Our Five most anticipated upcoming 3D printers
3D Printing is constantly evolving with new printers coming onto the market all the time. We’ve compiled a list below of our top five printers we’re most excited about.
Selective Laser Sintering is often heralded as the holy grail of current 3D printing technologies on the market. The technology has been limited to expensive commercial grade machines; however Sinterit wants to change that with their Sinterit Lisa 3D printer.
Lisa has been in development for the past couple of years and will be priced at $8000. It aims to bridge the gap between expensive commercial grade printers and cheaper hobby machines. The Sinterit Lisa can produce objects with a layer thickness of 60 micron (0.06mm) and can print objects up to 130 x 170 x 130mm (5.1×6.7×5.1in). Another benefit of the Lisa is that it can produce a wider range of object without support at all.
A major problem with 3D printers is the speed at which they print. Carbon3D’s new resin based 3D printer hopes to solve that issue with a technology they have dubbed CLIP. CLIP is a continuous printing technology that essentially grows parts instead of making them layer by layer. According to Carbon3D, CLIP is anywhere from 25 to 100 times faster than traditional printing techniques.
Not only is the CLIP technology fast, but it also produces incredibly smooth finishes on parts. Automobile manufacturer Ford has already been using the technology to print some parts and prototypes for their vehicles, which you can view of 3DPrint.com.
Voxel8 is another company that is pushing the boundaries of prosumer/consumer level 3D printers. Their 3D printer is capable of building a functioning object with multiple materials. For instance the Voxel8 printer can print an object with conductive materials embedded into the print. The printer uses silver ink that is 5000x more conductive than conductive pastes and filaments currently used in additive manufacturing.
While the Voxel8 is certainly expensive at $8999 for the early-bird special, the ability to print circuits within a print is an exciting prospect. The printer will be available in the second quarter of 2016.
NewPro3D have gone down a similar route to Carbon3D with their new 3D printer; however they claim that their ILI (Intelligent Liquid Interface) technology is the fastest in the world. According to NewPro3D’s website their printer is capable of printing a 51mm object in 4.5 minutes, whereas Carbon3D’s printer is able to do it in 6.5 minutes.
The ILI technology produces a similar smooth finish when compared to the CLIP technology of Carbon3D. It will be interesting to compare the two printers once they have both launched.
The Mcor Arke is different to all the 3D printers above, in that it is capable of printing objects with a full range of colours. We’ve seen other colour 3D printers on the market; however they are either very expensive or don’t offer a full range of colours, the Arke changes all of that. Interestingly, the Arke uses white paper as its print material and then cuts, glues and jets ink onto the paper to print the object.
Mcor’s Arke has a build volume of 240 x 210 x 125mm and a DPI resolution of 4800×2400. At $5,995, the Mcor Arke is much cheaper than the company’s previous machine which was upwards of $40K.
