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$10k-20k 3D printers

Optiofab

Plastic
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
I have been asked to investigate 3D printers for my shop. I have some knowledge of the lower end printers (I built a Prusa I3 from scratch) and their capabilities and the very high end Stratasys and EOS machines. But with a price range up to 20k I'm really not sure whats available. Would that be putting me into the lower range Stratasys?

Basic requirements is the printer needs to print at least ABS, additional materials (some are starting to print peek?) would be a big plus. Strong professional continuing support (even if paid for) is absolutely necessary.

I was primarily thinking FDM style printers at this price range, but if there are other options I should be looking at I'm definitely open to suggestions.
 
We're very happy with the Stratasys uPrint SE+ but it only prints ABS. The Fortus 450 prints a biocompatible plastic of some sort but I'm not aware of anyone printing PEEK commercially. Certainly not at the lower end of the pro scale. I'd be curious to see what you find though.
 
We're very happy with the Stratasys uPrint SE+ but it only prints ABS. The Fortus 450 prints a biocompatible plastic of some sort but I'm not aware of anyone printing PEEK commercially. Certainly not at the lower end of the pro scale. I'd be curious to see what you find though.

PEEK FFF 3D Printer - INDMATEC GmbH

FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) appears to be the newest acronym that means the same thing as FDM but allows for a more liberal application of the term, it seems.

This is the only high temp thermoplastic printer I know of, and it seems to still be looking to gear up for production still. It's pretty interesting.

If you get away from FFF/FDM, there are a lot of SLS nylons and plastics that are specifically engineered for these processes and have properties comparable to peek and others.

OP: Sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable of the $10-20k range. Just wanted to add that little tidbit to rcoope's post.
 
I know this is late, but the Markforged Mark Two is $13,500. It can print in Nylon or chopped carbon fiber-infused Nylon ("Onyx"), and then reinforces that with continuous fibers of carbon fiber, fiberglass, or Kevlar. Packed with carbon fiber it can get a better strength:weight than 6061-T6. It's also just a good design, e.g. reliable, pretty accurate, nice surface finish, and so on. Just a consideration for others looking in this price range.
 








 
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