Zmorph's setup & calibration

[Daan_3D]

We have this cool Zmorph printer here at the Amsterdam HQ, so it was about time we put it to work

It’s their latest 3D printer with all the things that come with it. It’s truly a personal fabricator, with a lot of options to make some nice models.

Let me just give you guys an idea of what came with it…

• The ZMorph 2.0 S - 3D printer

• DUAL head extruder, for 1.75mm filament

• Print head 1.75mm extruder

• Print head 3.00mm extruder

• Chocolate(!) extruder

• Ceramics and paste (e.g. cake!) extruder

• Laser module, for cutting and engraving

• Touch probe for calibration

• Heated bed + glass bed and a buildtek print plate

• Dremel + mount, for 3d and 2d milling

• Plywood work platform for cnc milling

• Photo camera trigger + rail, for time lapse photography

• Toolbox

We were pretty impressed by all the parts and possibilities that came with this printer. I think I even forgot a couple of parts, but all the different printer heads already gives you a lot of ways to create stuff

Anyone said CHOCOLATE models?!

The cool thing is that the printer itself doesn’t look like a standard box shaped printer.

It looks like a really well engineered machine with the robust aluminium frame and a plexiglass body and cover. Even some of the parts for the printer itself and the different print heads were printed.

So we’ve started to set it up to calibrate the machine, which is actually pretty cool because of the option to automatically measure if the build platform is leveled.

This is the probe with the microswitch to do so:

You can easily stick it to the print head with the built-in magnets, make sure that the distance from the printbed is at least a centimeter.

Connect the plug on the correct side

Start the Voxelizer software and connect the USB to your laptop.

You can connect the printer using the options in the bottom right corner of the screen.

The 4th button from the right is the one for calibration.

Here’s a warning so you can double check if the height is correct.

You have two options, a simple and advanced test.

The simple test measures the relative height of the bed at three points, close to the screws that hold the platform and are used to adjust it. The advanced test measures 25 points all around the bed. After you’ve completed the first simple test you’ll see something that looks like a heath map. The blue and red arrows indicate whether or not to loosen or tighten the screws.

We started adjusting the screws to level the bed, which you can see by the colors and the maximum and average distance on the bottom of the window.

There were still some improvements to be made.

Don’t look too much at the color, since it’s all relative compared to each point.

But we managed to calibrate the printer pretty precise! Up to 1micron isn’t too bad right

The advanced test takes a little bit longer to perform, but it’s recommended to do that after the simple calibration test. Here’s an example of how the heath map for it looks.

*Please note the following screenshot was taken before the final calibration.

After the whole process we only needed to adjust the Z-height a little bit to make sure the nozzle was set to the correct height.

To see if the whole process worked we printed a calibration triangle, the Gcode for the model was already on the internal memory. It’s not very visible on this picture because of the lights, but the result was pretty nice without loose spaghetti.

So far:

I personally think the ability to use this calibration probe is one of the coolest features for 3D printers! I honestly wish other printers supported this, or a similar option. But they don’t all have the sunbeam 2.0 electronics… the main reason why the Zmorph has native support for so many different toolheads and extensions like the calibration probe.

I’ve tried a couple of test prints on the heated glass printbed, as well as with the blue tape. Some models with a brim or powerraft, others without. Not all of them were sticking so I decided to use the buildtak plate. Luckily the guys from Zmorph included this in the package, since I didn’t want to use glue or hairspray because it tends to get a little bit messy. But the buildtak plate improves the sticking of the models so much more.

I’ve only tried to print with the PLA so far, but there was some “ABS glue” included in the toolbox.

I really want to find some more time to experiment with the different settings, toolheads and materials.

Have you guys already made some cool prints, chocolate castles, cakes or ceramic cups with this printer?

[Arnoldas]

Great write up @Daan_3D

[IDEA3DHeraklion]

we have also zmorph 3d printer , yes the calibration is extreme easy, so far zmorph we have print almost any kind of material with zmorph with success. No we use the S3D software with zmorph
cause the slice is better than voxelizer but be aware the S3D settings need to be change from S3D settings ( we lower the head speed which is extreme fast in factory S3D settings) also i recomment add a home axis script in the end of g-code
Another thing is the SD cards Zmorph supports SD cards until 2GB and not high capacity

[Arnoldas]

Great tips! We’ll make sure to try them out.

[williamdaunch]

I finally performed the calibration last week after having hit and miss results with ABS printing. It was very easy to do and gave great insight into how flat and level the table is. Here is the interesting thing - after international shipping from Poland to the US, with all the bumps and knocks I’m sure the equipment suffered, I only had to make some small (less than 180 degree) adjustments and was able to get the table absolutely flat. I actually spent more time adjusting the nozzle hight to get the ABS to adhere optimally. This calibration sensor is a great add-on from Zmorph - they really seem to be thinking a few steps ahead of many of the other printer suppliers. I like that.

[IDEA3DHeraklion]

Also have a zmorph 3d printer just to add that is extremely easy to calibrate.Also to add that we use a workflow with S3D ( upload the design to S3D ,slice it, save the gcode,upload the gcode to voxelizer,print) but be carefull in last editions of S3D add a commant to raise the extruder and home it after the end of the print cause the last editions of the S3D leave the extruder in the last position of the extruder, also yes you must lower the speed in S3D. i can send to anyone who wants mine settings in S3D if is need it

[system]

Hi, everyone!

I am trying to print chocolate with Zmorph but it is really hard to adjust proper temperature and texture for chocolate. I have been trying with couverture type. How could you catch the right texture? Which temperature and viscosity is the right one to print an excellent 3D chocolate pieces without spreading? Did you measure the other parameters?

Please share any tips you know!