A new experimental Ceramic Resin is a now available for the Form 2 from Formlabs, making ceramic 3D printing the most affordable and accessible it has ever been for engineers and designers.
Stereolithography specialists Formlabs have announced the availability of a special new material for their Form 2 desktop 3D printer. Their experimental Ceramic Resin makes 3D printed ceramics accessible for the first time outside of expensive industrial machines and high-tech research labs.
With this resin, makers can fabricate objects with a stone-like finish and fire them to create a fully ceramic piece. Potential applications for the material are not just engineering research, but also distinctive art and design pieces.
Important to note, however, is that the experimental Ceramic Resin sits in the “Form X” product class. The means this material is more difficult to work with than other products in the Formlabs ecosystem. It will require extra steps, additional experimentation, and a whole lot of patience for successful printing.
Check out the tongue-in-cheek launch video below, which leans hard on 1980s retro-futurism to pitch their product. The gold-plated digital wristwatch is a nice touch.
What’s the Big Deal about Experimental Ceramic Resin?
Looking beyond traditional pottery, ceramics have the advantage of mechanical properties like high heat resistance and electrical conductivity. This makes alumina ceramics a common choice for electronics components like insulators, resistors, and semiconductors.
But did you know that an entire branch of NASA is devoted to ceramics research? They’re developing materials like Nextel fabric, an advanced ceramic that resists fire penetration and keeps satellites from getting smashed to pieces, and GRABER, a ceramic-filled adhesive used to repair small cracks in space. Moreover, the US military is using ceramic materials to design lightweight armor.
So there’s clearly a big opportunity for ceramic 3D printing. But current solutions are prohibitively expensive, with machines costing upwards of $100,000 (according to Formlabs).
With their Ceramic Resin, Formlabs has made the process the most affordable and accessible it has ever been, enabling more engineers and designers to bring rapid iteration with ceramics in-house.
The experimental Ceramic Resin is available now in North America and Europe. Visit here for further information on pricing and usage guidelines.
Source: Formlabs
Website: LINK
