FlashForge Inventor 2 - Bilby 3D Special Edition

This is a special Edition of the FlashForge Inventor 2 is the product of a collaboration between Bilby 3D, Flashforge, and Microswiss that upgrades the Inventor 2 to meet the demands of the Education environment, with significantly decreased maintenance requirement and easy use. In addition it is ready for almost any material straight out of the box including Metal filaments.

The Inventor II- Special Edition - Smart, Reliable and Safe Desktop 3D Printer designed specifically for educational use and low maintenance

This machine is a very special collaborative Edition that unites the expertise of Bilby 3D, Flashforge and Microswiss to provide an edition of the Inventor 2s (which has been our most popular educational model for good reason) to even better cater for the Australian Education sector and small business demands.

About this collaboration

 Bilby 3D, born from Bilby Publishing, brings over 20 years experience in the education sector to this project; together with the wish lists of many education department and Australian businesses. Drawing on this experience, and long standing relationships with FlashForge and Microswiss, Bilby 3D was able to unit the three companies in a single project -the Inventor 2 SE.

This machine includes all the Australian safety and compliance items, and raises the bar well above any other machine on the market to include features like Hepa and Carbon filtration to deal with not just micro particles, but also VOC emissions for a completely safe environment. It also has rapid cooling if the door is open to make child burns almost impossible. With the help of Microswiss this machine also incorporates a tough and near maintenance free 3D printer extruder system ready to print even the most abrasive materials like stainless steel.

Designed for Tough Materials

The machine comes with the amazing Micro-Swiss hot end that can handle abrasive materials as strong as Steel and Carbon Fibre as though they PLA; giving you the power to produce amazingly high quality plastic parts; flexible runners, and even Brass, Bronze, Copper, Steel and Carbon-fibre parts straight out of the box.

Tested on the entire Proto-pasta metal and blended material range and designed specifically to handle them all, this little machine holds a lot of power under its hood.

Designed for Low Maintenance

Maintenance is unaffordable down time in any workplace or school, so we designed this machine to be tough, and need nearly no maintenance at all.

• Tough Nozzle: The extruder upgrade also means that your are getting a Tough Coat nozzle precision machined by Micro-Swiss that testing has proven to last more than a year in the average school.
• Silicon coated Heater Block: Say good bye to ever having to change the ceramic tape again.
• Sturdy Bed System: Means once set up you near never need worry about levelling or adjustments
• Slide out Glass bed with Flexi steel top and strong print tape: The tough glass bed is fully encased to there is no risk of it breaking. the casing slides out like a drawer, making print removal safe and easy. In addition that glass has a strong magnetic coating with a flexible steel plate on top, that snaps on and off and is flexible, bending to pop prints off the bed.

In Combination tape will receive less accidental damage from print removal, and be more long wearing. Just soapy water to wash it occasionally and you are off and printing for up to 300 prints per sheet of tape. Add extra beds to the package so that you can start the next print before removing the last.

Designed for Safety and Monitoring

Camera monitoring: We also added a Camera for monitoring the machine remotely- great for teachers on the run. It is also Polar 3D enabled, so you can control a lab of machines via cloud management with ease (Note - Polar 3D requires a seperate subscription fee)

Filament Monitoring: Sensor auto detects and pauses prints if filament runs out

OHS Safety:

• Door Windows and Hood: All new additions in this model; and combine to completely enclose and finger-proof this machine. The door also has has a sensor that can pause prints & instantly cool the nozzle (turn this on or off in the LCD menu)
• Full surround nozzle with rapid cooling: The nozzle has a full surround making it almost impossible to get burnt. The door pause feature also activates nozzle cooling, lowers bed and sets hot end to back of machine - to further reduce risk of burning to inquisitive fingers.

Designed for Practicality and Quality

Soooooooooo Quiet!
We measure it at about 22dB. To put that in perspective the Makerbot is 62dB. Making it much more practical for a classroom or office. Especially when you are running a bank of machines at once.

Professional Resolution
This machines print quality is astounding, with very fine detail and quality at up to 50 micron resolution. It is not as incredible at overhangs as the Guider 2, but still far superior to its rivals.

Connection and Communication
Large colour LCD touch screen makes communication simple, with print thumbnails in the menu, which is lovely. You can print files via:

• USB drive
• USB cable to your PC (Mac, Win or Linux)
• WiFi

Basic stats

• 150 x 140 x 140 mm build size
• Single High Quality Extruder

FlashPrint Slicer Software

All Flashforge printers use FlashPrint as their slicer; an amazing piece of software that lets you do things no one else can; and it is free with all Flashforge machines.

You can use Simplify 3D, but we would recommend you the FlashPrint software that comes with the machine. It is far superior to any other slice we have used and here are a few reasons:

Tree Support (All Flashforge printers can do this)
If you are not familiar with tree support it is an amazing step forward in support material. It is automatically generated and allow you to print much more complex models, snapping off supports easily by hand without damaging your objects. If you have a dual extruder you can print support with the second extruder if you want.

2D to 3D - make models instantly from images
The 2D into 3D featured in FlashPrint allows you to convert 2D image files into 3D models. This is one of the easiest ways to start 3D designing. All you need to do is to drag image and select parameters you want.

Crop on the Fly
Cut and split big models into parts or make the base of a model flat. You can cut on an axis or a mouse drawn angle.

Advanced Features inc. Dimensional Accuracy Adjustment
The FlashPrint software has a basic and expert mode. In expert mode you can control almost every variable and make dimensional adjustments, especially handy when using high shrinkage filaments.

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Specifications

WHATS IN THE BOX?
600g PLA Filament (white),
Print Tape and flexible Steel plate (already fitted),
AU Power Supply and Cable,
USB Cable,
Tools: Allen Keys, Small screw driver, sachet of lubricant for rods, a nozzle clearing tool.

BED SPECIFICATIONS
Build size: 150 x 140 x 140mm
Heated Bed: NO
Slide out/Removable: Yes
Bed surface: Glass with Magnetic surface
Build plate: Flexi steel coated in Flashforge tape (a consumable)
Levelling: Assisted - sensors ring a tone to help with bed leveling through screw adjustments.

PRINT QUALITY
Extruders: Single
Resolution/Layer Height: 50-500microns
Position Precision: (XY)11 microns, (Z)2.5Microns
Support: Automatic and custom. Tree or Linear
Nozzle: 0.4mm Comes with a MicroSwiss Tough Coat hard wearing nozzle

FILAMENT
Diameter: 1.75mm
Material: PLA, Bilby 3D Wood, Bilby 3D Flex, Bilby 3D Copper.....the list goes on. Can print heavy metals and abrasive filaments, and Flexibles with ease
Filament run-out detection: Yes, when using the spool drawer. Can also run larger spools on external spool stand.

INTERACTION
Interface: Touch Screen
Connectivity: 2.4 Ghz WIFI, USB stick, USB cable
Software: Flashprint
File Type: STL,OBJ
Operating System: Windows 7/8/Vista; Mac OS X, Linux

PHYSICAL SIZE
Machine Size: 420 x 440 x 430mm
Weight: 20kg
Shipping Size (Box): 500 Sq mm, 28kg
AC Input: 115-230V, 50-60 Hz, 150w

Dimensions: 420x440x430mm (570mm with hood)
Format: Machine