Figure 4 Materials Tips

Supported Printers:

With every new material 3D Systems releases for our Figure 4 Printers, the list of possibilities grows. Learn which materials are recommended for which use cases here along with tips on getting the best print results and Support Presets to use.

Material Tips

TOUGH-GRY-10

Figure 4 TOUGH-GRY 10 is capable of print speeds up to  100 mm/hour in a strong production plastic. With 25% elongation at break, it has the durability required for a broad range of applications. This dark gray plastic material is extremely stable, including under high humidity conditions.

    • Use orientation to minimize large cross sections areas when printing. There are tips available in Best Practices videos.

    • For full platforms and parts with large cross sectional areas, the print quality is best from the printer setup. Alternatively, you can also slow down the Interval Down Time in the Build Style by an extra 1-2 seconds.

    • Remember to stir material in the tray well between prints.

    • Spend extra time stirring material after 2-days on inactivity.

TOUGH-GRY-15

Figure 4 TOUGH-GRY 15 is designed to offer high strength and stability for production applications. Economical pricing allows short run production parts to be produced at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. With 35% elongation at break, this durable opaque gray material produces highly accurate components for consumer goods, aerospace and automotive industries, with digital molding productivity and cost-efficiency

    • Use orientation to minimize large cross sections areas when printing. There are tips available in Best Practices videos.

    • For full platforms and parts with large cross sectional areas, the print quality is best from the printer setup. Alternatively, you can also slow down the Interval Down Time in the Build Style by an extra 1-2 seconds.

    • Remember to stir material in the tray well between prints.

    • Spend extra time stirring material after 2-days on inactivity.

ELAST-BLK-10

Figure 4 ELAST-BLK 10 is a material suited for the prototyping and design of a wide variety of elastomeric parts. Producing parts in a fraction of the time required to produce molded parts, this material accelerates the design and  iteration of new concepts with rubber-like functional prototypes for industrial and consumer goods applications.

    • Use orientation to minimize large cross sections areas when printing. There are tips available in Best Practices videos.

    • For full platforms and parts with large cross sectional areas, the print quality is best from the printer setup. Alternatively, you can also slow down the Interval Down Time in the Build Style by an extra 1-2 seconds.

    • It is best to remove parts from the platform within 12-hours of a print to prevent parts from coming off of tray while sitting in printer.

JCAST-GRN-10

Designed for the jewelry casting professional, Figure 4 JCAST-GRN 10 produces accurate, reproducible, and highly detailed master patterns for jewelry casting. This high contrast green material is easy to cast with minimal ash and residue, producing high quality jewelry pieces rapidly.

 

Smart Support Preset Tips

TOUGH-GRY-10 and -15; ELAST-BLK-10

FINE FLAT TIP: These support types are best used for most parts to both provide geometrical support as well as ease of removal.

GENERAL ROUND TIP: These support types are best used for larger cross section parts that tend to help prevent warp and distortion during the print.

GENERAL FLAT TIP: These support types are best used for large surface areas on the bottom of the part as well as thin wall cover type parts.

JCAST-GRN-10:

GENERAL FLAT TIP: These support types are best used for most parts to both provide geometrical support as well as ease of removal.

Because of the intricacies of jewelry parts, it is best to manually view and edit each ring before printing.