Kudo3D FAQs

The starter kit includes everything you need except a container and IPA alcohol. It includes a lens duster, dust blower, silicone funnel, calibration ruler, blade, spatula, cutter, level, screw driver, tweezers, and a wrench.

Please submit your payment directly to our bank account within 24 hours.

We provide two methods for payment.

1. Direct Bank Transfer: you can choose an offline payment option via Direct Bank Transfer during the online checkout process.
Orders with “Direct Bank Transfer” will show an “On-Hold” status. Please submit your payment directly to our bank account within 24 hours.

2. Online Payment:
Through Paypal, you can pay by credit card on the checkout page directly.

We strongly recommend you register or log in Kudo3D website before proceeding with the checkout process. By doing this, your order will be shown in your Kudo3D account. If not, you can only receive the email notification with your order details which is difficult to monitor your order status.

You can choose to pay via “Direct Bank Transfer” during the online checkout process. After completing the checkout process, you can go to “My Account” and click your order. Our bank information will be shown on the order detail page. You can also check your order receipt email notification, which shows our bank information as well. Please submit your payment directly to our bank account within 24 hours.

Please note that your order will reflect an “On-Hold” status until we update it.

Please contact us and provide your Order Number after you transferred the payment. We will update your order status after we confirmed your payment.

For new orders, our system will create an order automatically after clicking the “PLACE ORDER” button during the checkout process, even if you didn’t complete the payment procedure. If you choose to pay via Paypal, the order will show a “Processing” status after completing the payment. Otherwise, it will show a “Cancelled” status. Cancelled orders are invalid.

Yes, you can contact us and provide your Order Number to cancel or change your order before your product is shipped. We cannot cancel or change your order after it has shipped.

Yes. We ship internationally. Shipping costs vary depending upon the shipping address.
For countries which are not listed on the “Country” drop-down selection menu during the checkout process, please contact us for a customized shipping quote.

Our current lead time is 2 weeks upon confirmation of payment.

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Titan 1 & Titan 2 are faster because solid layers are formed in a two-dimensional fashion (not by one-dimensional laser drawing). Our patented passive self-peeling technology is also the key to our fast speed, minimizing the separation force between cured layers.

If the printer is well calibrated without moving the projector around, it can be very precise. For high precision prints, you will need resin that has very low shrinkage.

The printer is very quiet most of the time. You may hear the resin container making a sound when the separation force is greater. Depending on what type of resin you are going to use, some have a very mild smell. It is a good practice to have the printer sitting in an open area.

In terms of reducing maintenance/reliability costs, we designed Titan 1 & Titan 2 by modularizing the system with off-the-shelf components. Furthermore, we reduced the number of parts and moving parts for the whole system. The most expensive parts are the linear stage module and projector, which are purchased from big companies (with very few maintenance issues). We only manufacture our “secret sauce”, which is our proprietary resin container that enables our patented passive self-peeling technology.

Both are compatible with 110-240V and AC 50/60 Hz. We have orders from all over the world so users have to buy adapters themselves. We will provide a list of plugs/adapters to our users before shipping.

Form 1 uses a conventional scanning laser SLA technology, which utilizes a laser and two actuated mirrors to project images onto the resin as you can see in a laser show.

Titan 1 & Titan 2 use a DLP projector to project images onto the resin in a two dimensional fashion. Therefore, time required to expose the resin is shorter. There are fewer moving parts in the printer. The DLP projector is a matured consumer product so it is much more reliable and easier to maintain than a customized scanning laser system that requires sophisticated alignment and calibrations. The DLP projector can be easily moved to adjust the native pixel size from 37-100 micron, while Form 1 has a fixed laser spot size of 300 microns which is not enough for fine jewelry printing.

In addition, Titan 1 & Titan 2 are equipped with a proprietary patented layer release (passive self-peeling) technology based on a flexible VAT. This technology minimizes the release force and enables large area printing that the Form 1 cannot achieve.

In short, Titan 1 & Titan 2 can print everything that Form 1 can print, but Form 1 is not able to print objects that are beyond Titan 1 / Titan 2’s print size and print resolution.

The only difference is the design. Both are made with the same high quality acrylic material.

Please keep an area of at least 6 inches from the side with the fan and 2 inches from other sides. The machine can not be enclosed in a box during operation.

More clearance area will extend the life of the projector and the other printer components.

Please check the back panel of your Titan 1. There is a sticker with a barcode and a 13-digit-serial-number. If you can’t find the serial number, you can also provide your email or name you used for the Titan 1 order. We will confirm your serial number.

About 290 W

We currently are not offering printers without projectors because the opening for 192 mm x 108 mm build size is very tight so we can not guarantee that other projectors will fit.

There are three screws to secure the projector on the frame. When you put it back without moving in the z direction, the chance of error is small. Even if you move the projector up or down, all you need to do is calibrate the size of the projected area. Users will need to make sure that the area is the same after they put the projector back (the area is where the error comes from). If the size is not calibrated well, there will be no harm for the printing quality but the size of your printed model will not be the same as before.

400 nm is defined by both the UV filter in the projector and the photoinitiator. The resin is sensitive from 365 nm to 420 nm.

Resolution is adjusted by measuring the projected area on the Teflon film while positioning the projector. Area can be fine tuned by turning the focus / zoom. It’s best to leave the zoom in the middle first, and then move the projector to somewhere close to the resolution you need. Users can use a ruler to measure the size of the projected image. We will provide a calibration grid image to facilitate the size measurement. We will also provide two marks to identify resolutions of 37 and 100 microns.

Titan 1 & Titan 2 are not compatible with other resin containers.

You can wash the resin off of the container – or, for convenience, you can order an additional container.

30 to 50 prints are our conservative estimate of printing average print sizes. When printing smaller objects, the PSP container may support more prints.

We recommend using between 100 mL to 200 mL of resin.

If more resin is needed, please add it from the side of the resin container after roughly half of the original resin is used.

Titan 1 & Titan 2 are compatible with most resins designed for 400 nanometer SLA printers. We tested castable, hard / industrial, ABS-like, high temperature resistant, and other resins. We plan to offer more resins for pre-order soon.

Yes, we have tested several castable resins and included pictures in our gallery. We plan to offer new types of castable resins soon.

No, we suggest using another black bottle to put the used resin.

It’s around 6 months. If they are stored in a cool and totally dark space, the life time could be well over 6 months.

Soft silicone resin container (vat):

The adhesion between the silicone and Teflon film is much stronger than the hard silicone resin container.

Pros: The separation force is much lower for small prints. The surface quality is better for small prints.
Cons: The Teflon film tends to have more warpage.

This vat is not suitable for prints demanding flat surfaces. This vat is recommended for beginners or those who print small jewelry and miniatures.

 

Hard silicone resin container (vat):

The adhesion between the silicone and Teflon film is weaker than the soft silicone resin container.

Pros: The Teflon film tends to have less warpage.
Cons: The chance that the Teflon film to be directly lifted off is higher. The separation force is higher so users must print at a lower lifting speed.

This vat is recommended for prints demanding flat surfaces.

In general, the lifetime of the film depends on the separation force.
The easiest way to reduce the separation force is to use slowing lifting speed.

There is no need to swap out the resin container between prints. Users can print with one resin container for any number of prints in immediate succession.

Having two build platforms will reduce the turn-around time caused by post-curing.

The build volume is 70mm x 40mm x 240mm at 37 micron resolution.
The build volume is 192mm x 108mm x 240mm at 100 micron resolution.

About 250 W

If you post-cure under the sun, you don’t need a UV lamp, but it is advisable to rotate your print periodically. Kudo3D’s UV lamp speeds up the post-curing process by providing a more intense amount of UV light, and the print is cured evenly with internal mirrors.

We suggest adding them in manually. No software algorithm in the market today is mature enough to decide where to add supports, how many supports are required, and how thick the support should be.

Currently, we use open source software with open source firmware. We are planning to upgrade the software in the future. However, the printer is fully flexible for those who want to have more control. You can use our modified software or modify the software yourself according to your needs.

Some mail servers will block the notification email, treating it as spam. If you do not receive the password reset email, please check the spam folder. Please contact us if it is not in the spam folder either.

Make sure your controlling devices and your printer are connecting to the same router. If they are on the same network, the hostname of the printer is changed by the router. This happens for some routers that are disconnected and powered on again. You would need to enter the router service page (eg. 192.168.1.1) and change the hostname manually. Reboot your router and devices used to control or monitor the printer. If you don’t want to fix the hostname, you can always connect to the printer directly with the IP address assigned to the printer. The LAN and wireless adaptors have different IP addresses.
You can find the IP address of your printer in your router service page or by downloading “Advanced IP scanner”.

By default, the hostname for all Titan 2 is Kudo3D. If you have two or more Titan 2 printers, their names are in conflict. Please follow the instructions on http://www.howtogeek.com/167195/how-to-change-your-raspberry-pi-or-other-linux-devices-hostname/ to change the hostnames of all printers except the first one. Once they are changed, you would need to enter the router service page (eg. 192.168.1.1) and change the hostnames manually. Reboot your router and devices used to control or monitor the printers. If you don’t want to fix the hostnames, you can always connect to the printer directly with the IP addresses assigned to the printers. The LAN and wireless adaptors have different IP addresses. You can find the IP addresses of your printers in your router service page or by downloading “Advanced IP scanner”.