3D Metal Printer Offers Increased Volume Output

Primarily designed for manufacturing metal parts used in industries such as mining, automotive and energy, the M-Flex 3D printing system from ExOne is said to offer increased volume output over other machines. The company says additional material sets that will eventually be able to be printed on the machine include tungsten, glass, ceramics and a variety of materials used in the casting industry.

The M-Flex uses a print head to distribute binder into beds of specially prepared and formulated materials. It features a 400 × 250 × 250-mm build chamber that can achieve build speeds of 30 seconds per layer, compared with previous build speeds of approximately 1 1/2 minutes per layer. It is well suited for prototypes or short runs of multiple and/or custom parts. The complete machine system includes a printer, recycling equipment, printing materials, a furnace and a comprehensive multimedia training program.