3D Platform showed an early version of a new large format 3D printer that offers dual independent extruders.
3D Platform is one of the few players in the large format FFF 3D printer space, as they offer specialized equipment designed for printing very large objects. You might think it’s a simple matter to scale up a desktop-sized FFF device to one meter build volume or larger, but there are plenty of issues that arise.
You just can’t 3D print with the same extrusion systems, because printing would take weeks. As a result, large format 3D printer manufacturers have long been perfecting highly unusual extrusion systems that can very rapidly deposit material, far faster than desktop systems. 3D Platform developed their HFE extruders years ago for this reason. They also worked on developing standards for large diameter filament — up to six mm! Filament of that size is required to feed the hungry HFE system.
To put the HFE system into a perspective you can more easily understand, they are able to 3D print 7.5kg of material per hour, or the equivalent to eating up an entire 750g spool every six minutes! The HFE system is also able to use inexpensive pellets instead of filament to save on materials cost.
The company has developed a series of increasingly sophisticated large format 3D printers since we first encountered them in 2014. Back then they offered only a single model with build volume of 1000 x 1000 x 500 mm. Nowadays they have a much larger selection of equipment that leads all the way to a large enclosed system.
Now they’ve revealed they’re working on a new machine called the “Workseries Duo”, which is based on their previous 300 Series Workbench Pro. This is an open gantry large format 3D printer with build volume of 1000 x 1000 x 700 mm. It uses the HFA extruder, which is like an HFE, except air cooled, and can deposit 35 cubic mm per second (about 1.3L per hour).
The “Duo” portion of the product name comes from the fact that this machine, in a first from 3D Platform, will be equipped with two extruders.
Not only that, the extruders will be independent, meaning they do not necessarily have to move synchronously. This means the Workseries Duo will be able to, for example, print two copies of an item at the same time, or print mirrored copies of an object simultaneously.
3D Platform tells us the device will have a new controller, which is not surprising as the dual extruders likely need a bit more power and connectivity than single extruder machines.
As for a release date, 3D Platform suggests this machine could be released later this year, perhaps in Q4. However, pricing has not yet been finalized.
Large format 3D printing is not for everyone, but there are companies that have greatly benefited from taking on the technology. 3D Platform is a good option in this area.
Via 3D Platform
