German RepRap has launched a new material they call “PC-Max”.
The company has focused on industrial-style 3D printers for many years, basing their technology originally on the RepRap open source designs, but since then evolving into quite different and far more powerful equipment. Some of their most recent machines are quite large with build volumes exceeding 500mm on a side.
Along with their focus on industrial applications comes an interest in more exotic materials. We’ve seen them address the basic engineering materials by adapting their equipment to accommodate higher temperatures and enclosed build chambers, but also they’ve experimented with some very unusual materials.
Last year we saw them float the idea of a silicone 3D printer that employed a 3D printing process different from competitors of the time. While they showed the experimental device merely to obtain feedback, the machine proved so interesting to customers that they swiftly decided to sell it.
Now they continue with their broadened set of 3D printing materials with the introduction of PC-Max, apparently only available through their online store.
This new thermoplastic material is based on Polycarbonate, a well-known and increasingly used 3D printing material, but it seems that German RepRap’s chemists have mixed in a few extras to boost the engineering properties of PC-Max.
They say the material has around 250X the impact resistance of many other materials, so this makes it quite suitable for applications in which parts take on that type of heavy mechanical stress.
German RepRap also explains that PC-Max has significant resistance to a number of external sources, including oils, greases, ethanol, hydrocarbons, esters and ketones. It’s even resistant to diluted acid solutions. And it’s also electrically resistant.
I am impressed with this product because it shows this company is seriously pursuing the industrial market by finding unique materials that address design needs.
If you’d like to try some – and you can do so even if you aren’t using German RepRap 3D printing equipment – you can pick up a 750g spool at their online store for €65.39 (USD$77).
Via German RepRap
