Sydney - Kingsgrove, NSW
Melbourne - Clayton, VIC
Major US 3D Printer manufacturer Markforged claim their FX10 is "The world's first industrial metal and composite printer".
Is this just marketing hype? Is this a practical way of describing a machine?
Major US 3D Printer manufacturer Markforged™ put out a press release last week claiming their FX10 is "The world's first industrial metal and composite printer".
Eager to know the details, I read on.... it is an upgrade kit with a new "Print engine" – so a new hotend. I've asked around, but have not found an explanation as to why a toughened hotend cannot print both both metal and fibre containing materials.
This is an FDM / FFF / MEX or whatever acronym you want to use, 3D printer.
The concept is well known, with manufacturers optimising and toughening their machines for more abrasive materials all the time.
The Oxford dictionary defines a composite as "something made by putting together different parts or materials" – so any printer printing with one material in a matrix of another material is a composite. Whether it's glass/ceramic beads, carbon or glass fibre, kevlar or even cellulose and wood fibres in a matrix of PLA, ABS, ASA or any of the Nylons, it's a composite. Whether it is continuous fibre, chopped strands around 2mm long, or "micro" finely chopped fibres, it's still a composite.
Metal filament from BASF Forward-AM have been available in 316L stainless steel for years, followed shortly after by 17-4PH.
Bilby3D has been selling the French Zetamix 316L Stainlees, H13 Tool Steel and Ceramic – Zirconia and Alumina filament since early 2021.
When we got our first Raise3D Pro3 machine in 2021, one of the first things we did with it was to fit a toughened nozzle and produce samples with Zetamix filament for the 2022 Australian Manufacturing Week Expo, which we displayed.
Because our machines allow open materials. We know we have customers using these machines for a very wide range of materials as they can adjust settings and develop their own material profiles.
Being open materials means more than using materials from sources other than the manufacturer. Though this is a big plus, as you have mulitple sources of supply around the world, it also means customers can develop their own bespoke feedstock, or even modify the machine mechanicals and software to print non-polymers. We have worked with customers who remove the plastic extruders to extrude stem cells in hydrogel and a reseller who uses electro-deposition to print micro-circuitry.
So it's non-sensical for us to make claims about a range of materials used, because it is so broad, and some are kept under wraps, so even we don't know about them, let alone not be bound by an NDA.
Last week a customer hinted about a radical new material released by another printer brand which sold out within the first day. I went to see what it was.
It could be PCTG – a relative of PETG with better inter-layer adhesion, UV resistance and water and chemical resistance over time.
It's most likely PPA, often called High Temperature Nylon, which can come as a composite with Carbon Fibre. This one we added to our product range in February 2021 from USA Filament Manufacturer 3DXtech™, and then from Raise3D a year later.
Our users didn't have to wait for the manufacturer to certify this new material, approve it, and issue a patch or even licensing agreement. Owners of their 3D printers could use this new material straight away. Raise3D was well ahead of the market in releasing it in 2022, but it was a year after it came to market. Their Library, which works closely with their slicer, allows users to download material profiles, selecting from Factory Certified or user generated. They can even share ones they have developed.
When Raise3D released it's Pro3 HyperSpeed upgrade kit, the machine could now print at 300mm/s. At the time TPU flexible material could only print reliably at 40-60mm/s. Within 12 months Polymaker high-flow TPU bcame available that prints at 150mm/s. As soon as the material became available the Pro3 could print it - 3 times as fast!
Owners of machines from other manufacturers could be waiting much longer, if it is released for their machine at all. It might require some hardware to be swapped before it is certified. It might require the purcahse of a license.
AON3D™, another partner of Bilby3D, is so open their customer success team will work with you to develop profiles for new materials, that are optimal for your application.
So yes, having open materials machines means you're not locked into OEM materials, manufacturers profiles and even chipped spools and licenses costing thousands, it also means your machine can keep printing new and improved materials at any time during the machine's life.
We have industrial machines capable of printing thermoplastics, fiber composites, flexible, electro-conductive and ESD safe, metals and ceramics.
