Oct. 22, 2014
Formlabs, the makers of the Form 1+ SLA 3D Printer, announced two new high-performance functional resins today. The new resins, Castable and Flexible, add capabilities to the Form 1+ 3D Printer, allowing for the investment casting of metal parts, as well as the printing of soft, impact-resistant models.
Castable Resin is formulated to leave no ash or residue after burnout. It is designed for investment casting, a common process used to produce jewelry, metalwork, and engineering applications. Castable Resin is easy to work with, and designed to hold fine detail and extraordinarily smooth surfaces.
Flexible Resin is a rubber-like material that's pliable when thin and resilient when thick. It is ideal for hinges, engineering applications, shock absorption, tactile surfaces, and other applications requiring resilient, pliable parts.
"Much of the attention in 3D printing is focused on the machine," said Formlabs co-founder, Maxim Lobovsky. "At Formlabs, we've always considered the materials to be just as important. A library of functional materials has always been part of our plan, we're pleased to introduce these resins to the world."
With a growing team of material scientists, Formlabs is devoted to creating a comprehensive, high-performance suite of resins for its 3D printers. "Diverse materials are such a key piece in enabling innovation," said Formlabs' material scientist Katherine Hammes. "We've formulated our new resins to work seamlessly with our machine, and we're thrilled with the results we've achieved with Castable and Flexible."
The new castable resin is €125 for a 500ml bottle and is available from Formlabs web store immediately. The price for the flexible resin has not yet been fixed - the resin will be available December 2014. Both resins are compatible with both the Form 1 and Form 1+ 3D Printers.
Along with its new functional resins, Formlabs has also updated its formulations of Grey and Clear, giving them better performance and stability over time. The updated formulations will begin to ship this November.
Posted in 3D Printer Materials
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