Metal printing capability added to industrial 3D printer

Markforged Holding Corp. has introduced the FX10 Metal Kit, a print engine that allows the FX10 industrial 3D printer to print both metal filaments and composites with continuous fiber reinforcement.

The company has announced a new 316L stainless steel metal filament to be used with the kit. Users also will be able to print in 17-4PH with additional support for other metal filaments in the future.

The kit comprises a swappable print engine that includes a metal-specific print head, material feed tubes, routing back, and dual pre-extruders. The machine can be swapped between metal and composite as many times as needed, and the changeover takes about 15 minutes.

According to the company, the second-generation metal FFF engine prints significantly faster than its previous metal systems, and the machine’s print volume is twice as large as the company’s previous industrial metal printers.

Metal prints are built from the metal filament and a ceramic release filament. The ceramic release is extruded as an interface between the part and supports for simple separation and removal.