A surprise press release from Sinterit details a rather shocking price drop.
The Polish company produces a low-cost, effective desktop SLS 3D printer. That’s a machine that can 3D print strong nylon objects from thermoplastic powder. We’ve written about them several times in the past, and even seen some of their impressive sample prints.
But there has been a price change. As recently as this past August, they had been selling their flagship SLS 3D printer, the Lisa, at a price of USD$12,500. While that’s quite a bit more than you’d pay for a professional desktop 3D printer using SLA or filament extrusion, it’s vastly less than most other SLS systems that typically cost in the USD$100,000+ range.
Their announcement indicates the new price for the Lisa as of September 13 will be €4,990 (USD$6,990). This appears to be price drop of about 50%!
I should note that earlier Sinterit offered a very interesting discount on their equipment by bundling a powder sieve with the printer for no extra charge. Unfortunately, you can’t get the sieve for free anymore, but you can by choosing the new bundle, which is priced at a reasonable USD$8,990.
Usually one sees such dramatic price drops on equipment when they are at end of life, and being replaced by a new version. However, Sinterit has not announced a new product. Why the price drop? They explain:
The solutions developed by Sinterit experts in the last three years made it possible to significantly reduce the price of this printer and to offer a complete SLS solution for top-quality prints. Sinterit is happy to offer access to the laser sintering technology to a bigger group of recipients, including smaller companies
and
The reduction of the printerís price was possible thanks to optimising the technological solutions, modifying the distribution system and launching online sales.
This is a very surprising development and should indeed coax many new users into the world of SLS 3D printing, currently dominated by EOS and 3D Systems, whose systems are vastly more expensive.
Why SLS? It’s because you can 3D print extremely complex objects with less regard for the printing specifications: the powder supports the print in all directions during the print operation, negating the need for consideration of support structures. You can 3D print very thin walled, complex designs with relative ease – and being made, typically, from nylon, they are quite strong as well.
Another thought about their price drop relates to a story we wrote long ago when they first appeared. Back in 2014 when they were a secretive startup, it was rumored they were working on a sub-USD$5,000 SLS 3D printer. Well, it now isn’t quite sub-USD$5,000, but it is less than €5,000.
If you are considering a SLS 3D printer, or wish to get into nylon 3D printing, you might want to check out Sinterit.
Via Sinterit
