WHITE PAPER
Formlabs Logo

Basic powder cleanup and recovery (Fuse Sift)

Basic powder cleanup and recovery (Fuse Sift)

Once the build chamber has fully cooled, remove it from the printer and process your prints using the Fuse Sift.

Warning:

If the build chamber graphic and icon are highlighted red and the touchscreen displays the status Hot, allow the build chamber to continue cooling before ejecting the cake.

Unpacking a cake

Your printed parts are surrounded by unsintered powder in the build chamber. This block of sintered and unsintered powder is known as the powder cake. Raise the powder cake out of the build chamber using the Fuse Sift.

To unpack a cake:

  1. Insert the build chamber into the Fuse Sift and close the build chamber latch.
  2. Connect the build chamber plug to the Fuse Sift.
  3. Check the build chamber status on the touchscreen. When the touchscreen displays the status Ready, push the Light button on the control panel. This turns on the light and vents the workspace.
  4. On the touchscreen, tap Unpack to lift the print bed and eject the cake.

Extracting parts

After lifting the powder cake out of the build chamber with the Fuse Sift, extract your printed parts from the powder cake.

To extract parts:

  1. Move the majority of the cake to the center of the workspace.
  2. Tap Sift on the Fuse Sift touchscreen or push the Sift button on the control panel. The workspace vibrates, causing loose powder to fall through the grate and into the sieve below.
  3. Separate your printed parts from the surrounding unsintered powder using gloved hands, brushes, or other tools.
  4. Transfer the printed parts to the Fuse Blast and perform a cleaning cycle to remove the remaining unsintered powder.

Cleaning up powder

The print bed and build chamber must be free of all powder before beginning the next print.

To clean up powder:

  1. Push the Vac button on the control panel or tap the vacuum hose icon on the Fuse Sift touchscreen.
  2. Lift the hood for easier access.
  3. Vacuum the loose powder inside the workspace and under the hood.
  4. Vacuum any remaining powder on the print bed and the surrounding port.
  5. Push the Vac button on the control panel or tap the vacuum hose icon on the Fuse Sift touchscreen to turn off the vacuum.