Left to right: The ORLAS CREATOR and new hybrid at formnext powered by tct.
Following on from the launch of the ORLAS CREATOR at last year’s formnext powered by tct, German laser systems manufacturer, OR Laser has unveiled a series of updates and a new machine at the Frankfurt event this week.
The ORLAS CREATOR hybrid takes on the same form as its predecessor as one of the few office-friendly metal systems on the market but with the added benefit of 3-axis milling to create net parts which OR Laser believe makes it the “first of its kind”. The machine combines the build platform of the original CREATOR at 110mm diameter by 100mm with a 250 watt laser and processing speeds of 3500 mm/s. The machine itself is almost identical to the to the original CREATOR and would fit in even a small workshop environment.
Complex components and structures such as contours, undercuts and cooling channels, that would be inaccessible in traditional milling technologies, can be milled for efficient surface finishing every 5-10 layers. Speaking at formnext with the first concept machine on display, OR Laser said it is continuing to develop the technology but intends to deliver by the end of 2018.
The company also had some good news about the “overwhelming response” it has received in the additive market, having achieved its target of delivering systems by the end of 2017 with its first CREATOR machines shipped in September to customers in the dental, medical, and tool and die industries.
Another big part of OR Laser’s vision was about data and Ludovico Camarda Chief Business Officer at OR Laser commented that “machines won’t be the big difference in this industry, it will be data”. OR Laser is highly invested in the trend for cloud manufacturing, claiming “CREATORs can be everywhere”, unrestricted by geography and controlled remotely. The company says it is looking at the bigger picture, positioning itself as not just a machine manufacturer but rather “one partner for the whole solution”.
