zcorp ceramic

I had the Zcorp working yesterday, but today Duncan and I couldn't get the cartridge to print. I think maybe I burned it out. Duncan mixed the alcohol today so now I'll try to figure out if I can fix the cartridge or I'll have to make a new one. 

zcorp 402c binder cartridge fix

My Canon BC-20 Cartridge was delivered Thursday. On Friday, I drilled the barb fitting holes and then decided to take a different approach to how I usually make the Z Corp cartridges. I decapitated the top of the cartridge and made sure not to cut all the way through. Then I folded the top up and removed the foam from inside (wear gloves!!!). I believe I may have had some disintegrated foam in the line that I cleaned out so I thought this would be a good approach. I epoxied the lid back on along with the barbs, sealed the top breather hole and used a zip tie to keep pressure on the lid flap. A rubber band would work in this instance as well. After the cartridge had cured, I dropped it into the 402 C and gave it a try. I'm happy to report that the binder laid down so nicely over the ceramic powder. I ran a test with the purge block model as well as the bearing model. I believe I will have to play with binder recipes for the clay, but I think this is going to work. 

zcorp ceramic

One of the students in my "Machines that Make" course wants to experiment with printing in ceramics. I decided to fix him up with the Zcorp 402C. It had been a while since I had the 402C running. The last time I used it, I was having trouble with de-lamination of prints due to not enough binder. Duncan mixed up a recipe for his ceramic powder and I loaded it up. Pete and I took a look at things last week and I cleared a few clogs and flushed the system. For some reason I still wasn't getting binder out of the print cartridge. On Saturday, I worked on the cartridge. After a bit of fussing around, I determined that the electrical interface between cartridge and print had some burnt traces. This meant that the entire ribbon on the print head carriage would have to be replaced. Luckily, the 402C came with extra parts and that was one of the things I had. I performed a complete tear down of the carriage and I was glad I did, as there was so much fused starch powder on the stainless carriage. This fused powder had actually "glued" the carriage board to the stainless tray. I was trying and trying to get to all the hardware and then I realized that I could simply lift the board out of the aluminum standoffs once the powder was released from the board. I cleaned things up, chipped powder off the tray and out of the carwash, tightened some loose carwash bolts, and put things back together. The cartridge I was using was a modified Cannon BC-20, but unfortunately it was fried. I was able to to print a few strips and there is now binder coming out, but the bad cartridge trips an error. I ordered some new cartridges, so hopefully I'll be able to get this set up for Duncan within the week.

z-corp printing again

I worked on the Z-corp printer last weekend. It had been broken down since hosting Milwaukee's first 3D printing meet-up. The belt had slipped off again, due to the tensioner (idler) being out of adjustment. I fixed this and got it moving again, but then the cartridge was messed up. I made a new one from one of the extra Canon cartridges I had bought for the DCRL. I printed some pieces for Chad as a test to start working the ink out of the cartridge. I'm glad to see that things are now working well. Need to hook up the color system now.

3d printing camp wisconsin

I attended the 3D Printing Camp Wisconsin "un-conference" at Sector67 in Madison yesterday. There was a really good turnout with over 70 people in attendance and several different printers on display and printing. There was a broad range of people in attendance (engineers, computer programers, artists, healthcare scientists, business entrepreneurs,  higher ed professionals, etc.). The sessions were very informative and the topics ranged from getting started modeling basic household objects, using Thingaverse, 3D scanning with xbox kinect, Google Sketchup modeling tips, getting the most accuracy out of your RepRap based printer, and starting a business that utilizes 3D printing. Bryan joined in on the xbox kinect session and offered his assistance to Brett. There was a lot of sharing of information and excitement about the rapid growing segment of personal fabrication and it was great to see so many different kinds of people coming together on the topic. I myself was happy to meet a lot of new people and to make some connections with some of the exciting things happening in the state of Wisconsin. I look forward to more events like this as the knowledge spreads!

side-note: I would like to personally thank Sector67 for hosting as well as all of the conference sponsors for making the event happen.

zcorp 402c/canon bc-20

I've had trouble with the zcorp print cartridge clogging on me and creating delaminated parts. I finally determined that it was the old cartridge and not crud in the lines. I believe that the seal near the print head was deteriorating and fouling it. I decided to ditch the old cartridges (I had gotten several with the printer) since they all seemed to look bad. I purchased some replacement Canon BC-20's on amazon and then went to work modifying one. Someone must have thought about doing this to the printer as there were some nice little connectors from McMaster Carr in the toolbox that came with the printer, so I fitted those with some super glue after drilling my holes in the side of the cartridge (one hole high for filling and one hole low for draining). I also sealed the air hole in the top of the cartridge and then installed. I flushed the binder for a while and I still have a little black ink in the cartridge, but it should work it's way out soon (I kind of like the black prints). I ended up shortening the hoses a bit after taking the pics above because they were occasionally slapping the build surface it printed. The cartridge works like a charm now and we're back in business.