Fastest 3d printers

A good print speed really depends on what you’re using your printer for, and it’s all about personal preference.

For a recreational printer that you’re just using for fun, realistically nothing’s wrong with 1 mm/s – it’s just going to take a lot of patience.

3D printer manufacturers know that we aren’t patient, so they upped that number a lot.

As you look around the market, you’ll find that a lot of commercial printers can hit 40-60 mm/s comfortably.

For a little more money, you can hit 100 mm/s on a commercial printer. The higher-end units will run around 150 mm/s.

Manufacturers suggest running at 60% of the max speed so you get a higher quality. 

But how is quality related to speed?

Speed and quality seem to be related in every industry – if your mechanic is the fastest in the world, you’re going to be sitting on the side of the road a lot.

3D printers are the same in this sense, but for a technical reason.

The actual speed of a printer moving in a straight line doesn’t affect the print a ton. It’s the change in speed that does.

When you’re in a car and you stomp on the gas or brake pedal hard, your body will lurch. When a 3D printer suddenly accelerates or slows down, the same thing happens.

When the 3D printer lurches, the print quality suffers. You’ll get stringers, wobbly sections, fuzzy exterior walls, and an inconsistent build.

A ton of effort has to go into ramping the printer up to speed and decelerating it without hurting the print.

There are other reasons why the speed can hurt the quality of print.

Don’t let this list fool you, a majority of printers on the market are painstakingly slow in comparison.

So what slows down 3D printers? Why can’t ever printer churn out speeds like the WASP or the HP Jet Fusion 5200?

Let’s look at the answer in terms of FDM printers.

If you recall, FDM printers work by laying down hot plastic from an extruder head that moves on a 3-axis setup, driven by tiny motors. Every step of this process limits how fast you can print

The first thing that limits how fast you print is how long it takes the hot plastic to cool.

Since you’re building on top of previous layers, the first layer has to be solidified enough before adding the second layer.

Imagine you’re painting a wall, but you don’t wait for the primer to dry before applying the first coat of paint. The result is similar to 3D printers.

The layers will drag, deform, and might get caught on the extruder nozzle. In other words, your final print will be unrecognizable.

If you want a 3D printer to be small, quiet, and inexpensive, you need tiny motors to run the operation.

• Check out our review of the smallest 3D printers here

This is fine because the extruder isn’t heavy either, so you don’t need a lot of power.

If you want the printer to move faster, you need bigger, heavier, stronger motors. This would call for a complete redesign of how 3D printers look, and the added weight would be a huge problem.

The tiny motors are another limiting factor to the speed.

The 3-axis setup (or gantry) is the final big hurdle.

It’s tough to understand how this limits speed without a deep explanation, but it works for the same reason that trains run on a single track.

Single-axis motion is really easy to speed up and predict the outcome. When you add the y- and z-axes, things become more unpredictable, and more vibration affects the process.

Your 3D printer relies on predictability and few vibrations. That’s the secret sauce to get good quality on your final print.

That’s why the printers have to take it slow on a 3-axis gantry, so the final prints turn out good.

Let’s see what can be done to make 3D printing faster.

3D printers can be faster by getting rid of the limiting factors described above.

• Get rid of the jerk associated with quickly getting up to speed and slowing down.
• Use materials that cool a lot quicker or don’t require cooling.
• Step away from the tiny motors used to drive 3-axis printers.
• Lastly, get rid of the 3-axis setup altogether.

The way printing companies achieve this is by getting away from FDM altogether. They’ll opt for SLA, GDP, or MJF technologies which eliminate one or all of these limiting factors for speed.

Unfortunately, the way to make a 3D printer faster is to get away from FDM printers and move to another technology of printer.

If you want to print quickly, there aren’t a lot of printers that can do so without hurting the final print quality. This shortlist of printers can manage to do it successfully, but it comes at a price.

You’ll be shelling out more cash and potentially getting a smaller build volume. You have to consider which is the most important for your application and go from there.

When it comes to true speed, the printers on this list stand in a league of their own.

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Pat Nathaniel

Pat is the editor-in-chief at Printing Atoms. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida and wants to spread the word on 3D printing. When he's not writing, he likes to tinker with his Ender 3 Pro, test filament brands, and scuba dive.

Fastest SLA 3D Printer - SLASH 3D Printer

Description

Fastest 3D Printer

The SLASH 3D printer is a novelty that has shaken up the 3D printing market. What is special about this device? Quite simply, this is the fastest SLA 3D printer available today. Let's list its features:

High speed printing . Just imagine, this desktop 3D printer allows you to create products at a speed of up to 200 mm/hour;

High print precision . The fastest 3D printer SLASH did not let us down with the accuracy of 3D printing. The minimum available layer thickness is 10 microns, which not all professional devices can boast of;

Large plot area . This 3D printer is also distinguished by a large build area for equipment of its class - as much as 192x120x200 mm. This is not just enough, it is more than enough even for non-standard tasks;

Powerful software . Specialized software turns the fastest 3D printer into one of the most functional 3D printers due to numerous flexible 3D printing settings;

Large selection of materials available . Manufacturers have developed a range of specialized photopolymers to work with the fastest 3D printers. With them, each user will be able to realize any ideas.

SLASH 9 3D printer0003

SLASH 3D printers are a revolutionary development of UNIZ in the field of 3D printing, which uses stereolithography technology to build objects from photopolymer resin. As a polymerization factor, the printer uses light from the LED array and the LCD module that forms the layer mask. Incredible print speed in the printers of this series became possible due to the implementation by the company's engineers of a unique cooling system for the print area. The construction zone is cooled using a special liquid module - a heat exchanger. To fully exploit the unique capabilities of SLASH and SLAH+ printers, UNIZ has developed a series of unified photopolymer formulations. The SLASH model, thanks to its patented technological innovations, has reduced the cost of printing equipment to the level of 3D printers using FDM technology, and even surpassed them in terms of the speed of building objects.

Features:

• The relatively low price of this series of printers is comparable to FDM printing equipment.
• The use of a unique combination of LED array and LCD module provides a faster build speed than FDM printers and the quality inherent in stereolithography.
• Unique resin cartridge system for economical resin usage and easy storage.
• Steel-reinforced frame to ensure the build area is dimensionally stable and prevents the device from deforming, which could affect print quality.

SLASH 3D printer

Specifications

3D printing technology	LCD Stereolithography
Construction area	192 x 120 x 200 mm
XY Resolution	75 micron, WQXGA [2560 × 1600]
Precision	50 micron
Layer thickness (Z-axis)	10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 300 micron (adjustable)
3D printing speed	Up to 200 mm/h Up to 1000 cm 3 /h
Resin level control	Automatic
Assembly	Fully enclosed body, adjustable build platform
Optical system	Blue LED array (5000 Lux blue LED array) Liquid cooling
3D printer bath cover	Original polymer coating, up to 100 times stronger than PDMS
Operating temperature	18-28°C
Interface	USB, WiFi, Ethernet
System requirements	Windows 7 sp1 or higher (64-bit only), Mac OS X 10. 7 or higher (64-bit only), 2 GB RAM, OpenGL 2.1
Compatible formats	STL, OBJ, UNIZ
Compatible systems	iPhone, iPad, Android phone
Power supply	100-240V, 3A @ 50/60Hz, 240W
Dimensions	350 x 400 x 530 mm
Weight	12 kg
Warranty	1 year

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8 nuances worth paying attention to

Sooner or later, everyone will learn about 3D printing. And only a few lucky people, imbued with the opportunities that 3D printing opens up, catch themselves thinking that they want to purchase a 3D printer. The desire gradually develops into a serious decision and the search for the right option begins. And here the potential buyer is faced with the fact that he does not fully understand what to choose among the whole variety of 3D printers. We will try to answer this question in as much detail as possible. What to look for, and how to make a choice? We want to offer a small checklist of the nuances that you need to pay attention to when choosing a 3D printer. You need to decide for yourself for what tasks you will use this technique? What features should a 3D printer have to solve your problems?

The first step is to decide on the technology of 3D printing. There are two main paths here. If you are faced with the task of manufacturing high-precision and miniature products, such as jewelry, then 3D printers using SLA or DLP technology are suitable for you. Such printers are specially designed for the manufacture of high-precision models. 3D printing in these printers occurs using a laser beam that illuminates the photopolymer resin. Hence the accuracy of the models. Prominent representatives of this segment: Form 2 3D printer or B9 3D printercreator If you are faced with a wider range of tasks, and functionality, part size, and low manufacturing cost are more important, then an FDM printer will suit you. 3D printing on this equipment involves layer-by-layer melting of plastic. If according to SLA printers everything is clear. The scope of their application is jewelry, dentistry, high-precision prototypes of small parts. Then we will dwell on FDM printers in more detail. There is a lot more variety of different options for implementing printers.

Of course, you always want to get all the best and with maximum opportunities. Do you need all this to solve your current problems? What can be cited as an example? For example, the size of the working area of ​​the FDM 3D printer. There are printers on the market with a large print area (1m x 1m x 1m), and with a very small one (100mm x 100mm x100mm). But for most tasks, a certain standard has already developed. This is the printable area within 200 x 200 x 200 mm. With slight fluctuations in size in one direction or another. Most 3D printers have exactly this size of the working area. This volume is enough to solve 95% of any tasks. But options are possible ... If you plan to manufacture small parts, then a smaller size will probably be enough for you. But if your work will be related to manufacturing, for example, a master model for casting, or large prototypes, then only then it makes sense to pay attention to a printer with a large print area. In other cases, the size of the print area larger than the standard is nothing more than a nice bonus. But as they say, you have to pay for everything. Therefore, most often it makes sense to focus on the “standard” print area. And even if the part you need to print is larger than the working area of ​​your 3D printer, you can always cut it in a special editor, and then print 2 parts of the model and glue them together.

You should decide for yourself how complex models you will print on a 3D printer. If you plan to manufacture complex prototypes, or complex art models, then you need a 3D printer that can print with two materials. This is necessary so that your printer can print supports from soluble material. If the models are not the most complex, then you can get by with one extruder and save the budget. A complex model is a model with a large number of elements suspended in the air, or a model whose elements have angles of more than 30 degrees.

Another important point. You must immediately determine for yourself a list of possible materials with which you are going to print. This primarily applies to materials with a high degree of shrinkage, such as ABS and Nylon. In order to print with such materials, a heated table is clearly required in a 3D printer. And it is very desirable to have a closed case to provide a thermal circuit around the model. If you plan to print only with PLA plastic. You don't need a heated table. But still it is better that the printer has a heated table. Now the difference in the cost of printers with a heated table is practically the same as the cost without it. But you get a universal solution with which you can perform the full range of tasks facing a 3D printer. One more moment. Ability to print with flexible materials Quite a number of 3D printers face the problem of printing with flexible materials. Of course, printing with various Flexes and Rubbers is very interesting at first glance. But the use of these materials in life is not very common. Usually, for most people, this happens like this: A couple of models are printed, and the understanding comes that this is not a fast and rather complicated process. And this is where the acquaintance with flexible materials ends. Therefore, it makes sense to demand such an opportunity from the printer if printing with such materials is very necessary.

Next, you need to pay attention to the design of the 3D printer. Even if you are not a great specialist in technology, you can immediately see that some printers have an open design. And others are closed. As they like to be called in the Russian-speaking community "cubes". What does the appearance say? Printers with an open design, usually have kinematics with a horizontally moving table (based on Prusa 3D printers). This kinematics has some inherent flaws. Such as, not the highest print speed and possible print quality problems associated with the complexity of the settings. First of all, this is the so-called wobble. Also, the lack of a closed case can cause print quality problems with high shrinkage plastics (ABS, Nylon). The main advantage of printers of this design is their price. It is usually lower. But as you know, you have to pay for everything. In this case, the worst performance. The so-called "cubes" today, is the main design, which is represented by leading manufacturers on the market. Such printers are built according to the lifting table scheme. And they lack most of the shortcomings that are inherent in printers from the previous group. “Cubes” usually have a closed body, which allows the highest quality printing with plastics with a high degree of shrinkage. Closed case printers are more rigid. This results in better quality printing. The kinematics of moving the print head is represented by various designs. They have their pros and cons. But most of them have advantages over moving table printer circuits.

Most 3D printers on the market come with 0. 3-0.4mm nozzles. This is enough to solve the vast majority of tasks facing a 3D printer. Some of the printers have the ability to install a nozzle of a different diameter, others do not. As we wrote above, the need to print with nozzles with a diameter other than 0.3-0.4 mm arises very infrequently. This mainly concerns, or personal experiments, or some very specific tasks. If you do not plan to do this, then this opportunity is not so necessary. What do we mean by specific tasks? This is especially true for printing large items, where it is very important to reduce the printing time. This can be achieved by using large diameter nozzles. For example, with a diameter of 0.6-0.8 mm, or even a diameter of 1 mm. For printers with a large printable area, the ability to change nozzles is already a vital necessity. Therefore, here, as in the case of a heated table, the ability to change nozzles is a good bonus. It is not mandatory, but very useful if you do not have to pay extra for it.

It is important to understand that most models on a 3D printer are printed with a layer of 0. 1-0.2 mm. These are the optimal values ​​that allow you to achieve quality and acceptable print speed. There are a certain number of printers that allow you to print with a layer of less than 0.05 mm, and get very high quality prints. But then there is the problem of a sharp increase in print time. And if such print quality is important to you, then it probably makes sense to turn your attention to 3D printers, which we talked about at the very beginning of the article. These are 3D printers using SLA or DLP technology.

Today there are two main types of extruder. This is a direct extruder in which the bar feed motor is located in the printhead itself. And the so-called Bowden extruder, where the plastic feed motor is located on the body. And the plastic itself is fed to the extruder through a fluoroplastic tube. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of extruder? Bowden extruder, due to the lack of a motor on the print head, has less weight. And therefore, it has greater positioning accuracy, which affects the print quality. And a higher speed of movement, which, accordingly, has a positive effect on the speed of printing. But it has one drawback. It is usually difficult to print with flexible plastics on a Bowden extruder. Such as Rubber or Flex. All its positive features, this extruder reveals when using plastic with a diameter of 2.85-3.00 mm. But this type of plastic is less common than the now standard plastic with a diameter of 1.75 mm. And therefore, users of printers with such plastic are often deprived of the opportunity to use new types of materials. Which are primarily produced in the most common form factor of 1.75mm. The direct extruder usually doesn't have such big problems with flexible plastics. Easier to set up, but due to the greater mass of the print head, it is inferior to the Bowden extruder in terms of speed and positioning accuracy. What to prefer? This is the user's choice. We just wanted to talk about the pros and cons of these extruder types. Of course, there are many more nuances when choosing a 3D printer. But we think that even our small list will force you to look and study some points that you may not have thought about more closely. And it will save you time and money when choosing a 3D printer. 3Dtool company has extensive experience in the 3D equipment market. We work with leading Russian and foreign manufacturers, offering high-quality equipment for a reasonable price. Our service center is staffed by highly qualified specialists who are able to solve any problem in the shortest possible time, and all offered 3D printers come with a 1-year warranty.

In our assortment you can always find 3D printers for your tasks:

1) Budget 3D printers

2) 3D printers for business

3) Large area 3D printers

4) SLA and DLP 3D printers

Do you have any questions?

Call: +7 (495) 324-07-90 (Moscow) and 8 (800) 775-86-69 (toll-free in the Russian Federation) or write to the mail: sales@3dtool.

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