Exclusive: Transforming industrial-grade 3D printing

Stratasys has released the F120 3D printer, the latest in its F123 Series of FDM printers, which is claimed to deliver reliable, accurate, complex and functional parts up to three times faster than competitive solutions.

Priced at £11,999 (£9,165), available from today and shipping in July, the F120 is a low-cost, entry-level solution that features simple controls, remote self-monitoring, and high levels of reliability and repeatability, making it easy for even novices to get started with 3D printing in the design studio, office or education environments.

Allowing for multiple uses in a single system, the F120 can support everything from rapid prototyping and tooling to full manufacturing. With an ability to print up to 3X faster than competitive solutions and tested 24/7 performance, large filament boxes allow for up to 250 hours of uninterrupted printing.

“We’re making it easier to use and more accessible than ever before for the folks that it matters to,” said Gina Scala, director of marketing, global education, Stratasys. “This is all about accessibility, it’s set up to empower the next generation of designers, engineers and educators. It has an industrial grade feature set but it’s at a price point that’s more manageable for small to medium sized design firms.”

The F120 is backed by 1200 hours of testing of the most important print performance attributes – including part robustness, accuracy, and how well the printed part matches the CAD file. Incorporating the benefits of larger systems, the F120 printer can 3D print complex, innovative designs with confidence.

Stratasys is unveiling the F120 3D Printer at this week’s Additive Manufacturing User Group (AMUG) Conference 2019 in Chicago.

Stratasys will also be revealing the V650 Flex stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer, the company’s entry into the SLA segment. It is said to combine the power of a large-scale system with a configurable environment for fine-tuning across a broad range of resins – giving customers greater accuracy, choice, and lower costs in 3D printed prototype and part development.

Pat Carey, senior VP, sales, Americas, at Stratasys said: “We have an extremely deep background in SLA and we’ve been using it internally in the Service Bureau. The V650 Flex is built by SLA experts for SLA parts, it’s got no limitations, no controls. It’s extremely flexible, extremely configurable across all applications known to SLA today, from functional prototyping, investment casting, tooling, injection moulding, you name it.”

With a build volume of 508 x 508 x 584mm and interchangeable vats, the V650 Flex printer has been tested with runtime of over 75,000 hours and more than 150,000 parts produced inside Stratasys Direct Manufacturing. The V650 Flex puts the power of verified resins and a configurable system to work – helping customers produce extremely durable, highly complex and accurate parts.

There’s no price published for the V650 Flex yet, and despite Stratasys entering into an agreement with DSM to distribute its top four selling open resins for use with the machine, operators can use any resin they want.