Zephyr Blade

From: Doug Greenwood (greenwod@squared.com)
Date: Mon Oct 14 1996 - 15:13:09 EEST


>Dear RP-World,

>I'd like to know if anyone out there has the new Zephyr re-coating system
>on a SLA-250. Have they had any problems with it or has it been a smooth
>transition. I would also appreciate any details concerning its
>operation. Thanks in advance.

Darius:

We installed an SLA-250/50 in August and it took about 2 months to get all the 'kinks' worked out. The two biggest problems we had were the default parameters in the Maestro recoater files and the Velcro attachment of the Zephyr arm vacuum tubing enclosure box. The default parameters in the Maestro file (recoater file 5170AP for the part) are set up for the 'deep dip' recoating method rather than the Zephyr method, so you have to change these - the 3D hot-line can fax these to you or I'd be happy to give you the values we have settled upon. The biggest headache for us came with the failure of the Velcro attachment. It struck us as 'odd' (to say the least) that Velcro would be used at all on the SLA. The Velcro failed more than once and, consequently, prevented the recoater arm from moving. So while this was going on we had software and hardware issues to sort out, coupled with our learning curve. I won't bore you with the details, but I will say that it was VERY frustrating sometimes and I VERY glad i
t is behind us. Now we can get on about the business of building parts. BTW, 3D replaced the Velcro with sheet metal screws and I understand from 3D that our machine was one of the last ones built in Valencia, CA prior to their moving their manufacturing operations to Colorado - apparently this factor complicated the assembly process and quality suffered as a result.

Please call or email me if you'd like any more info.

Doug

__________________ __________________________________________________________
| _____________ |
| | ________ | | Douglas D Greenwood, PE
| | |_ ____ \ | | Square D Company
| | | | | | | | PO Box 27446, Raleigh, NC 27611
| | | | | | | | 8001 Highway 64 East, Knightdale, NC 27545
| | _| |___| | | | Ph (919)217-6334 Fax (919)266-8397
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