Tested: A few months ago, we previewed the new Formlabs Form 2 SLA resin 3D printer, which on paper looked to be an improvement on the Form 1+ printer in every way. Since then, Formlabs supplied us with a review unit to evaluate those improvements in long-term testing. The upshot is that the Form 2 lives up to its promises--it's an amazing 3D printer. But you should read our extended review before you go out and buy one.
2 comments:
This was a very thorough breakdown of this new desktop 3D printer and the printer seems really amazing. 3D technology has advanced so far so quickly. The fact that you can get such clear resolution in the objects by laying thin, thin strips of plastic down still blows my mind. Our school’s printer is really good, but even with it you get the striations of the layers. With this printer, from what I can see, the striations are virtually invisible. What I have a question about is the support material not breaking off well. I assumed they used the same kind of support material that our printer uses- how it’s a soluble material that you can essentially wash away, with this one it seems like you have to break them off because it’s all the same plastic.
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just watched the video at the bottom and if I'm understanding this right, the printer uses a laser to heat up resin and solidify it essentially building it from the top down by lifting the project up between layers and adding more material from the bottom. This printer just got a lot cooler and mind boggling than I originally thought.
This looks like a really cool 3d printer. We are really starting to get to the point where 3d printers don’t need to get more detailed, the improvements that are most needed stem from simplicity cost and speed. Specifically they need to become better consumer products to be better. The birth of 3d printing hasn’t quite revolutionized the world yet but who knows what could happen in ten years when a printer like this one is able to print hard plastic models in half the time and for much cheaper. I really hope 3d printing does really reach the mainstream soon but it will have to come in a reliable form and at a price point less than 10% of the cost of this printer for truly mass adoption to occur. Maybe that is going to take an established company like google or apple to invest the capital to get these costs down or maybe it will occur naturally over time. Either way I’m excited.
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