Formlabs Unveils Form 4: A Game-Changer in 3D Printing

Formlabs, a leader in 3D printing innovation, has launched the Form 4, their 4th generation desktop resin 3D printer. This new model promises to enhance efficiency and productivity with superior print quality, user-friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. The announcement was made at a press conference in Pune on May 15, 2024, attended by officials from Formlabs and Imaginarium, who demonstrated the Form 4’s capabilities, particularly for the healthcare sector.

The Form 4 sets a new benchmark in additive manufacturing with its proprietary Low Force Display™ (LFD) printer engine, an expanded materials library, automated post-processing, and an intuitive user interface. The printer boasts speeds 2 to 5 times faster than the Form 3+, making it ideal for rapid prototyping and batch production using mSLA (stereolithography) technology. With vertical print speeds up to 100 mm per hour, most products can be produced in under two hours, and smaller parts in mere minutes.

Reliability and cost-efficiency are key highlights of the Form 4. It features long-lasting material tanks and light processing units, 40% lower resin costs, a 30% larger print volume, and 3.5 times higher throughput, resulting in up to 40% savings per part. Precision heating, force detection, and foreign object detection ensure the industry’s highest print success rate.

Formlabs’ extensive materials library now includes four newly reformulated general-purpose resins that print significantly faster, a fast model resin for rapid prototyping and orthodontic models, and an accurate dental resin. Additionally, six new precision resins have been introduced. The Form 4 is also compatible with over 17 performance materials from Formlabs’ library, with new materials being added regularly. The Form 4B variant supports 15 biocompatible materials, fostering innovation in dental and medical fields.

Ramnish Sharma of Formlabs expressed excitement at the launch, stating, “With insights from manufacturing over 130,000 printers and 300 million parts, we are thrilled to introduce the Form 4, the best SLA printer on the market, to India. Its stability and unprecedented speed will revolutionize product development across various industries.”

Original source MMI