TOM's 3d-printer tutorial
1. Open your .stl file in Insight by dragging it into the 
icon located on the desktop. You could also double click the icon to open
Insight, and from there click file, open, and then manually locate your file on
the computer. Insight will automatically adjust the view according to the
dimensions of the file.
2. Pressing the envelope view 
will make the screen show the entire envelope. Pressing the fit view 
will return to the automatically adjusted default view.
3. To adjust the scale and view the measurements of your part, go to the STL tab of the drop down menus and click Units and Scale. By adjusting the number next to STL scale on the right hand side of the screen, you can make your part larger or smaller as desired. Here I shrunk the part to .25 of its normal size.
4. Press the 
button to check and
make sure you have the right material selected for both model and support.
Also, make sure that the correct model and support tip sizes are selected,
according to which ones are in the machine. If you look at the tips in the
machine, they have very small rings right by where the material comes out.
If there is one ring, its tip size T10, if there are two rings, its tip size
T12, and if there are three rings, its tip size T16. The model material
should be set to whatever is currently in the machine. Generally, this
should be "ABS P400" for the normal white material. The default
support material should be "Soluble P400SR". Its important to
check the tips and material each time you print, as failing to do so can cause
errors with your part and the machine.
5. Pressing the Finish button 
will take care of all remaining processes required to get your file ready,
including slicing, generating supports, writing boundary curves, generating tool
paths, and finally creating an SML file, which is the format read by the
3D-printer. When the processing is finished, there should be a footprint
remaining on the envelope where your part was.
6. Once you have a footprint of your part, you can click view all
layers 
to see your part
sliced with supports.
7. Pressing the build button 
will bring up a box that will ask you to choose a modeler and will display the estimated amount of time the machine requires to build your
part. Since there is only one modeler listed, simply press the green check
mark to continue
8. After you press the check mark, another box will appear, showing a top view of the envelope and your part. Here you can reposition the part by dragging it around within the envelope. The buttons on the left hand side allow you to add more .sml files to the envelope, add copies of your part, and rotate your part or parts to optimize printing space.
9. Now we move to the 3D printer. You need to open the back of the machine and make sure there is enough material on the spools. The front, or first spool you see, holds build material. The next in, the second spool you see, holds support material. If the spools are empty, find someone in phm to replace one of the spools -DO NOT DO THIS YOURSELF. Looking at the front of the machine, the left head spews build material, the right head spews support material. In summary,
Front spool = Build material = Left Head
back spool = support material = Right Head.
Purging: If the machine has not been used
for a while, you may need to unclog the print and support heads.
Push the MODEL/SUPPORT button on the 3D printer until MODEL
appears in the lcd display. Push the LOAD button. This
will let the material stream. Will shut itself off after 2 minutes.
Can do the same with the support material.
10. Take the small metal brush and wipe the excess material off the heads so that if falls to the bottom. Be careful not to touch the heads or the sides of the printer with your hands. The temperature is about 270 C. Only the brush should touch the heads of the printer. Use the larger soft brush to clean the platform. These should be located in the box above or to the side of the machine.
(note: when the door is open, the envelope temperature (air temperature) drops. After opening the door, wait until the green temperature (current temp) is within at least one degree of the desired temp (red).)
11. Now we need to send this file to the 3D printer. Back at the computer,
click the build button 
located on
the packing and positioning screen shown in step 6,
12. The pause button 
should be blinking.
There are two steps here that are both indicative of the Pause
blinking.
A. To let the machine orient itself: press Pause to let the machine know you are ready. Wait for it to move and calibrate itself.
B. To set the x,y of the print head at (0,0), and the z of the base.
(1)x,y: Press Z-axis button until the LED goes
off. Use the buttons in the image below to position the x
and y 
coordinates of the
print head. Pressing the center button moves the heads faster.
The (0,0) position of the print head corresponds to the lower
left hand corner of the foam pad (according to the sml models).
For example, if you are printing a model of the media lab, the
building will print back and to the right of where the heads are.
Find a clear foam location and set the zero.
(2)z: Pres the Z-axis button until the LED is lit. Press the up and down arrow keys to move the base so that the tip of the print head is just slightly into the foam base. If there is no room left on the pink foam base, click here.
13. Press Pause. You should be ready to go. The machine begins by moving the print heads to the metal brushes for cleaning.
14. When the model is complete, carefully pry the model from the foam base. There are some dentist tools in a box below the printer to help remove the supports and excess material.