Formlabs Launches of Form 3 and Form 3L 3D Printers

Formlabs has announced the addition of two new advanced professional Low Force Stereolithography (LFS) 3D printers to its hardware lineup: Form 3 and Form 3L.

LFS 3D printing is a form of stereolithography (SLA) that uses a flexible tank to reduce the forces of the peel process, which the company says provides incredible surface finish and detail, and linear illumination to deliver accurate, repeatable parts.

Goggles being printed in the new Formlabs Form 3. Image courtesy of Formlabs.

“We’ve completely re-engineered our approach to resin 3D printing with the Low Force Stereolithography (LFS) print process behind the Form 3 and Form 3L,” said Max Lobovsky, CEO and co-founder of Formlabs via a press release. “We entered the industry seven years ago with the first powerful, affordable desktop SLA 3D printer and since then have shipped more than 50,000 printers, and our customers have printed more than 40 million parts. Now users are leading the way in how to grow 3D printing from one machine to many, from prototyping tool to game changer. We're excited to take another huge leap forward with LFS 3D printing, dramatically improving the print quality and reliability people can expect while still offering the most powerful and affordable 3D printer on the market.”

According to the company, benefits of the LFS process include:

• Incredible detail and surface finish: a flexible tank dramatically reduces forces on parts while printing.
• Pinpoint precision: the Light Processing Unit (LPU) maintains a uniform, high density laser spot to ensure accurate, repeatable prints.
• Easy clean-up and smoother parts with tear-away light-touch supports.
• Nonstop printing: Integrated sensors help maintain ideal print conditions and send you alerts about the state of your machine.
• Constant uptime with upgradeable, modular components and foolproof design.
• Remote Print: 3D print from anywhere via the online Dashboard.

A speaker print being removed from the new Formlabs Form 3L. Image courtesy of Formlabs.

Formlabs says the LFS print process behind the Form 3 is built to scale: Form 3L simultaneously uses two LPUs, allowing large-format 3D printing to be brought in-house. Form 3L offers five times the build volume and two times the laser power of the Form 3 to print large parts fast.

In addition to the new hardware, Formlabs also announced today a new material: Draft Resin. The company says Draft Resin prints at 300 microns layer lines and is 3-4X faster than other standard resins, making it ideal for rapid prototyping.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.