You will need a PC, e.g. i3, with at least 4GB of memory and running Java 64 bit. More memory is better, especially when printing big objects, big meaning many faces. If you want to start using the big build plate and place many objects on the build plate you will most likely need to upgrade to 16GB or even 32GB of memory. Imagine 500 rings each with 500 000 faces. That is a lot of faces and will need tons of memory to slice.
Gizmetor uses Java 64 bit. Please remember to install Java 64 bit or you will just get a black screen flashing when you start Gizmetor.
This video will explain the connectors on the printer. Please note, you do need to plug in the HDMI and the middle USB at least for your printer to work. Ofcourse you also need to plug in the power cables and switch on the printer and the projector. If you don't see any lights or hear any fans then things need to be switched on.
This video will show you how a print is done using Gizmetor and GiziPrint. It has some extra background information that isn't in the text.
Extra info before you start
- Please watch the tutorials on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/Gizmo3DPrinters
- Please remember to install Java 64 bit
- We are happy with users tinkering with the machines. If you get stuck we are here for you. The cost of support is $150 per hour or part thereof.
- The only thing you really need to modify at the start is to move the projector assembly up or down and refocus the projector. The projector assembly has a rail brake on each side. We normally use the right side for the closest position the resin and the left side for a second location. If you have automated projector movement you don't need to worry about this.
- You have to plug in the HDMI and USB cable into the printer. HDMI into the bottom input on the front of the machine and USB in the middle. The top USB is used to control the projector(s). That function is not available yet.
- You have to power on the printer for it to work. When you press the button it will feel like it was pushed in. Then it is on. If you don't hear the fan in the back, then the printer doesn't have power. The on/off switch will show bright blue if it has power from the DC input. If it only has power from USB it will show a dim blue light and the fan might turn very slowly.
- You have to power on the projector for the printer to work. If you power on the projector it could burn the resin so it is always good to cover the resin before you start printing.
- You have to fill the vat up to the overflow with resin. Always wear protection. Many companies recommend protective glasses and gloves.
- The PC that is connected to the printer should have a black background. On Windows 10 the toolbar will display on the second monitor. You need to disable the toolbar. Just search on Google how to do it.
- You need to disable any power saving or screen savers on the PC that is connected to the printer.
- We recommend that you do not use the PC that is connected to the printer to do any work on while it is printing.
- If you decide to modify the config files or startup files or anything in the software and you can't get things to work again. We are here for you to help you get up and running again.
Install Java 8 64-bit from
https://jdk8.java.net/download.html Select the 64 bit option under JDK. If you have a version of Java installed already, the new installation will override the old with the latest version.
After installing Java, open a command prompt and execute the command java -version
(To open command prompt on a Windows PC, press the Windows button and type "cmd")
You should see something like the text below. Make sure it says 64-bit
Java version "1.8.0_102-ea" or higher. Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_76-ea-b04) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.76-b04, mixed mode)
Install Gizmetor by running
If you buy a printer from us we will send you the link to download the software. Once downloaded, copy the contents at the link to C:temp (create a temp folder in C: if you don't have one) directory on your computer. Double click on setup.exe to run it. Please remember to install Java 64 bit.
Run Gizmetor
Open Windows Explorer.
Go to the installation directory.
The most likely directory will be C:\Gizmo3DPrinters if you installed it into the default directory.
Double click on Gizmetor or GizmetorNoUpdate.
When clicking on Gizmetor it will execute a bat file in the directory C:\Gizmo3DPrinters\bat that will look for an update of the software and then start Gizmetor.
If you choose to execute GizmetorNoUpdate it will not try to connect to the internet to check for updates.
All the bat files that run Gizmetor are located in C:\Gizmo3DPrinters\bat. If Gizmetor doesn't start and it has the error that you don't have enough memory on your PC, you can edit the correct bat file and change the memory required.
Select a printer and material
When Gizmetor starts it will display a dialog box containing a list of printers and materials that you can choose from. If your printer or material is not in the list you will be able to manually add it by following a future tutorial.
For now select one of the printers in the drop down and a material. It doesn't really matter which one you choose in this tutorial.
Add From File System
Select an STL file from the file system by clicking on the "Add From File System" label at the top left of the screen.
Go to a directory that contains STL files and open one.
Gizmetor will load the STL and create the object in the 3D world.
Start slicing
Start the slicing workflow by clicking on the "Slice All" label at the top right of the screen. The Print Settings screen will open.
Print Settings
The Print Settings screen will populate the Filename field with the names of the objects in the 3D world. It has a limit of 200 characters for the name. You can change the name yourself if you want to.
Print Quality
Changing the print quality will change the Z layer height. Medium is set to 50 micron and is a good default layer height to print with. Many resins can print at 50 micron Z.
Different resins will have different maximum and minimum layer height. For instance, the jewellery resin from Vitang prints well between 10 micron and 30 micron. The Deep Black resin from FunToDo prints well at 50 micron. 50 is a good average if you are unsure what value to type in.
Profile
The list of profiles in the drop down is read from the profiles associated with the material. You can add more profiles by going to the Profile manager tab on the left side of Gizmetor. The profile will give you defaults values to print with. These values can then be changed in the Override manager.
Layer height
When you change the Print Quality drop down this value will also change. You can also enter your own value in the field.
Solid (checkbox)
Checking the checkbox will display the Solid settings. Unchecking the checkbox will display the Hollow settings.
Solid (checked)
Solid wall thickness
We normally don't change the value from 0.05. This will make the line around layers thicker. It can be used to close gaps.
Wall margin
This is mostly used when printing jewellery. This will create a red line around a layer. It opens up gaps. This can be used to compensate for bleed.
Solid (unchecked)
Hollow wall thickness
This will make the lines thicker or thinner of the layer. 0.3 is a good starting value.
Infill width
The default width for the honeycomb infill. Smaller will use more memory and cause more surface tension and more blow-out. Between 4 and 8 seems to be a good value.
Infill height
The default height for the honeycomb infill. Smaller will use more memory and cause more surface tension and more blow-out. Between 4 and 8 seems to be a good value.
Infill wall thickness
The thickness of the honeycomb. The default value of 0.08 seems to work well. Bigger values will make the honeycomb thicker and stronger, but it will cause problems with continuous printing and blow-out. If the honeycomb is thicker than the outer walls the resin will rather go through the outer wall than through the honeycomb
Click on Next to show the Preview Manager
Preview Manager
Features of the Preview Manager includes the Override Manager and the Support Manager.
Override Manager
The override manager allows you to override many settings that are related to the print. For this tutorial delete all overrides if there are any in the list.
Support Manager
Still a work in progress. When it works you will be able to add supports in the 2D view.
True View
When clicking True View it will display the layer as if it was being displayed via the projector using the same scaling and same infill pattern. You can slide through the bar at the top of the screen to see the different layers of your object.
Click Next go to to the Slicing screen
Slicing
The slicing screen is used to create slices of the 3D objects.
Package Only
If you drag a .gizmo file into the 3D world the contents of the file will be extracted to the temp directory. If you then only change overrides in the Override Manager all you need to do is then click Package Only on this screen. The Package Only will create a new .gizmo file containing all the files in the temp directory. It will not slice again if slicing is required. This is a quick and easy way to change overrides.
Slice and Package
The Slice and Package button will generate slices only if it detects that continuous printing has been enabled and it will only generate slices for those layers that need to be printed using continuous printing. The rest of the slices will be generated while printing. This could cause issues for extremely large objects that could take very long to slice per layer. In the future it will be possible to override this function by forcing the Slice and Package button to generate slices for each layer.
Force PNG generation
We normally select Force PNG generation. This will create a PNG file for each layer. If you don't then that work will be done while printing. If the PC that is connected to the printer isn't powerful enough to slice fast enough you will run into issues. If you enabled continuous printing in the override manager then the layers that need to be printed continuously will be generated automatically, because they have to display just too fast to do it while printing.
Click on the Slice and Package button. Gizmetor should run through all the layers very quickly and then generate a .gizmo file. It will combine all the objects in the 3D world into a single STL file and include that in the .gizmo file.
Now switch on your projector/s with the remote while holding a piece of paper or your hand under the lens to block any light from the projector shining onto your resin - block the light until you are able to project any image from the projector in red (explained later in this tutorial - see Display calibration in red).
Click on Start GiziPrint to move onto the next step. (Always switch on your projector/s before starting GiziPrint!). Your PC will need a second monitor for this to work correctly or your PC will need to be connected to the printer.
Run GiziPrint
GiziPrint can be started by clicking on the Start GiziPrint label in Gizmetor after slicing has been completed or by going to C:\Gizmo3DPrinters and starting GizmetorPrinter or GizmetorPrinterNoUpdate. The same information regarding starting Gizmetor applies to GiziPrint.
If you start GiziPrint from Gizmetor it will auto populate the file name on the file selection screen.
The basic version of GiziPrint can also be accessed by using a web browser. GiziPrint displays its IP address in the title bar. Open a browser and go to the address and using port :7060. This is a work in progress
Printer port
If the PC is connected to the printer then one of the ports in the list wil be the port of the printer. There is no way to know which port the correct port is. Try each one, other than Comm 1. If you select None GiziPrint will start the emulator internally. None is good to test a print without moving the printer. Make sure the Connect button changes to Disconnect after clicking it once. If it doesn't, it means the connection wasn't successful. Alt+tab to the black command window to look for an error. You can also see a log of what happened by clicking on the Manual Control tab.
Printer
Select the correct printer that you are using. This is very important to choose the correct printer. If you choose a printer that is very tall, but your physical printer is very short the build plate might move too far and damage the printer. Other things that move, e.g. automated projector and wiper, could also possibly move too far and cause damage.
Click Next to go to the File Selection screen
File to be printed
If you started GiziPrint from Gizmetor the filename should already be populated. If it isn't you can find the .gizmo file by clicking on the Select file button and then browsing to the recent folder. Select the .gizmo file and click Open.
It is possible to load many .gizmo files and they will be printed one after the other. This is useful for mass production or if you want to print a huge STL that couldn't be sliced as a single STL. Split the STL using Netfabb into smaller STL files. Slice and package each one and then load them in GiziPrint to be printed one after the other.
Click Next to go to the Gizmo File Information screen.
Gizmo File Information
This screen is a work in progress. It displays information regarding the .gizmo file.
Click Next to go to the Calibration Settings screen.
Calibration Settings
This screen actually used to be used to calibrate the image, but its role changed over time. Now it is more a pre-print configure screen.
Calibration image
Select between Layers, 30mm square or Calibration Grid.
Layers
A layer of the .gizmo file will be displayed. It is good to check every 100 layers or so to make sure everything fits correctly and is the correct size. Really just double check to make sure the print will will succeed.
30mm square
Good to display the square to make sure the scaling is right. This is again just a double check. Only way to fix a scaling problem at this point would be to change the projector zoom or move the projector up or down.
Calibration Grid
GiziPrint will actually load the STL C:\Gizmo3DPrinters\toolbox\calibrate\Calibrategrid.stl and display it. This is normally used to calibrate multiple projectors.
Layer number
Which layer number will be displayed when clicking the calibrate buttons
Calibration
Display calibration in white
Displays a 2D/layer on the second projector or the printer in white. White will harden the resin. It is normally used to create the base layer of the print. This can be done automatically using the Override Manager.
Display calibration in red
Red will not harden the resin. You might want to show the layer to see if it falls through the build plate or is fully inside the projection area.
Hide calibration image
Hide the currently displayed image.
Dip Test
Make the build plate go down and come back up the distance that was configured in the profile. This is good to coat the build plate and also to see if the build plate will actually dip far enough to coat the part fully.
Build plate
The buttons will move the build plate up and down and home it. Normally home is not required. The printer should always move the build plate back to the position before the print started.
Do a dip test to make sure the build plate is coated with resin.
Move the build plate up to just above the overflow. Fill the vat with resin until it over flows. Move the build so the the resin just almost reaches the top surface of the build plate. You should see little sparkles from the holes in the build plate. If you don't see sparkles it means the build plate is too low. Make sure you have a little bit of resin on the surface of the build plate.
Display the first layer using the "Display calibration in white" button. You might need to display for 30 seconds to a minute to make sure the part sticks well to the build plate and bridges all holes. Test that the first layer was created correctly. We use a scalpel and do random tests by pushing against the layer on the build plate. Please note: Don't cut the layer off the build plate. Just push against it to make sure it is stuck.
X Offset
Move the image up or down using these buttons. The part might be falling through holes in the build plate. Move it to a better position.
Y Offset
Move the image left or right using these buttons. The part might be falling through holes in the build plate. Move it to a better position.
Click next when you are ready to start your first print
Printing
The screen will give all the details regarding the print and you can even override some settings. Please note: You can only override settings here if the settings are not being overwritten in the Override manager. Say that fast 3 times :)
Recalculate print time
When changing the settings in the Display section. Click this button to see the print duration change.
Start
Starts the print
Stop
Stops the print
Repackage gizmo file
If you changed the settings of the print and the print worked out well, click this button. It will repackage the .gizmo and create a new .gizmo file and store it in the recent folder. You can then reuse that file in the future and reproduce the print easily.
Display settings
Dip depth
How deep the build plate will dip to coat the previous layer. Currently the software doesn't calculate this time. So it won't increase the print time. But if your pause times are wrong things will fail badly.
Pause after build plate down
How long to pause after the command was sent to move the build plate down. The system doesn't know how long it takes for the build plate to move down or when it reaches the bottom position. So the counter starts as soon as the command is sent to the controller.
Longer means the resin will have time to coat the full build plate. If are learning how to print with a new resin it is best to make this number bigger.
Pause after build plate up
How long to pause after the command was sent to move the build plate up. The system doesn't know how long it takes for the build plate to move up or when it reaches the top position. So the counter starts as soon as the command is sent to the controller.
Longer means the resin will have more time to stabilize. If are learning how to print with a new resin it is best to make this number bigger.
Display time
Too long and you cook the resin and cause a failure. Too short and nothing displays. This is how long the image will be displayed for to harden the resin. Few pixels in an image needs a longer display time. More pixels need less display time. If you print a solid square you will need less display time vs displaying the outline of a square that would need a longer display time.
Pause after display
The resin takes some milliseconds to cure after it was hit by UV. If are learning how to print with a new resin it is best to make this number bigger.
Save settings to config file
If you change settings it is always a good idea to save the config file. Everytime you click the back button to go back to the calibration screen and come back to the print screen the settings of the print will be loaded. Saving the settings means you won't lose anything.
Click the start button to start the print.
What to look out for when printing
Always keep your finger close to the on/off switch when the printer starts moving. We have had cases were users didn't have the build plate inside the vat and they moved the build plate manually. The build plate hit the vat and bent the whole machine.
If you notice the dip isn't deep enough for the print, stop the print. Change the setting and start again.
If you are printing with a new resin stop the print after 20 or 30 minutes and see if it actually printed. If nothing formed, the display time is too low, increase the display time. If it looks like bubbles formed on the part the display time is too long and you are cooking the resin. Smoke will also normally come out of the vat. Reduce the display time. Remove the previously printed part and start again. If you stopped it at the point of creating supports you don't need to remove the supports. Just print over them.
If the resin still moves while the image is being displayed increase the pause times. It is easy to see the resin move if the printer is in a dark room. Just look at the roof of the room.
When the print is done and there is gunk around the print or on the build plate the brightness/contrast/gamma setting of the projector is too high. Reduce one setting and print again.
Flat surfaces need to be angled to be printed or you will need to hollow the part and only close the last 2 layers using the override manager.