Sinterit is not the biggest 3D printer manufacturer, by any means, but they seem to understand the issues of their target market.
The Polish company produces the Sinterit Lisa, an inexpensive powder-bed SLS 3D printer capable of 3D printing finely detailed nylon parts. I’ve seen the output from this machine in person, and they look good.
But what makes the Sinterit Lisa stand out among the several competitors producing SLS equipment? It’s their cost structure. While competitive systems from EOS and others may cost well in excess of USD$100,000, the Sinterit Lisa can be obtained for as little as USD$13,500.
That’s a great price point, but there is more to the story. When operating a powder-bed SLS system, there are more costs to consider, and one of the major accessories you must use with an SLS system is a powder sieve.
A sieve is required to ensure consistent part quality, because of the nature of the SLS printing process. During printing, the laser may spatter small amounts of melted powder off the part boundary, leaving powder agglomerations free in the loose powder. While these may not affect the part during printing, they could affect the subsequent print job.
If you re-use the nylon powder (and virtually all SLS operators do to keep costs down), then your next print might end up with blobs on the exterior surface as these free agglomerations are fused into the part’s structure by the laser. That’s not good.
The answer is a powder sieve. Used powder is run through the sieve, which pulls out any particles larger than they should be, setting up a near-perfect powder base for the next print job.
Thus, a commitment to an SLS 3D printer is also a commitment to a powder sieve.
This is where Sinterit comes in; they realize this as well, and they currently have a special deal in which a purchase of a Sinterit Lisa SLS system will include a powder sieve at no charge. For a starting price of €12,500 (USD$), you’ll get both. However, Sinterit is only offering this deal until the end of the month, but a good deal is a good deal, isn’t it?
Via Sinterit
