My Printer

  • University of Arkansas Researchers Test Metal 3D Printing in a Mars-Like Atmosphere

    If humans eventually establish a long-term presence on Mars, they will face a major manufacturing challenge almost immediately. Tools will break. Parts will wear out. Equipment will need repairs. But unlike on Earth, there will be no nearby supply chain, no replacement parts arriving overnight, and no warehouse stocked with backup components.

    That is one reason researchers continue exploring how additive manufacturing (AM) could support future space missions. Now, a new study from the University of Arkansas looks at one small but important piece of that puzzle: whether metal 3D printing could work in an atmosphere similar to the one found on Mars.

    The research was led by Zane Mebruer, who completed the work as an undergraduate mechanical engineering student at the university under the supervision of assistant professor Wan Shou. The findings were published in a study titled “Exploring Metal Additive Manufacturing in Martian Atmospheric Environments” in the Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing.

    Mebruer’s research explains that one of the challenges is that most metal AM systems rely on argon gas during production. The gas protects molten metal from oxidation as parts are built layer by layer. Without that protection, defects can form inside the component that weaken the final part. But the problem is that people settling in Mars would not have access to large supplies of argon, and bringing it from Earth would be expensive. Also, producing it on Mars would require additional equipment and resources.

    Mars’ atmosphere is made up of more than 95% carbon dioxide. Instead of shipping large quantities of specialized gas from Earth, researchers wanted to see whether metal printing could be performed directly in a carbon dioxide environment. If that was possible, future settlers might be able to use resources already available on the planet.

    For the task, the team used a custom laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) system developed at the University of Arkansas to print simple 316L stainless steel test samples. Equipped with a 500-watt IPG fiber laser and a sealed chamber that could be filled with different gases, the system allowed researchers to compare printing under argon, carbon dioxide, and normal air conditions. The samples were then examined for surface quality, oxidation, and structural cohesion. 

    Overview of experimental setup for PBF-LB with an artificial environment. Image courtesy of University of Arkansas.

    Argon still delivered the strongest overall performance, which was not surprising. But what caught the researchers’ attention was that the carbon dioxide environment performed much better than ordinary air. The parts did not perform as well as those made with argon, but they performed well enough to encourage more research.

    “It’s a proof of concept,” said Shou, who helped Mebruer conceptualize the work and oversaw the research in his lab. 

    The research is still at a very early stage. The team was not printing finished tools or functional parts, but simple stainless steel test samples, including individual laser-melted lines and small flat structures, to see how the material behaved in a carbon dioxide atmosphere similar to Mars’. After all, there is quite a long list of challenges left to solve before going to Mars, because it is a tough place to manufacture anything. Aside from the atmosphere itself, future systems would have to operate in lower gravity, and deal with dust, radiation, and some of the most extreme temperature changes in the solar system.

    Laser power effect on fabricated 2D samples. Image courtesy of University of Arkansas.

    Even so, the study points to a question that space agencies have been thinking about for years: how do you make what you need when Earth is millions of miles away? 

    That question is becoming more important as governments and private companies push toward longer missions beyond Earth orbit. NASA’s Artemis program, for example, wants to return astronauts to the Moon and establish a more sustainable presence there before future missions head to Mars. A key part of that effort is what NASA calls in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), the idea of using local resources whenever possible instead of shipping everything from Earth. That idea applies to fuel production, habitat construction, life-support systems, and manufacturing. After all, the farther humans travel from Earth, the more important local production becomes.

    A trip to Mars would be very different from a mission in Earth orbit. Crews could be away from home for years, and there is no easy way to send replacement parts when something breaks. That is why researchers are looking at 3D printing. Instead of packing every spare part they could need, future astronauts could potentially bring raw materials and manufacture some tools and components on demand. In fact, researchers have already explored several Mars-related 3D printing concepts over the past few years.

    Scientists at Washington State University previously demonstrated that simulated Martian regolith could be mixed with titanium alloys to create strong printed materials that may one day be used for tools, structural components, or protective coatings.

    What makes this study interesting is that the researchers are not looking at what can be printed on Mars. They are looking at what can be printed in Mars’ atmosphere. And that could be super important, because if future missions could use gases that are already available on Mars, instead of argon, it could make manufacturing there much easier.

    The idea may even have applications on Earth. The researchers point out that carbon dioxide is generally more available and less expensive than argon. Much more testing would be needed, but the findings suggest there may be situations where carbon dioxide could serve as an alternative.

    Of course, nobody is setting up metal 3D printers on Mars anytime soon. In fact, space agencies are still working toward a human presence on the Moon. NASA still officially talks about sending humans to Mars in the 2030s, but that has started to sound more like a long-term goal. In fact, analysts have suggested the early 2040s might be a more realistic window for a crewed Mars mission. But if humans do make it to Mars one day, they’ll need ways to make and repair things once they get there.

  • UT Researchers Use 3D Printing to Develop “Tabletop EUV Lithography” Process

    Photolithography, the semiconductor manufacturing process whereby lasers transfer patterns onto chemical layers coating a substrate, is one of the most amazing industrial processes humanity has ever created. It is also by far one of the most expensive, with the most sophisticated machines (High-NA EUV) only produced by a single company (ASML) and carrying a price tag of around $400 million.

    Researchers at the University of Texas (UT) are attempting to upend the barriers-to-entry standing in the way of broad access to EUV lithography by developing a low-cost, “tabletop” machine that leverages volumetric 3D printing. This process typically involves spinning vats of photopolymers exposed to light from every angle, allowing users to print entire objects all at once. The method the UT researchers utilized instead relies on a single source of light that passes through stationary, self-assembling nanospheres — still creating objects all at once, but on a much smaller scale.

    Traditional EUV lithography can only create 3D structures by building them from a large number of 2D layers, patterned one layer at a time. The method the UT researchers have created, documented in a recent article in the journal Nano Letters, prints entire 3D nanostructures all at once, drastically shrinking the time from design to output.

    A new 3D printing device and technique could speed up semiconductor research.

    In addition to the machine they developed, the team at UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering also benefited from access to EUV materials developed by collaborators at UT Dallas and Johns Hopkins. The work was funded in part by a 2024 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), awarded to winners of the Future of Semiconductors (FuSe2) competition.

    In a press release about UT researchers’ development of a low-cost EUV process centered around volumetric 3D printing, UT professor Chin-Hao Chang (one of the lead authors for the associated research paper) contrasted the novel method, which reportedly works on a scale of minutes, against conventional EUV lithography: “The actual printing [in conventional EUV] might not take very long. But the processing can take days.

    Saurav Mohanty, a recent Ph.D. graduate student in the group and the first author of the study, said, “Beyond semiconductor manufacturing, the ability to pattern 3D nanostructures can find applications in medicine for nanodrugs, quantum computing or synthesizing novel materials.”

    I’ve noted many times that the additive manufacturing (AM) industry needs to continue to pay just as much attention as it always has to R&D applications, even as companies simultaneously pivot towards focusing on a growing number of production-level use cases. It’s perfectly logical that the AM industry would want to move past being relegated almost exclusively to the world of prototyping, but AM’s evolution is far more nuanced than a simple binary choice between prototyping and production.

    For one thing, in practical terms, prototyping and production are not mutually exclusive phases. The industries in which AM has achieved the greatest penetration when it comes to end-use parts tend to be precisely those industries where AM had already reached some significant degree of adoption first in the R&D stage.

    Additionally, now would be the worst time to stop targeting the R&D market, which is booming and should continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The semiconductor industry is the best example of this, but it is far from the only one. And even in the case of semiconductors, if projects like the one at UT can ultimately yield broadly accessible research tools, it will vastly expand the number of industries that can afford to fund their own semiconductor research.

    Among the most profound consequences of the long-term accumulation of greater AM adoption is that the traditional lines between R&D and production have been blurred. The successful companies will be the ones that view prototyping and production not in terms of an either/or, but rather in terms of a deliberately strategized pathway from the former to the latter.

    Images courtesy of the University of Texas

  • CEO Yoav Zeif on Why Stratasys’ Markforged Acquisition Is Really a Bet on Industrialization

    When Stratasys announced plans to acquire Markforged, the immediate focus was on the deal. Markforged is one of the most recognizable names in additive manufacturing (AM), known for its continuous carbon fiber technology and metal printing systems. The acquisition also comes after a turbulent few years for the company, which was valued at more than $2 billion during the SPAC boom before being acquired by Nano Dimension and then sold again.

    But according to Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif, the bigger story is not the transaction. Instead, he believes the AM industry is moving into a new phase, one where reliability, workflow integration, and scalability matter just as much as new hardware. That doesn’t mean innovation is no longer important. Rather, Zeif argues that manufacturers increasingly want reliable workflows, repeatable results, manufacturing standards, and systems that can be integrated into existing production environments.

    In fact, Zeif believes that Markforged’s technology fits directly into that strategy.

    “We have been following them for a long time and have a lot of appreciation and respect for their technologies,” Zeif told 3DPrint.com. “Markforged is by far the leader in continuous carbon fiber.”

    For Stratasys, acquiring those capabilities was not simply about adding another machine platform. Zeif said the company sees an opportunity to combine Markforged’s technology with Stratasys’ established position in industrial FDM.

    “The combination is practically a huge contribution to our customers. We are bringing together the unmatched reliability and FDM knowledge that Stratasys has. No one has better, stronger industrial parts in FDM. Now that we put them together, we can really transform the value proposition of FDM in industrial applications.”

    Stratasys booth at MILAM 2026. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    More Than a Consolidation Play

    The timing of the acquisition is also interesting. Just a few years ago, Markforged was one of the hottest companies in AM, reaching a valuation of more than $2 billion. Today, Stratasys is acquiring the company for a fraction of that amount. Zeif sees that “not as a reflection of the technology itself and more as a sign of a market finding its balance.”

    “The $2.5 billion valuation was an overshooting, and today’s valuation is also an overshooting,” he said. “There is value because customers ask for it. There is demand, there is growth, there is need in the market. It’s not two and a half billion dollars, and it’s probably not the lower valuation we see now. So it’s somewhere in the middle.”

    The deal has also drawn attention because of what it says about the broader AM market. In his analysis of the transaction, 3DPrint.com’s Matt Kremenetsky described it as a potentially best-case outcome for Markforged after years of industry consolidation. He reported that Stratasys gains a leading continuous carbon fiber platform and installed customer base, while Markforged gains access to the scale, customer network, and global reach of one of the industry’s largest AM companies.

    Markforged’s FX10. Image courtesy of Markforged.

    Rather than seeing the Markforged deal as another example of industry consolidation, Zeif describes it as a strategic move to add capabilities that fit Stratasys’ long-term plans.

    “As far as consolidation goes, I don’t perceive it as practical consolidation. This is what I call targeted capability acquisition, because we have a clear vision and strategy at Stratasys. That strategy is centered on building a portfolio of technologies, software, materials, and services that work together to strengthen end-to-end manufacturing workflows and help customers move additive manufacturing into production environments.”

    Zeif said many of those decisions are influenced by direct feedback from customers: “Over the last several years, Stratasys has assembled Customer Advisory Boards for both healthcare and industrial that include additive manufacturing leaders from companies such as Boeing, Airbus, Toyota, General Motors, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, and others.”

    Interestingly, Zeif said many of those discussions have not centered on the next breakthrough technology.

    “One of the things that was really surprising was when I asked them what the main barrier to scale is,” he explained. “They told me, ‘Innovation is secondary. We need the workflow to work and the integration with our systems.’ In other words, if you bring a new machine that is innovative but not reliable or repeatable, and the overall equipment efficiency is not good enough, they cannot adopt it. They need standards.”

    Today, Zeif says the challenge for large manufacturers is often not whether a printer can produce a part but whether that technology can fit into existing production systems, deliver consistent results, and meet manufacturing requirements at scale.

    “A machine may offer impressive capabilities, but if it cannot be integrated into existing processes or consistently produce parts at the required quality level, adoption becomes much more difficult. Companies are no longer evaluating a printer on its specifications alone. For us, that is where Markforged complements Stratasys’ broader vision. They are focusing not on prototyping but on tooling and on end-use parts. And this is where we want to create this unique leading platform that we are building.”

    Why Defense Is Leading Adoption

    For Zeif, defense is one of the clearest examples of where additive manufacturing is gaining traction.

    “By far, number one is defense,” he said. “What wins wars is logistics. The fact that you have great aircraft, great weapons, innovation, and everything doesn’t do anything if you cannot deliver the right part in the right place. This is unfortunately an opportunity for additive because this is the industry that can deliver the right part in the right place. Only last year, Stratasys directly printed more than 100,000 parts for defense, and continuous carbon fiber reinforcement is becoming critical for aerospace components, sustainment, logistics, and drones. This is a signal that the demand is coming.”

    Zeif told me defense organizations are increasingly adopting AM to support logistics, sustainment, and distributed production. The ability to produce parts closer to where they are needed can reduce supply chain constraints and improve operational readiness, particularly in aerospace and defense applications. He also sees growing demand for carbon fiber-reinforced components used in drones, aircraft, and other mission-critical systems.

    AMS 2024 CEO Panel’s Yoav Zeif. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    In Zeif’s view, the deal is less about getting bigger and more about strengthening Stratasys’ ability to serve production applications. The acquisition adds technologies that the company believes can help customers move beyond prototyping and into production.

    As manufacturers increasingly focus on reliability, workflow integration, and scalability, Zeif believes the combination of Stratasys and Markforged can help address some of the biggest barriers to broader adoption of AM.

    Zeif is also scheduled to return to the stage at next year’s Additive Manufacturing Strategies (AMS) conference, taking place February 23-25, 2027, in New York City. After headlining AMS 2026, he is expected to once again share his perspective on the state of the AM industry and the challenges and opportunities facing manufacturers as additive technologies continue to mature.

  • 3D Printing & the Autonomous Era: Defense Tech’s Latest Mutation

    When we last checked in on the broad defense tech landscape and the role of the additive manufacturing (AM) industry in that environment, it became clear that the connecting thread amongst the latest developments in 3D printed weapons systems is self-disruption. Whether one looks at the government budgets that are largely responsible for funding military technology, or the private enterprises competing for said funding, the central process taking place is a story of status quo leaders trying to adapt before they die.

    Autonomous weapons systems — military drones — aren’t the explanation for why this change is happening, but they are probably the most immediate single catalyst enabling the change. At 3DPrint.com and AM Research, we’re taking great efforts to make sure we stay on top of this constantly unfolding story, with a primary example of that being the UAS Additive Strategies: The Present and Future of Drone Manufacturing webinar taking place on June 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern, which you should register for now if you haven’t already done so.

    Drones for All Occasions

    One thing to point out about the webinar is that, given the need to balance time constraints with the objective of delivering the most valuable available information, the content will focus, more or less exclusively, on aerial drones. This is the first time we’ve done this webinar, so who knows if it’s just a one-off or the beginning of a regularly occurring event, but I would guarantee that, in any possible future versions of UAS Strategies, the ‘A’ will stand for ‘Autonomous’ rather than ‘Aerial’.

    That is, drones on land and at sea are already on their way to becoming just as significant as the drones we’re all most familiar with, the ones that fly. Indeed, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) recently asked for proposals (due midnight June 13) from companies capable of supplying uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) (drone boats) for the Indo-Pacific region. This is a perfectly logical result of the fact that Iran is relying in no small part on USVs in its gambit to control the Strait of Hormuz, although it’s worth pointing out that the DIU has been periodically asking for such proposals for years.

    There isn’t one single factor that’s pushing militaries more and more in the direction of drones: it is, perhaps, precisely that they simultaneously solve many different challenges involved in the logistics of contemporary combat, which accounts for the widespread shift towards autonomous systems. Ukraine, for instance, has shown that a nation can hold its own against a much larger, much more populous adversary by offsetting manpower disadvantages with drones. In a nation like the US, that same dynamic suggests that drones make far more sense than conventional weapons when facing a future where recruitment numbers will likely never be what they once were.

    From a production standpoint, meanwhile, the newfound credibility for low-cost systems validates the processes of companies with much smaller operational footprints than those maintained by traditional contractors. And, because this new class of smaller companies disproportionately leverages digital manufacturing techniques that facilitate profitability at a much lower scale of output than is historically the norm in the defense sector — at the same time as those techniques also imply the ability to pivot more seamlessly from one product mix to another — such companies allow governments to commit to readiness while taking on less financial risk than has previously been the case.

    Hyperion Systems CEO Joshua Wigley shows TitanCell. Image courtesy of Hyperion Systems

    This is why a company like Australia’s Hyperion Systems, which both makes and uses robotic arm 3D printing cells, can plausibly serve both the construction and maritime markets, among others. Hyperion just launched a USV called the Astra 460, made with recycled polymer. Another company in the Indo-Pacific, Voltage Materials of Hawaii, also just launched its own USV made from recycled polymer, specifically a material that has been validated by the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine — an institution that also possesses similar amounts of expertise in both maritime and construction.

    Construction and shipbuilding are two of the most capital-intensive industries, but now, with enough expertise, a robotic system that costs less than a supercar and a skeleton crew of engineers is a reasonable starting point for launching a single company that can supply both houses and military vessels. So ‘autonomy’ may, most concretely, refer to the weapons systems themselves. But, interestingly enough, that implies autonomy in another, equally important sense, as well: supply chain autonomy.

    3D printed boat. Image courtesy of Voltage

    Hormuz Today, Malacca Tomorrow

    In the post linked to in this post’s first sentence, I mentioned that, in April, Singapore’s foreign minister said what all global strategists had already been thinking, that Hormuz is “a dry run” for the Pacific, i.e., for potential conflict between the US and China over the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait. Obviously, this is why the US military is so concerned with the Indo-Pacific, even as the Pentagon is so rapidly depleting its hardware in Southwest Asia.

    Here, it’s important to remind everyone that the US weapons supply chain is still unable to exist without Chinese suppliers. Two striking figures in this regard are: 41 percent of semiconductors in US weapons systems come from China, and China is responsible for supplying 91 percent of critical minerals in the US Navy weapons supply chain. In terms of the topics most important to shaping US-Chinese relations, I would imagine that China’s position is something along the lines of, “You can buy Chinese hardware for your weapons, or you can support Taiwanese independence, but you can’t do both.”

    That’s probably somewhat of an oversimplification, but Pete Hegseth did sing a completely different tune on Taiwan at this year’s Shangri-La Conference than he did at last year’s. However, concerning the US position, I don’t think the idea is to just acquiesce to China, once and for all, but rather to tread lightly and maintain the status quo for as long as possible while the Pentagon builds up as many contingency plans as it can, with both US suppliers and those of American allies.

    Returning to Australia, this is why the southernmost locale in the Anglosphere is more important to the US than ever, and why it has to build up its own autonomy, both in the sense of its weapons systems, as well as in the sense of the production processes that churn out those weapons systems. Aurora Labs, another Australian company that is both a supplier and user of digital manufacturing hardware, just received a A$1,000,000 grant of matching funds from Australia’s Department of Defence, which will facilitate the company’s purchase of a metal 3D printer, part of the Australian government’s Sovereign Industrial Priorities Stream.

    AU2 Turbojet Engine. Image courtesy of Aurora Labs

    Aurora will use the printer for micro gas propulsion systems for interceptor drones, at the same time that the company has just entered into an agreement with MBDA, a joint venture between three of Europe’s largest aerospace contractors, Airbus, BAE Systems, and Leonardo. Fascinatingly, even though Aurora also makes its own metal 3D printer, it notes that it will use its own 3D printers for R&D and off-the-shelf systems for commercial production. The primary rationale is that this will allow Aurora to ensure complete IP protection, demonstrating the extent to which protection of industrial autonomy is being embedded into the next generation of defense tech.

    Minerals are Critical

    Finally, the obscure reality that all industrial autonomy ultimately rests on materials-processing capabilities looks poised to become less and less obscure as the emerging new world order continues to assert itself. That theme rose to the forefront once again in the last week or so with the announcement from US critical minerals supplier IperionX that fasteners made from the company’s titanium powders exceeded the strength of steel counterparts tested by US Army GVSC DEVCOM, the Pentagon’s primary hub for ground vehicle research.

    Earlier this year, I wrote about how American Rheinmetall ordered 700 prototypes from IperionX for US Army ground vehicle systems. It’s possible these aren’t the same components that were tested, but assuming they are, IperionX has demonstrated how you can actually make money off of having third parties validate your technology.

    In any case, the truly significant point is that the US Army appears to be making headway in securing domestic sources for critical minerals, sources that specifically design their products in alignment with circular economics. This is important not just for the US, but for allies like Japan, India, and, yes, Australia, the three other countries that, with the US, form the Quad Partnership, which at the end of May signed an agreement to cooperate on critical minerals supply chain development.

    Recycling is a central pillar of that agreement, which pledges to invest $20 billion in critical mineral security across the four nations over an undisclosed period. Eventually, I think we can expect that other nations will join in, too, specifically the EU nations, assuming the US and the EU are finally able to seal the deal on the trade agreement that’s been in the works for nearly a year now.

    Thus, the facts on the ground reveal that autonomy doesn’t mean every nation goes it alone, but rather that every nation needs to cultivate some sort of equilibrium between domestic resilience and reliable partnerships with other, domestically resilient nations. Automation as a force multiplier is the nucleus of this new governing philosophy, which stems from the need of all nations other than China to figure out how to work with China without being overly beholden to it. It’s not at all clear how all this will work out. One result I think we can anticipate, though, is that investors will be incentivized to throw as many things at the wall as they can to see what sticks, which tends to be a tailwind for the AM industry.

  • 3D Printing News Briefs, June 4, 2026: Anniversary, Maritime, Marine Organisms, & More

    In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, Snapmaker is celebrating 10 years with a series of updates. XJet is collaborating with eqops for sales and support across the UK and Ireland, Interspectral expanded its strategic collaboration with Pankl Racing, and Airtech is collaborating with Evergreen Additive. We’ll end with a story out of Princeton University about a multimaterial 3D printing approach for cement-based composites.

    Snapmaker Celebrating 10th Anniversary with Multiple Updates

    This month, Chinese desktop 3D printer OEM Snapmaker is celebrating its tenth anniversary. The company launched back in 2016 with a focus on making powerful manufacturing tools more accessible. To go along with its anniversary slogan of “Always Making,” Snapmaker announced a series of updates, covering software, community, materials, and new products. Last month, Radu, or “Ratdoux,” the developer behind the Full Spectrum color-mixing slicer for the Snapmaker U1 ecosystem, joined the company to help lead a multicolor 3D printing initiative. Building on this, Snapmaker Orca V2.3.3 Beta has introduced native Full Spectrum support, which will enable intermediate colors by alternating filament layers and visual blending. This is the first release to include this community-developed virtual color mixing technology, and the technology is now available directly in the slicer, which is available for download.

    Snapmaker’s User Model Design Contest and Video Contest, with the theme of “Make Something Colorful,” are now taking submissions through June 16th. Creators are asked to show what multi-color 3D printing is truly capable of, from artistic expression to functional design. Winners will be announced June 23rd. Next, the Snapmaker Model Library is under construction, but there will be a public launch later this year. Once it’s done, the repository will have high-quality models optimized for multi-color 3D printing. The company is also adding three new Hotend size to its accessories lineup—the Hardened Steel Hotend, in 0.2mm, 0.6mm, and 0.8mm, will give users more control over speed, throughput, and detail. Finally, Snapmaker is also offering four new filament options. TPU 95A HF is great for shock absorbers and phone cases, while PETG HF (High Flow) is a variant optimized for speed, while still offering strong layer adhesion and chemical resistance. Silk PLA and Silk Dual-Color PLA both feature a luminous finish for display and decorative prints. You can purchase these new offerings here.

    XJet & eqops Elevating Advanced AM in the UK & Ireland

    L-R: Mark Caseley and Alwyn Pryse from eqops, and Riccardo Tosi, Business Director at XJet

    As part of its broader international growth strategy, Israel-based XJet is collaborating with UK-based engineering consultancy eqops, which will represent XJet as a sales and support partner in the UK and Ireland. This will combine XJet’s NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ) technology with the deep AM expertise and well-established operational infrastructure that eqops has in Ireland and the UK. The eqops team is experienced in supporting AM operations across a multitude of high-performance industries, like electronics, aerospace and defense, energy, and medical devices. This makes eqops a great partner for XJet as it works to bring NPJ to a wider range of advanced manufacturers. The companies will work together to support manufacturing customers over the full lifecycle, from choosing a system and installing it all the way to process optimization, compliance, and long-term performance.

    “The UK and Ireland represent important and growing markets for XJet, and finding the right partner to represent our technology in those markets has been a priority. In eqops, we have found exactly that. Their combination of technical knowledge, hands-on additive manufacturing experience across hundreds of systems, and structured approach to customer support – spanning installation, optimisation, compliance, and long-term service – is precisely what our customers in the region need to succeed with NanoParticle Jetting,” said XJet’s Chief Business Officer Gilad Gans. “We are confident that eqops will be outstanding ambassadors for XJet, and we are very pleased to welcome them as our partner for the UK and Ireland.”

    Interspectral & Pankl Racing Systems Expanding Strategic Collaboration

    AM Explorer in action at Pankl facility

    In more collaboration news, Swedish tech company Interspectral AB and Pankl Racing Systems AG have expanded their existing strategic collaboration. Their multi-year partnership focuses on speeding up industrialization of metal AM through improved process monitoring, data-driven production workflows, and quality assurance (QA). Now, Pankl will act as a strategic development partner for Interspectral’s flagship AM Explorer software platform, as well as a reference customer. Pankl is a top supplier of high-performance systems and components for the aerospace, automotive, and motorsport industries, and will deploy AM Explorer further across its AM operations to support data integration, real-time monitoring, anomaly detection, and qualification workflows. It will also work with Interspectral to explore new capabilities in AI-driven defect detection, multi-source data correlation, and optical tomography analysis. The end goal is to make QA more production-ready, scalable, and reliable.

    “This collaboration is about helping make additive manufacturing a more reliable and scalable production technology,” said Isabelle Hachette, CEO at Interspectral. “As the industry moves from experimentation to industrial deployment, manufacturers need better ways to build trust into production. Working closely with Pankl allows us to develop those capabilities in a real manufacturing environment.”

    Airtech & Evergreen Collaborating in LFAM Supply Agreement for Maritime

    For our final collaboration announcement, Airtech Advanced Materials Group and Evergreen Additive have entered into an exclusive supply agreement. Family-owned and operated Airtech is a leader in specialty formulated AM materials, and actually acquired KIMYA’s filament portfolio last year. It works with a wide range of sectors, including aerospace, automotive, general composites, solar, and wind energy. Evergreen, based in Maine and officially founded last year, specializes in large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) for maritime applications in the commercial marine tooling and defense unmanned systems markets. The formal supply agreement between Airtech and Evergreen builds on several years of collaboration, and will focus on materials development for new and emerging marine and defense applications. Airtech will provide support to Evergreen in AM business opportunities and technical areas, while Evergreen will exclusively use Airtech products in its LFAM projects.

    “Airtech is excited to be able to support Evergreen from the very beginning and be a part of their journey taking what they learned in the lab and help them scale it to full commercial application solutions for use in everything from parts, tooling, or direct use structures and vehicles,” said Gregory Haye, Director of Additive Manufacturing at Airtech Advanced Materials Group. “We can’t wait to see what innovative materials combined with Evergreen’s experience and ingenuity will bring to the market over the coming years.”

    Researchers Inspired by Glass Sponge for Multimaterial 3D Printing Approach

    Alternating layers of concrete and thin polymer allow the new composite material to absorb energy without failure. Image by the researchers

    The problem with 3D printed cement-based materials like concrete is that they’re mostly brittle; if cracks form, they spread fast. A team of engineers at Princeton University developed a multimaterial 3D printing approach to fabricate cement-based composites that are more resistant to deformation and cracking. The researchers took their inspiration from Euplectella aspergillum, a deep-sea glass sponge, often called Venus’s flower basket. Its skeleton contains alternating hard and soft layers, and the soft ones will arrest and deflect any cracks that occur before they spread. Most concrete structures incorporate steel bars for reinforcement. The Princeton team took this a step further by using multimaterial 3D printing to engineer how concrete cracks; this new class of concrete is called Architected Cementitious Composites (ACC). Polymer layers in ACC structures act as thin, soft interlayers that stop, redirect, and redistribute the cracks, thus improving the ultimate load bearing capacity. The team programmed a custom 3D printer to place thin polymer layers within printed mortar. As they describe in a published paper, their 3D printed concrete-polymer composite can achieve up to 187-fold higher fracture toughness and 22.6-fold greater ductility than other cement-based materials.

    “This work broadens the design space for concrete 3D-printing technology as well. It shows that multi-material additive manufacturing can be used not only to shape better cementitious materials and how they fracture, deform, and resist damage, but also to engineer new functions such as thermal regulation and insulation that we could not easily attain otherwise,” explained team leader Reza Moini, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton.

  • 3Dnatives to Present ADDITIV Metals 2026: Resolving Key Barriers to Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing

    As the metal additive manufacturing sector prepares for a massive leap—with market valuations expected to climb from $6.02 billion to $7.02 billion this year—the industry is shifting its focus from basic feasibility to large-scale industrialization. Following a robust 2025 where metal AM revenues grew by 15.3% year-over-year (Wohlers Report), the upcoming ADDITIV Metals 2026 summit arrives at a critical juncture. Designed to address the primary bottlenecks preventing widespread adoption, the virtual event will feature high-level insights from pioneers at NASA, General Motors, MIT, and the U.S. Department of War.

    Scheduled for Wednesday, June 10th, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 12:40 PM EDT (4:00 PM to 6:40 PM CEST), this free-to-attend digital summit offers a concentrated program of three expert-led panels and interactive audience Q&As. To further accelerate industry collaboration, the event integrates AI-powered networking tools, allowing attendees to connect with peers facing similar scaling challenges in the metal AM ecosystem.

    “Metal AM has been ‘almost there’ for a decade. What’s changed in the last few years is that the conversation has shifted from ‘can it be done?’ to ‘why is it taking so long?’ ADDITIV Metals exists to accelerate that second conversation.” — Filippos Voulpiotis, Managing Director of 3Dnatives

    “We are at the point that we can now scale metal additive, but we need to understand the entire ecosystem. For users who are aiming to understand how metal additive technologies can be implemented as part of an entire ecosystem, ADDITIV Metals is a great opportunity.” — Gil Lavi, CEO and Founder of 3D Alliances, who is moderating Panel 2.

    What the Panels Cover

    Panel 1: Diverse Metal Roadmaps – When to Push LPBF and When to Pivot to Alternatives (4:10 PM to 4:55 PM CEST)

    As laser powder bed fusion matures into a production standard, a new generation of challenger technologies is reshaping the cost-per-part equation. This session addresses the strategic process selection decisions that engineering teams are facing right now. Speakers include Tim Smith (NASA), John Hart (MIT), and Ben Arnold (Tritone Technologies). The discussion will be moderated by Brent Stucker of Wohlers Associates.

    Panel 2: The Certification Trap – Can AI Kill the 2-Year Testing Cycle in Metal AM? (5:00 PM to 5:45 PM CEST)

    One of the greatest bottlenecks in metal AM in 2026 is not printing speed: it is the time required to prove a part will not fail in the field. This panel examines the move toward digital qualification frameworks and whether AI-driven approaches can accelerate certification cycles into something operationally viable. Gil Lavi of 3D Alliances will moderate the discussion, joined by speakers Sneha Prabha Narra (Carnegie Mellon University), Matthew Sermon (DRPM Submarines/DoW), and Sainyam Amarora (Johnson Matthey).

    Panel 3: The Hidden Majority – Is Post-Processing Still the Single Greatest Barrier to Metal AM ROI? (5:50 PM to 6:35 PM CEST)

    Despite the promise of push-button fabrication, the path from build plate to finished part remains a labor-intensive journey through support removal, heat treatment, and surface finishing. This panel examines whether post-processing is the last major unsolved problem in metal AM economics. Sherri Monroe of AMGTA will be the moderator, and Ante Lausic (General Motors), Manuel Delgado (ValCUN), and Matthew Bailey (Aerospace Technology Institute) are speakers.

    3D metal printer produces a steel part. Revolutionary additive technology for sintering metal parts. Soft focus.

    Who Should Attend: ADDITIV Metals 2026 is designed for process engineers, AM program managers, R&D directors, and manufacturing executives who are actively working with or evaluating metal additive manufacturing for production applications. If your organization is weighing LPBF against alternatives, managing qualification timelines, or trying to close the gap on post-processing costs, this program delivers expert-level insight in under three hours.

    Networking Built for the Industry: Beyond the panels, attendees gain access to AI-powered peer matching through the Swapcard platform, with the ability to schedule one-on-one meetings before and after sessions. The event is expected to draw over 800 registered attendees from across the global metal AM ecosystem.

    Partners and Sponsors: ADDITIV Metals 2026 is proudly supported by Tritone Technologies and ValCUN. Media partners include ASTM International, AMGTA, SPE, 3D Alliances, Wevolver, Metal AM Magazine, Manufacturing in Focus, Tooling and Production, Modern Applications News, IAM3DHUB, Manufacturing.net, Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, and 3DPrint.com.

    Registration: ADDITIV Metals 2026 is free to attend. Register now to secure your place.

    About 3Dnatives: 3Dnatives is the leading global media platform for additive manufacturing, delivering cutting-edge coverage of 3D printing technologies, applications, and market trends. With over 1.3 million monthly unique visitors, it serves as a critical resource for professionals across the industry. Published in English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian, 3Dnatives partners with major players in the ecosystem to provide high-value content, data-driven insights, and strategic visibility through multimedia, branded content, and virtual events.

    About ADDITIV: ADDITIV is a series of global virtual events dedicated to additive manufacturing, offering panel discussions, workshops and networking with AM experts from leading industrial companies & the most innovative firms in the field.

  • The Stories nScrypt Can’t Tell; and Why That Matters

    There’s an interesting dynamic inside nScrypt’s Orlando headquarters. The company is clearly working on advanced electronics systems for aerospace, defense, and other high-performance industries, but some of the most interesting work happening there is also the hardest to discuss publicly. There is simply too much that can’t be said.

    During 3DPrint.com’s visit to the facility, CEO Ken Church walked through the company’s technology, its history in additive electronics, and the challenge of talking publicly about work that often happens behind NDAs.

    “We have some customers out there — some really big names,” Church said. “The more relevant electronic things that we’ve done, we don’t get to talk about.”

    That level of secrecy is not uncommon in the industry. But in a field where so much attention is built around case studies, demonstrations, and public announcements, it can make it harder to see where the technology is actually gaining traction. Still, when advanced manufacturing methods provide a strategic advantage, the details often stay behind closed doors. Church explained that many of nScrypt’s customers operate in industries where even small manufacturing advantages matter. In some cases, simply revealing how a system is built, repaired, or integrated could expose capabilities that competitors are not supposed to see yet.

    “Our best stories, we don’t get to talk about,” Church said.

    A Different Kind of Visibility Problem

    One question keeps coming up around additive manufacturing: if the technology is moving forward so quickly, why does so much of it still feel hidden? Why do some areas still seem stuck in early adoption?

    At least in nScrypt’s case, part of the answer is that the work is definitely happening, but a lot of it is happening behind closed doors. In fact, much of the company’s work is in aerospace, defense, and other high-performance industries, where even small manufacturing advantages can matter.

    Church explained that many customers prefer to keep their use of the technology quiet, especially when it may provide an advantage over competitors. In industries like aerospace and defense, even small manufacturing or integration gains can be strategically important, making companies cautious about how much they publicly share.

    So the same factors that make additive electronics valuable, such as design flexibility, integration, and speed, also make it something companies would prefer not to advertise too early.

    3DPrint.com’s Vanesa Listek at nScrypt headquarters. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    Printing What You Can’t Replace

    Some of those projects are much bigger than small electronics. One of nScrypt’s largest systems can print electronics directly onto existing structures, Church explained.

    “The largest system we sell is 8 feet by 10 feet by 12 feet and weighs about 25,000 pounds,” he said. “At that scale, you’re obviously putting something large inside it, and we’re printing electronics directly onto that structure.”

    It’s a much bigger use of additive manufacturing than most people probably imagine, with electronics added directly to larger systems. But again, many of the specifics stay behind closed doors. For companies working on advanced aerospace or defense systems, even acknowledging how something is made can reveal too much.

    For nScrypt, that creates a tradeoff between secrecy and visibility. The company wants to protect its customers and keep sensitive projects private, but at the same time, it also has to show people what the technology is capable of.

    “We are very committed to our customers… we’re very dedicated to keeping what they want confidential. But while we’re doing that, we’re also trying to figure out how to tell our story.”

    It’s not an easy balance. In industries where visibility helps drive adoption, not being able to share real-world projects can make it harder to demonstrate progress. At the same time, the fact that companies are keeping so much of this work private says a lot. It suggests that additive electronics is moving beyond experimentation and becoming more important commercially and strategically.

    Where Real Demand Is Starting to Appear

    Church explains that despite decades of development, additive electronics is still in the early stages of broader adoption.

    “We’ve been pushing for 20 years,” he said. “We’re just now on the very front end of this pull. And that distinction [between pushing technology into the market and responding to real demand] is important. For much of its history, additive electronics has been driven by what it could do. Now, it is starting to be shaped by what customers actually need.”

    Luckily, some of that demand is already visible. The work nScrypt is doing with repair systems for the U.S. Army, for example, is one clear use case. Instead of waiting weeks or months for replacement parts or electronics, systems can be repaired much closer to where they are being used. Church also pointed to areas like conformal electronics, integrated systems, and rugged, field-deployable platforms, where “additive approaches can solve problems traditional manufacturing struggles with.”

    But beyond those examples, much of the company’s work remains hard to talk about publicly, especially in aerospace and defense environments where the stakes are higher. However, most major defense contractors have nScrypt equipment. And that, in itself, hints at a level of adoption that isn’t always shown in the public media.

    The Problem With Being Early

    Church describes the additive electronics market as something that has taken years to develop, “with long periods of limited traction followed by gradual progress.”

    “We are on the very front end of this pull,” he said. “That slow build has shaped how companies like ours operate. Early on, the challenge was simply getting customers to try the technology. Now, the challenge is different; it’s managing demand while continuing to refine the systems and processes behind it.”

    At the same time, the company has had to learn how to navigate industries that operate very differently from traditional manufacturing. Large customers, especially in aerospace and defense, bring their own high expectations for reliability, consistency, and performance, and Church recognized that working with those companies has pushed nScrypt to continuously improve its systems.

    “Those interactions,” he explained, “have helped shape the company’s technology into something better suited for high-consequence applications, where even small failures are not acceptable.”

    If there is one area Church seems especially focused on, it is advanced electronics packaging, particularly involving glass. The topic connects closely to the growing demands of AI and high-performance computing, where more processing power also means more heat, density, and complexity.

    “We are in the glass business here,” Church said. “We want people to know that, but right now we’re having a hard time telling that story.”

    Even this, though, is still only being discussed in broad terms. But, Church hinted that more may become visible soon.

    “2026 is going to be a glass-telling story,” he said.

    nScrypt headquarters. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    After visiting nScrypt, it becomes easier to understand why additive electronics can still feel somewhat hidden, even as the technology continues to advance and, in some cases, is already being used in demanding applications. But a lot of that work happens in industries where companies are careful about what they share publicly.

    For nScrypt, that is simply part of working in aerospace, defense, and other high-performance sectors, where reliability and performance matter more than publicity.

    What is clear from my conversations with Church is that much of the progress in additive electronics is happening gradually, often behind the scenes, and long before it becomes widely visible.

  • AMPulse Asia: Creality IPO Headlines APAC 3D Printing Market Roundup

    Asia’s additive manufacturing sector spent the back half of May moving capital and capacity, not just demos. Chinese desktop and consumer printer makers pushed onto public markets, metal powder producers broke ground on new lines, and Korean defense and medical programs advanced toward serial production. Here is what happened across the region from May 18 to May 31, 2026.

    Key Takeaways

    • Coverage window: May 18 – May 31, 2026. About two dozen distinct AM-relevant announcements across seven Asia-Pacific markets (China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, India, Taiwan, and Singapore).
    • Largest disclosures: Creality (HKEX: 3388) listed in Hong Kong and raised about HK$1.27 billion in a 3,829-times oversubscribed IPO; HeyGears closed a $44 million Series C; Shenzhen Gongda Laser closed a Series C of several hundred million yuan for green-laser metal AM; Agnikul Cosmos fired a cluster of four 3D printed semi-cryogenic engines.
    • Regional themes: Chinese capital markets and metal AM capacity, Korean defense and medical AM moving toward serial production, and footwear emerging as a recurring Chinese AM application.

    Funding and Investment

    Creality completed the period’s largest capital event. The Shenzhen consumer printer maker listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on May 29 under stock code 3388, raising net proceeds of about HK$1.27 billion (roughly $162 million). The public offer was 3,829 times oversubscribed. The stock opened at HK$33.88, about 80 percent above its HK$18.80 offer price, before closing its first day up about 21 percent. It is the first consumer 3D printing company to list on the Hong Kong exchange.

    Creality goes public. Image courtesy of Creality.

    HeyGears raised a $44 million Series C, more than 300 million yuan, led by Legend Capital and Fortune Ventures. The Guangzhou firm, known for dental and jewelry resin systems, said it will use the funding to move into the consumer resin market, with a full-color system planned for the third quarter of 2026. About 70 percent of its revenue now comes from materials rather than printer sales.

    Sunlu Technology, the FDM filament producer, is moving from China’s New Third Board (NEEQ) toward a ChiNext IPO to fund a capacity expansion. Its IPO guidance was filed through sponsor Orient Securities; the filing did not disclose a specific investment figure.

    Shenzhen Gongda Laser closed a Series C of several hundred million yuan to expand green-laser metal AM. Through its Xihe (希禾增材) subsidiary, which has more than 100 systems deployed today, the company plans to scale to 1,000 systems over the next three years, targeting copper thermal-management parts for AI compute hardware.

    Hardware and Materials

    Shenzhen Gongda Laser closed a Series C of several hundred million yuan for green-laser metal AM.

    Chinese metal AM specialists pushed on powder and systems. Tiangong International, the Jiangsu special-steel maker, is scaling up plasma-atomized titanium alloy powder toward a stated 3,000-tonne-per-year target through its Tiangong Titanium Crystal joint venture, with the first production phase already underway.

    Japan’s DAIHEN entered the metal printing business with ArcBuilder3D, a large-format wire-arc additive manufacturing system for structures such as ship propellers and rocket nozzles. The company said the wire-arc process cuts production cost to less than half that of powder-based methods, priced the system at 75 million yen, opened orders on May 29, and set a first-year sales target of 20 units.

    In Taiwan, Phrozen previewed the Sonic Mighty Revo 16K MAX, a large-format resin printer with a 14-inch 16K LCD, dual-zone heating, and an AI-monitoring camera. Shining 3D launched the OptimScan Q12 HD metrology scanner, rated at up to 0.004 mm accuracy.

    Hanbang Laser, under its HBD brand, partnered with Hebei Hanglun, the titanium-bike maker behind Hi-Light, to produce 3D printed titanium alloy bicycle frames on its HBD P400 systems, which were shown at TCT Asia 2026. Tuobao Additive (拓宝增材) opened a base in Zhejiang’s Qingshanhu Science and Technology City and said a single machine had run more than 500 hours of continuous LPBF printing using fully domestic core components. Unionfab extended its metal printing service to the United States, Canada, and Germany, pairing multi-laser SLM systems with an AI-driven process platform that it says cuts low-volume metal lead times from 30 days to as little as five.

    Aerospace and Defense

    Agnikul Cosmos fired a cluster of four 3D printed semi-cryogenic engines, a first for India.

    In Korea, DN Solutions contracted to supply its AM2CNC platform, which pairs metal LPBF with precision CNC post-processing, to defense components maker LDAS in Icheon to support prototype and serial production of precision firearm and defense parts.

    LinkSolution showed a mobile AM Fab system, a vibration-isolated container built around its EP-500 printer for field production of drone frames and discontinued spare parts; it was demonstrated with a Korean army infantry division earlier this spring. The EP-500, a PEEK-capable polymer FFF printer, carries a South Korean defense ministry “excellent commercial product” trial-use recommendation, supporting priority procurement.

    In India, Agnikul Cosmos fired a cluster of four 3D printed Agnilet semi-cryogenic engines, a test the company described as a first for India. The firing synchronized eight pumps, eight motors, and eight speed-control algorithms, validating multi-engine control for the reusable booster stage of its Agnibaan launch vehicle.

    Medical and Bioprinting

    Rokit Healthcare reported preclinical results from a kidney regeneration study with researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, led by KIM-1 discoverer Joseph Bonventre. The omentum-based patch preserved or regenerated kidney function in 62.5 percent of subjects, reduced the area of renal fibrosis by 50.4 percent, and lowered the KIM-1 kidney injury marker by 42.5 percent. A domestic pilot clinical trial in CKD stage 3 to 4 patients is planned for the second half of 2026.

    T&R Biofab joined a 13 billion-won national project led by POSTECH and a 9.5 billion-won government-funded project to develop an AI bioink platform aimed at reducing batch variability for organ-specific bioprinting. Japan’s Instalimb took a J-KISS investment from Orthomos Investment, part of the Orthomos Group, and signed a basic agreement with the group company Alcare to explore co-developing 3D printed prosthetic sockets and orthotics.

    Graphy and KAIST published a study on a functionalized (acetylated) cellulose-nanocrystal-reinforced vat-photopolymerization resin, reporting up to a 173 percent increase in tensile strength at low filler loading for elastomeric medical-grade materials. In Singapore, Castomize commercialized a 4D-printed orthopedic cast and brace that uses a heat-moldable, skin-safe smart polymer in place of plaster, with regulatory clearance in Singapore and several other Asia-Pacific markets.

    Footwear and Consumer

    Kiprun KIPNEXT running shoe with an HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D printed midsole.

    Resin and powder footwear scaled up in China. TPM3D, also known by its Chinese name Yingpu (盈普), advanced an SLS PEBA process for mass footwear production and said its SLS PEBA shoes passed a 200,000-cycle dynamic-flex durability milestone without irreversible deformation. Kiprun, Decathlon’s running brand, entered the market with the KIPNEXT 3D running shoe, using an HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D printed midsole, claiming 75 percent energy return, and priced at HK$1,949 (about $250) in a limited release in China.

    Bambu Lab expanded retail distribution, placing its 3D printers in 64 Sam’s Club stores across China, and teased its A2L “Extra Large” model, which it revealed on June 1 with a 330 x 320 x 325 mm build volume.

    Construction

    In Japan, V3D Asia and Nakazawa Construction (中澤建設) ran a field trial of a gantry-type construction 3D printer in Unnan City, Shimane Prefecture, using locally sourced concrete and mortar; the company called it its first deployment in Japan. In India, Tvasta and 14Trees, the Amazon- and Holcim-backed venture, launched the Cedar construction 3D printer, whose AI companion is trained on thousands of mix combinations to optimize locally available material mixes.

    What to Watch

    • Chinese metal powder capacity is expanding on multiple fronts at once, from BLT’s jump toward 3,000 tonnes per year to Tiangong’s 300- to 3,000-tonne titanium ramp and Beifeng’s copper powder. Whether that capacity meets demand or outpaces it will show up in pricing over the next few quarters.
    • Korea’s defense AM programs have moved from research centers to stated mass-production targets. The open question is whether the Pangyo and Daejeon centers reach serial output and, if so, at what point it counts.
    • Creality’s debut sets a public-market benchmark for Chinese consumer AM. Where its proceeds and HeyGears’ fresh capital go, R&D versus overseas expansion, will signal how the segment reads its next growth phase.
    • Footwear is becoming a recurring AM application in China, with PEBA powder processes from multiple suppliers. The test is durability and cost at retail scale.

     

    Prepared by AMPulse | www.ampulse.online

     

     

     

     

  • The Longevity Gold Rush Could Become a Major Opportunity for Bioprinting

    Longevity has suddenly become one of the hottest areas in technology and healthcare. Billionaires, pharmaceutical companies, AI startups, and venture capital firms are pouring billions into the idea that humans may one day live not just longer, but healthier lives. And as the race to live to 120 heats up, one field may be the unexpected winner: bioprinting.

    Indeed, hidden inside that push to live longer and better lives is one of the most ambitious goals in modern medicine: using bioprinting to create human tissues, regenerative implants, blood vessels, and, eventually, fully functional organs.

    But let’s not get ahead of ourselves quite yet. Fully printed human organs remain a distant goal. Several startups have struggled to scale. Others have shifted focus toward tissue models, drug testing, or regenerative implants instead of the more irresistible science-fiction visions of replacement hearts and kidneys. But now, a much bigger trend may be changing the picture.

    Longevity.

  • Flashforge Unleashes Wax 3D Printer

    Flashforge has released a wax 3D printer. Wax printing was pioneered by Solidscape, a company acquired by Stratasys and later sold to Prodways before being shuttered in 2024. That firm’s wax jetting process lets you make wax patterns without changing anything to your forging and casting setup. Cost-effective and comparatively easy to use, these systems were used by jewelry artisans and in production. For many years, low-cost vat polymerization systems with cashable resins have expanded their market share. These systems have displaced larger DLP systems, such as Envisiontec’s Perfunctory line, and are increasingly displacing mid-range DLP and SLA systems as well.

    Meanwhile, for the design-oriented, Formlabs has a solution for you as well. All in all, this segment is a lively one, with competition ranging from $180 vat polymerization systems to $300,000 large units. Deskside, in the factory, in your shop, someone will have a solution for you.

    Parts made with Flashforge’s wax 3D printer. Image courtesy of Flashforge.

    Also in this segment: filament printing, vat polymerization, and material jetting compete head-on. What’s more, there are multiple technology options, with you being able to burn out a regular polymer, for example, or a wax filament for material extrusion. For very detailed parts, a client can choose from an entry-level vat polymerization system, between DLP and SLA in all its variants, technologies such as Axtra3D, dedicated wax production units using material jetting, and now desktop wax printing from Flashforge. Ash-free burnout may make you look to wax, while workflow, cost, and machine size may make you look elsewhere depending on the part and part size.

    This release is a smart move by the company, as an optimized printer here could serve many jewelry stores, jewelry artisans, people new to jewelry, and even people making small metal casting parts for industrial use. Lost wax casting is a cost-effective method for producing jewelry and metal parts, generally in many materials. And in a small casting setup, this process can help you make strong, durable parts for many mechanical uses. This kind of move by Flashforge could really build out their presence in a great long-term niche.

    Flashforge wax 3D printer. Image courtesy of Flashforge.

    The WJ51C is an 865×510×654 mm printer with a 235×138×100mm build volume that uses material jetting (MultiJet Printing). The 2900 × 2900 × 1700 DPI head has 2080 jets. The thinnest layer is 15 microns, and the firm says it can achieve a dimensional accuracy of ±0.04mm. It takes Flashforge’s own wax material and wax support, which come in blocks. I’m not sure if you can just pop other regular wax in here, but I’m sure that people will try. The idea behind wax blocks is that, rather than using large tanks of wax, individual blocks can be used for smaller print runs. The wax costs around 46 cents per gram, while the support costs 18 cents per gram. The support is dissolved with a solvent. The printer weighs 115 kg, so get a good desk. The company says the prints are very smooth, which is important for jewelry firms, as it saves them time and work later. The printer has camera monitoring in the build chamber. Flashforge isn’t releasing the printer’s cost, but a US distributor is offering it for $768 per month for 60 months, which would bring the total to around $35,000?

    The company says that the printer has been made for continuous operation and could consume up to 4 kilos of wax a month. This is an exciting solution for large jewelry shops that do a lot of custom work. For an individual, jewelry is pricey; they might opt for a Formlabs setup, which will be messier and require more work, with a higher cost per part. But with a lower initial investment, this may be much more palatable for them; the investment may be 8 times lower or higher. But, for some volume and in working with a few designers or jewelers, the WJ51C could be a very cost-effective solution indeed.

    I was secretly hoping for something even more affordable and smaller. If Flashforge kept the costs of wax, support, solvent, and the jetting head low, they could really grow in the large market of jewelry professionals. With gold prices expected to stay high and marriage on the decline, jewelry professionals will have to get creative in their business models, markets, and offerings, as well as their jewels. But, with industrial diamonds becoming increasingly popular among young people, there is also more room in budgets for more experimentation. Jewelers should do more to make creative, fun experiences around jewelry design. How about a romantic game where the two of you are separated and asked questions about each other, and a jewel emerges from that? Or a bachelorette party jewelry experience where you design a commemorative piece for the whole gang? Custom cufflinks for the boys, meanwhile, or a piece commemorating both your mothers. For friend groups or couples, jewelry stores could do more to make the experience fun, engaging, and memorable. The WJ51C could play a huge part in this kind of more emotive jewelry creation movement. Will it happen? What do you think?