Polish 3D printer manufacturer Zortrax has announced a software update for the Zortrax M200 and M300 3D printers, which allows users to 3D print with third-party materials outside of the Zortrax ecosystem for the first time.
Up until now, Zortrax customers have had to make do with Z-ULTRAT, Z-HIPS, Z-GLASS, Z-PETG, Z-PCABS, Z-ABS, Z-GLASS and Z-ESD filaments. While undeniably useful for a wide range of applications, these proprietary filaments don’t serve all applications, and they pale in comparison to the sheer number of third party filaments on the market. So, to offer their users a wider range of materials, Zortrax has now opened up the M200 and M300 3D printers to third-party 3D printing materials.
“We received signals from users who wanted the option to experiment with external printing materials not in our current range,” said Rafał Tomasiak, CEO Zortrax S.A. “The newest software update is the response to these signals. It opens us to completely new target groups. But please keep in mind that the only way to ensure top quality and hardware reliability of our solutions is by using Zortrax materials.”
To make use of this new feature, you will need to update your Z-SUITE software to the latest version (version 1.10). The update only takes around 10 minutes. Once updated, you will be able to select an external print material profile from within the software, and adjust the settings manually to accomodate your new test materials.
If you do not already own a Zortrax 3D printer but you are thinking about purchasing one, you can find out more about Z-SUITE here. The software itself is one of the best we have ever tested. It has an intuitive user interface and makes model infil easy, with 6 different modes. In terms of Zortrax 3D printers, the M200 and M300 are the only models that now support third party materials, with the Inventure 3D printer not receiving support just yet.
A list of supported third-party materials has not been released by Zortrax (it’s up to you to test out your own filaments and see what works).