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New 3D Printer Can Print With Carbon Fiber

Posted by Soulskill on from the harder-better-faster-stronger dept.

cold fjord sends this news from Popular Mechanics: "[M]aking custom racecar parts out of carbon fiber is daunting. The only real method available is CNC machining, an expensive and difficult process that requires laying pieces by hand. To improve the process, [Gregory Mark] looked to 3D printing. But nothing on the market could print the material, and no available materials could print pieces strong enough for his purposes. So Mark devised his own solution: the MarkForged Mark One, the world's first carbon fiber 3D printer. Mark debuted his Boston area-based startup MarkForged at SolidWorks World 2014 in San Diego with a working prototype. The Mark One can print in carbon fiber, fiberglass, nylon and PLA (a thermoplastic). ... The main advantage of the Mark One: It can print parts 20 times stiffer and five times stronger than ABS, according to the company. It even has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than CNC-machined aluminum. ... Mark says that he imagines this machine is for anybody who wants to print in a material as strong as aluminum. Beyond racecars, it could be useful to industries like prosthetics."

19 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Beats colour.... by webmistressrachel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is the first materials advance I've seen in ages, bar superficial things like the ability to make ridiculously expensive full-colour prototypes of things that need moulding to make en masse.

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  2. i don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    It isn't going to have the strength of carbon fibre done properly so its useless for the types of applications where that strength matters and it isn't going to have the distinctive CF look so its useless for aesthetic applications.

    1. Re:i don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've had hands-on experience with a 1x RepRap that was shoddily built, 1x RepRap that was well-built, and one older MakerBot.
      All most definitely could produce things with the strength to properly do a garlic press, cherry pit remover, or door hook... though the RepRap would make something that LOOKS rubbish, it would most definitely have the strength.

    2. Re:i don't get it by oscrivellodds · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It may not have the strength of CF done properly, but it will be much stronger than the alternatives like ABS and PLA. There are plenty of applications where that "between" strength is useful. The claim is that it is stiffer and stronger than 6061 aluminum. That means you don't have to go into a machine shop to cut a bunch of 6061 aluminum- you can print a part and get similar characteristics. The 3D printer doesn't care how complex the design is- it will produce it at much lower cost than a machine shop full of mills and guys who know how to run them.

    3. Re:i don't get it by csumpi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yes, that' what I thought, too. Until I built a 3d printer, spent time to calibrate it and learned how to use it.

      Now I can make things much much stronger than a garlic press.

    4. Re: i don't get it by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If it is as strong as aluminum, it may be suitable for 3D printing AR-15 lowers. You think the moral panic around 3D printing crappy guns that only work a few times is bad, imagine the news field day when we can print the registered part of an AR and have it be just as durable or more so than existing polymer lowers.

      --
      while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
  3. Re:Uggh by Algae_94 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There must be another CNC than the one I'm familiar with: "CNC machining, an expensive and difficult process that requires laying pieces by hand"

  4. Er... what? by Anonymous+Psychopath · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "The only real method available is CNC machining, an expensive and difficult process that requires laying pieces by hand."

    CNC means Computer Numerical Controlled, which isn't remotely similar to laying out sheets of resin-bonded carbon fiber by hand. Or are they forming blocks of fiber made out of a lot of bonded sheets, and then CNC-milling them into shapes? That seems like a pointless waste. Very confusing sentence, there.

    --

    Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

    1. Re:Er... what? by NoKaOi · · Score: 5, Informative

      "The only real method available is CNC machining, an expensive and difficult process that requires laying pieces by hand."

      CNC means Computer Numerical Controlled, which isn't remotely similar to laying out sheets of resin-bonded carbon fiber by hand. Or are they forming blocks of fiber made out of a lot of bonded sheets, and then CNC-milling them into shapes? That seems like a pointless waste. Very confusing sentence, there.

      There are two ways carbon fiber is generally done...you can CNC a part (usually out of foam, sometimes wood) and then wrap it in carbon fiber, or for repeatability you can CNC a mold and hand lay the carbon fiber in that. Yes, the sentence was poorly written for the layperson, but if you've worked with composites before you'd know what it means.

    2. Re:Er... what? by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you read TFS he says specifically "CNC-machined aluminum"

    3. Re:Er... what? by wagnerrp · · Score: 4, Informative

      3D printed metal? Uh, how does that work?

      The same way 3D printed plastic works, additive welding, either through traditional welding from a feed spool, or powder sintering.

  5. Re:Uggh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Tried machining fibreglass :), dust is a bit of a problem.

    And if you machine CF, you cut through the fibres and lose the strength.

    To get around that you shape a plastic core using CNC, then you have to lay the CF over the core by hand. This bypasses those problems, you can print the core then precision lay the CF thread by thread.

    Another (later poster) got that wrong as well, this *is* as good as hand laid for most applications.

  6. You wouldn't download a car. by mjwx · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just you fucking wait.

    We're half way to printing a Gallardo.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  7. Re:Uggh by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 4, Informative

    Unless this layers carbon fibers + resin + hardener making the epoxy bond immediately

    Actually it does. Check out the video on the website:

  8. Re:Price? by Intron · · Score: 4, Funny

    The machine costs next to nothing. Now the ink cartridges ...

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  9. Re:Pre-order your pink helium-filled unicorn now! by dbraden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Vapor-hardware is a thing. And you're lookin' at it.

    Except, they are already demo'ing a working prototype at a decent size trade show. That's some pretty thick vapor. I know demos != shipped, but I'm going to give this one the benefit of the doubt since it's very similar to well-understood and already available hardware.

  10. Re:Cheaper racing bicycle frames by oscrivellodds · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I doubt it. The strength and weight of CF are very dependent on the manufacturing technique used. CF bike frames are designed using software than can model the forces produced by the rider and road and the resulting effect on the CF frame including CF characteristics that result from the manufacturing techniques to be employed. The 3D printing technique is unlikely to produce a maximum strength or minimum weight frame, compared to the currently used CF frame manufacturing techniques.

  11. 3D plastic prototypes by sjbe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    bar superficial things like the ability to make ridiculously expensive full-colour prototypes of things that need moulding to make en masse.

    Superficial? Hardly. Tooling is incredibly expensive for molded plastic products and 3D printers make producing small quantities of plastic parts MUCH cheaper in many cases. If you think this is unimportant or trivial then you are wrong. This is a Very Big Deal.

    1. Re:3D plastic prototypes by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Ah, I think I get what you're trying to explain to me, you're saying that injection moulding and other trad methods can be beat on price, by current printers, for niche (short-run) products? Is this the case?

      Yes. Doing a mould for injection moulding can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000+, which is where most of the setup costs go. After that, you can stamp out thousands of parts using ti for pennies each.

      A 3D printer is ideal for small runs (under 1000 or so) because while each part is more expensive, you're not incurring expensive NRE in making a mould. And depending on the quantity, you can save some time since you don't have to wait for the mould to be machined and tested (which can take weeks).

      Before that you really only had CNC machining and vacu-forming to make parts. Today, you have an additive process (3D printing).

      I suppose the next revolution would be a combined 3D printer and CNC mill - the CNC is great for shaving stuff off bulk (something 3D printing does poorly - the more solid there is, the harder it is to printer), while 3D printing can be used to make structures that are impossible via a single piece.