White parts from a desktop laser sintering 3D printer

×

Expand

Parts from the VITA machine

Parts from the VITA machine

I see a lot of 3D printed parts especially at a show like formnext powered by tct but during an unscheduled stop by the booth by Spanish manufacturer, Natural Robotics, I saw some parts of such a high-quality and colour, that I was amazed to find out they were printed on a desktop. 

Thanks to the launch of Formlabs' Fuse 1 desktop laser sintering has hit the headlines again. Formlabs, along with Sinterit and Sintratec are attempting to fill the whole for desktop powder-based 3D printing left by Blueprinter albeit for a heck of a lot cheaper (approximately ten times). 

Expand

High quality desktop laser sintered part

One benefit Blueprinter did have over this new wave of desktop laser sintering was its parts looked more akin to industrially sintered parts from EOS, 3D Systems, Farsoon, etc. Blueprinter's parts were white whereas the parts from these desktop machines are mostly a dark grey.

The reason for this darker shade is in the power of the laser, a darker material absorbs the energy better, and this keeps the build of materials cost down. While the mechanical properties are not overly affected, darker parts are harder to die making it less appealing to many of the end-use applications developed for laser-sintering, e.g., jewellery, apparel and spare parts. 

Enter Natural Robotics and its newly developed VIT 3D Printer that has been a smash hit on Kickstarter. While we see many printers come and go on the crowdfunding platform, I met with Founder & CEO, Hector Estreller and Design Manager, Toni Parera in Frankfurt to be shown some parts, all of which were as white as the driven snow.

One was a prosthetic arm with moving parts that you could tell from a slight discolouration had been handled (and mishandled) a lot but was still functioning as it should be. Another was a complex star within a star within a star shape that was incredibly detailed with a good surface quality. 

Natural Robotics has been able to achieve white powder laser sintering on the desktop thanks to a 40 W CO2 laser - as much as four times the power of lasers in the competitions' machinery. The powerful laser gives the VIT an ability to process a larger selection of materials, although initially only polyamide PA12 is supported.  

Despite the higher powered and therefore more expensive laser, the early bird Kickstarter price of €5,999 puts the VIT at the midway point regarding desktop laser sintering.

If its crowdfunding campaign is anything to go by - achieving 1000% of its €25,000 goal with three days still remaining - the VIT 3D Printer is going to be popular. It remains to be seen whether the popularity is to do with white powders on the desktop or the fact that Natural Robotics is already a trusted European manufacturer with a range of 3D printers. Either way, expect to see Natural Robotics' establish themselves in the developing professional desktop sphere.