two trays indicated as trays 1 and 2. You may desire to use more than two trays for your purposes. Mark your resin trays with letters or numbers to help you remember which tray is which.
Tray 1 Figure 4 TOUGH GRY 10 Figure 4 TOUGH GRY 15 Figure 4 JCAST-GRN 10 Figure 4 ELAST-BLK 10 Figure 4 FLEX-BLK 10 Figure 4 TOUGH-BLK 20 Figure 4 PRO-BLK 10 Figure 4 HI TEMP 300-AMB Figure 4 FLEX-BLK 20 Figure 4 EGGSHELL-AMB 10 Figure 4 JewelMaster-GRY |
Tray 2 Figure 4 MED-AMB 10 Figure 4 MED-WHT 10 |
Tray 3 Figure 4 RUBBER-BLK 10 |
Before pouring any Figure 4 resin in the resin tray, you must mix the resin bottle according to the chart below. Before printing again with those resins, you must stir the resin in the resin tray using the Resin Mixer. Stirring the material in the resin tray serves two purposes: 1. Ensuring a good resin mixture; and, 2. Ensuring there is not debris in the resin tray, such as partially cured particulates.
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CAUTION: Failure to sufficiently mix resins according to this chart may result in color deviation and/or print failure. |
The chart below serves as a quick reference for resin-bottle mixing time on the NextDent LC-3DMixer, resin stirring time when resin is in the resin tray, and part-curing time in the LC-3DPrint Box.
For part-washing times, please see the section Cleaning Chart.
For part-drying times, please see the section Dry the Build Parts.
NOTE: If your print-material bottle has been sitting unused for more than one month, treat it like a new bottle and mix it according to the "brand new bottle" column below. |
Name | Bottle Shaking Time Before Mixer Use (1, see note below) | Bottle Mixing Time Required (LC-3DMixer) | Stirring Time Required (in resin tray) | Curing Time in LC-3DPrint Box | ||
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Brand new bottle | After first use (2, see note below) | In tray less than 3 hrs | In tray more than 3 hrs | |||
General Purpose | ||||||
Figure 4 PRO-BLK 10 |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 90 min. |
Figure 4 TOUGH GRY 10 |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 60 min. |
Figure 4 TOUGH GRY 15 (3, see note below) |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 90 min. |
Figure 4 TOUGH-BLK 20 (3, see note below) |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 90 min. |
Figure 4 FLEX-BLK 10 (3, see note below) |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 60 min. |
Figure 4 FLEX-BLK 20 |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 90 min. |
High Temperature | ||||||
Figure 4 HI TEMP 300-AMB | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 90 min. |
High Temperature and Medical | ||||||
Figure 4 MED-AMB 10 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 60 min. |
Figure 4 MED-WHT 10 | 5 min. before each use, whether "brand new" or "after first use" | 2.5 hrs. | 1 hr. | 30 secs. | 60 secs. | 60 min. |
Elastomer | ||||||
Figure 4 ELAST-BLK 10 (3, see note below) |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 45 min. |
Figure 4 RUBBER-BLK 10 |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 90 min. |
Figure 4 RUBBER-65A BLK |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 90 min. |
Casting | ||||||
Figure 4 JCAST-GRN 10 (3, see note below) |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 30 min. |
Figure 4 EGGSHELL-AMB 10 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 90 min. |
Figure 4 JEWEL MASTER GRY |
n/a | 1 hr. | 10 min. | 30 secs. | 30 secs. | 60 min. |
NOTE: Ensure that you place the build in your UV curing oven in the same orientation it was printed in, as if the bottom of the oven is the print platform. |
For best printing results, some MED print materials require that you pre-shake the bottle by hand before placing it on the LC-3DMixer for the specified time. This is to ensure that sediment thoroughly mixes with the rest of the material.
If you have a resin bottle like this, simply treat it like a new bottle and mix it for the time specified in the "Brand-new bottle" column in the above chart.
You may opt to mix the material bottle exclusively by hand, shaking it vigorously in an up-and-down motion. Shake it for five minutes for a new material or for one you are treating as new (see above note). Shake the bottle for two minutes for a recently used bottle.
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HARMFUL IRRITANT WARNING: Always handle the resin tray with care, even if you believe there is no material in it. wearing contact lenses when handing a resin tray filled with material is not recommended. Wear 100% nitrile gloves when handling the resin tray, even if you believe there is no material in it. Be careful not to pour material outside the resin tray, or to allow material to splash outside the resin tray. Liquid material has the potential to damage electrical equipment, particularly in the lower part of the printer. |
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TIP: You may choose to hold the material bottle with two hands, just in case it slips out of one hand, so that you do not drop the material bottle. |
Before filling the resin tray, you should have completed the steps in the section Add/Change Material and Scan Bottle. If you have not done so, do so now.
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CAUTION: Failure to properly switch materials will result in reduced reactivity of the new material, even when only very small amounts of different material(s) are mixed in. This will result in build failure and wasted material. |
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Resin that is left in the resin tray between builds needs to be stirred periodically. In this case, you would use the Resin Mixer to stir the resin, as seen below. Refer to the Material Stirring and Curing Chart for information on stirring materials.
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CAUTION: Failure to sufficiently mix resins before each build may result in color deviation and/or print failure. |
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CAUTION: Ensure that the comb is clean before each use. To clean the comb, wipe it with a nonabrasive cloth and the recommended solvent. |
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CAUTION: Putting too much pressure on the resin-tray film can dent or puncture the film, rendering the tray unusable. The film cannot be replaced by itself; if the film is damaged, the whole resin tray must be replaced. |
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CAUTION: Puncturing the resin tray will force a full tray's worth of print material into the catch tray. Use extra caution when handling a full catch tray. |
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CAUTION: If the resin tray gets punctured, discard it in the same way you would other materials that have been in contact with liquid resin. |
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CAUTION: Take care not to slosh resin out of the resin tray while stirring. If this happens, you will have to clean the parts of the printer that the resin got on. |
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CAUTION: Be sure to clean the comb with IPA between uses. Failure to do so risks mixing unstirred resin or different resin in with material currently in the resin tray. |