How to Guide: Markforged Metal X

Once the metal filament has been expelled, you can then pull the end of the filament out of the top of the print head and then press Stop. Then you can roll up the spool, or pop the magnet off and swap the spool for a new one. Easy, right?

Loading a Metal 3D Printing Filament Spool into the Markforged Metal X

First press Load on the touchscreen, then select Meter Load and select the type of material that you’re loading.

Then select V1 or V2 as appropriate. If you aren’t sure what type of metal filament you’ve got, you can look on the front of the spool on the sticker. It’ll say here if it’s a V2 spool. Then select Partial Spool, weigh the spool of filament, and then enter the weight into the workflow on the screen.

Now you can put the new spool in place in the material cabinet above the print bed, and replace the magnet.

It’s important to make sure that the spools are in the right place. The metal filament spool will always go on the left, and the ceramic release material will always go on the right. This is so that they feed into the print head smoothly, and you can tell if they’re the right way around because the stickers will be facing outwards towards you.

Press Next on the touch screen, and the nozzle will begin to heat up. Once the nozzle is up to temperature, get the pan from your accessory kit and place it underneath the print head. This is to catch extruded filament when the purge starts. Then feed the material into the front tube which is labelled M until the extruder starts pulling it in automatically.

The printer will now do a purge, and then prime the nozzle for printing. Be careful though because the nozzle will be hot. Then give the print bed a quick clean using the brush from your accessory kit.

Next, it’s time to engage the vacuum to hold the print sheet in place. Place the new sheet on the print bed and then press it down firmly using the sheet press. Remove the sheet press and press Next, and then the printer will verify that the vacuum is engaged.

Now you can close up the Metal X and it’s ready to print.

It’s worth noting that this process is very similar among all Markforged printers, and this metal printing technology is now available in the Markforged FX10, which also prints composites.

Starting a Print with the Markforged Metal X

Using your web browser, open the part you want to print in Eiger, Markforged’s slicing software.

Click on Print, select the machine and material, and then click Print Now. The settings are all taken care of automatically by the software, and the Metal X will get on with the print.

The Markforged Metal X can 3D print in materials including A2, D2 and H13 Tool Steels, Copper, 17-4 Stainless Steel and Inconel 625.