The Carbon M1 3D Printer
Carbon M1 3D Printer
The 2016 edition of AMUGexpo opened its doors last night and the main hall was filled with exhibitors showing their wares to some of the 3D printing industry's most experienced users. Of all the tech and applications on show there's one particular room - a little hidden away - that has even the most experienced of tongues a-wagging.
Carbon launched its M1 machine last week to a chorus of oohs and ahs, and AMUG 2016 represents the first opportunity for many to see the 3D printer in action. And it is undeniably impressive.
The first thing that strikes you about Carbon's first machine utilising the company's CLIP Technology is its size; standing at about 6 foot it was compared by one onlooker to a Stormtrooper, another compared the Carbon room to an Apple Shop in other words this is geek heaven. The product design is undeniably Apple-esque (and if you take a look at Carbon's team on LinkedIn you will see a fair few former Apple employees), Jason Lopes commented that the height of the machine makes it easy to operate and one thing that had a few people giddy was a sensor that activates a smooth closing of the screen with a gesture of a foot.
But does it print well? If the parts on display in the Carbon room at AMUG are anything to go by then that answer is a resounding YES. The scope of the parts is massive, from hard plastics printed with fine details, to bouncy elastomers printed quickly. Each part on display comes with an exact description of the materials and printing time.
Speed may be the property that got everyone talking originally but it is the material science that Joe DeSimone and co are bring to the table at has those aforementioned experienced tongues wagging. Graham Tromans was showing me a part during the expo of which he said he had never seen a better interference in a sliding mechanism in his 30 years in the industry.
