IndustryTap has reported on fashion student Grace Choi’s 3D printer for cosmetics, MINK, which has the potential to shake up the $80 billion cosmetics industry. This type of story is typical when new technologies emerge. But 3D printers, while constantly a focus of mainstream media, have not yet reached the consumer market in a big way.
DWSLAB introduced the XFAB at CES 2016 which it describes as the first high-end 3D printer priced for consumers. The XFAB is a laser-based 3D printer with unprecedented speed, accuracy, and quality in the consumer market. The XFAB also has the most complete “material range” (see image below) of any consumer 3D printer on the market today. The XFAB is priced at $5,000, so this may be out of the price range for many.
Specs on the XFAB include:
- Laser stereolithography, the technology behind XFAB® is the sum of years of R&D in the professional field. Our origins lie in the world of jewellery and dentistry: 10 micron (layer thickness) resolution is standard for us, not a novelty.
- The most accurate laser on the consumer market.
- A large cylindrical work volume, 180 mm in diameter and 180 mm in height.
- A single device, 10 quality materials for the widest range of applications.
- A cartridge refill system with built-in tank.
- Stereolithography is an additive manufacturing technology based on a process of photo-polymerisation for laser-sensitive resins or liquid materials. The object is formed as each of its layers solidifies instantly under the laser beam. This system overcomes all the obstacles posed by traditional technologies in the manufacture of complex, hollow, or undercut objects. Watch the video on DWSLAB’s YouTube channel.
- The 3D printing field comprises many technologies, but the basic concept shared by all is additive manufacturing. This is the addition of layers of material to create an object rather than removing material from a solid block as is the case with most traditional technologies.
Less Expensive, Highly Rated 3D Printers for Consumers
In PC Magazine’s “The 10 Best 3-D Printers of 2016“, prices for 3D printers range from $329.00 for the XYZ Printing da Vinci Jr. 1.0 to $3,299 for Formlabs Form 1+. The following 3D printers made the top 10 cut:
- LulzBot Mini 3D Printer
- MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printer
- Ultimaker 2
- Formlabs Form 1+
- XYZprinting Nobel 1.0
- 3D Systems Cube 3D Printer
- LulzBot TAZ 5 3D Printer
- MakerBot Replicator Mini Compact 3D Printer
- Ultimaker 2 Extended
- XYZprinting da Vinci Jr. 1.0
The following video shows the XFAB high-end 3D printer in action.
DWS – Revolutionary 3D Printer | NewsWatch Review from NewsWatch Television on Vimeo.
