Feb 1, 2016 | By Benedict

Ambitious businesses and 3D printing enthusiasts have been flocking to Dallas, Texas over the last few days in order to attend SolidWorks World 2016, a huge additive manufacturing expo which aims to connect SolidWorks-affiliated 3D printing companies with potential customers. MarkForged, based in Somerville, Massachusetts, happens to be one of those companies—one that holds a special place in 3D printing history, for creating the world’s first carbon fiber 3D printer back in 2014. That machine, the Mark One, rewrote the rulebook for metal 3D printing. Now, the newly unveiled Mark Two is promising huge improvements upon that groundbreaking piece of technology. The Mark Two will reportedly combine the unique advantages of 3D printing with the unmatched strength of carbon fiber, fiberglass, and Kevlar.

The MarkForged Mark Two 3D printer

According to MarkForged, the Mark Two was designed with three principal goals in mind: a faster fiber printing process, the ability to strengthen smaller features within all parts, and an increased confidence in 3D printing job completion and reliability. The fruits of these three interwoven labors include a 40% faster fiber printing process, the ability to reinforce features 15 times smaller than before, and a number of minor improvements in software, hardware, and materials. The Mark Two has two print heads - one builds Nylon parts, the other is a new composite print head to reinforce those parts with continuous fiber. These improvements over the popular Mark One will allow customers to produce industrial strength parts with greater ease and rapidity, leading to a marked improvement in production efficiency.

"The more extensive reinforcement of our new MarkForged printers allow us to 3D print even stiffer and stronger parts,” explained Charles Su, Applications and Control Engineer at Brooks Automation. “The software also automatically strengthens more of the parts we throw at it, especially smaller and more detailed parts. We can make them lightweight, we can make them very stiff, and it's basically a cost-effective overnight operation. In both R&D and production, nearly every day brings a new opportunity to quickly replace machined aluminum or brittle plastics with robust reinforced 3D prints.”

3D prints produced with the Mark Two

MarkForged has been extremely busy in the lead-up to the Mark Two, and has also announced the immediate release of its new Enterprise bundle, which allows customers to print fiber material suitable for higher temperature environments. The Enterprise product is being marketed at customers in the aerospace and automotive industries in particular, whose 3D printed components are subjected to some of the most demanding situations and environments.

“After introducing the world to continuous fiber reinforced printed parts, we wanted to focus on perfecting the experience with a MarkForged printer,” said Greg Mark, Founder and CEO of MarkForged, Inc. “The Mark Two enhances the overall MarkForged experience and means our customers get stronger parts in their hands, faster than before.”

Since its inception, MarkForged has endeavored to bring high strength 3D printing to the world of everyday engineering. The company remains unique in its ability to provide 3D printing systems which can automatically reinforce engineering plastics to aluminum levels of performance and beyond. The Mark Two could prove to be the company’s most significant product yet, allowing engineering firms to produce strong and durable parts with the utmost efficiency.

The Mark Two has been launched today with prices starting at $5,499.

Specifications

  • Build Size: 320mm x 132mm x 154mm
  • Layer Resolution: 0.1mm
  • Materials: Carbon Fiber, Fiberglass, Kevlar, Nylon
  • Machine Size: 575mm x 322mm x 360mm
  • Power Supply: 100–240 V 150 W
  • Software: Browser Based
  • Supported OS: Windows 7+, Mac OS 10.7 Lion+, Linux
  • Supported File Types: .STL

 

Posted in 3D Printer

 

 

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