Jun 28, 2017 | By Benedict
Australian R&D company AONIQ has launched the 888 PVC 3D Printer, a $10,999 FDM machine capable of printing with PVC and standard 3D printing materials. AONIQ says the 3D printer sits somewhere between budget FDM printers and more expensive production-level machines.
Feeling lonely and left behind? Think the 3D printing industry is mistreating you, favoring big-money corporations over hard-working individuals? AONIQ, an Australian R&D company, understands. Believing that the “industry has forgotten [that] 3D printing should be for everyone,” AONIQ has released the 888 PVC 3D Printer, an FDM machine that “offers the ability to produce real-world products” as well as PVC 3D printing capabilities. It’s a 3D printing party, and everyone’s invited.
“With this 3D printer we are giving the average person the ability to not only take on the large corporations but beat them,” claims AONIQ CEO Michael Slavica. “In this next stage of 3D printing it is time for most people already using 3D printers to decide if they want continue to tinker on the sidelines or to actually join the latest industrial revolution.”
The 888 3D printer purportedly gives business and individuals the power to join said revolution, allowing “almost every business [to] introduce 3D printing into their operations and realize cost and time savings.” This ability is partially supplied by a 235 x 255 x 195 mm build volume, direct drive extruder, and layer height of 100-400 microns. X-Y resolution on the 888 is 100 microns, and the printer comes with four print heads: 2 x 0.4 mm, 1 x 0.3 mm, and 1 x 0.5 mm.
In our opinion, the really interesting thing about the 888 is its ability to print with PVC, a chemically resistant resin used in a number of industries. Few PVC 3D printing materials have been developed—another Australian company, Chemson Pacific, released its own 3DVinyl PVC material last year—and even fewer 3D printers explicitly claim to have PVC-printing capabilities.
AONIQ has made its own PVC 3D printing formulation for the 888, and says the material “can be used like traditional 3D polymers like PLA or ABS as you can make rapid prototype objects by giving it a honeycomb infill.” AONIQ says honeycomb printing “is a great technique for this application, as you don’t waste excess material,” but adds that 100% infill printing can produce an object that performs “as if it was injection-molded.”
The Australian R&D company also makes bold claims about the construction of its 888 3D printer as it describes its “four linear guide rails and two massive ball screws that move smoothly and quietly.” AONIQ says these parts allow the 888 to produce “the accuracy of the width of a human hair.” Furthermore, all cables are protected by cable chains, meaning they move only along one axis. This, according to AONIQ, “will help with the longevity of [the] printer.”
AONIQ has also put a great deal of effort into perfecting the heated print surface of the 888. According to the company, the PVC 3D printer uses a 50-point pressure-guided auto bed-leveling sequence that will run the first time you start the printer. The company even describes its ANOQID table as “the most superior print surface there is on the market.” It backs up this claim with the assertion that “once this surface heats up your print job will stick to it like glue, but when it cools down it releases your print job and you can lift it off the bed like a glass [off] a table.”
In terms of software, AONIQ has opted for Simplify3D and Cura, which purportedly give users “the ability to fine tune just about everything.”
The 888 3D printer goes on sale 1 August 2017, and AONIQ is currently accepting pre-orders. The $10,999 package includes a one-year warranty.
Posted in 3D Printer
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$10,999 is definitely not for everybody. PVC ain't new, I remember using PVC on my bfb 3000 back in 2012. The problem was the chlorine gas release from heating the filament. Over heating the filament is quite easy on FDM printers, which happens more than I wish, which will release even more poisonous gases. We stopped using PVC rapidly due to safety issues. Just read the comments from last year when Chemson Pacific and Functionalize answered me. SOME may be safe, not all. food for thoughts.
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