Mark One Offers Carbon Fiber 3D Printing

As ever growing numbers of additive manufacturing (AM) systems hit the market, the major dividing line is becoming materials. Soon enough you’ll be able to find material extrusion systems at brick-and-mortar stores, to say nothing of the availability online, and even stereolithography printers are becoming easier to acquire. 3D printers capable of building in materials other than plastic are a rarer, and more expensive, breed.

Gregory Mark, co-owner of Aeromotions, a company dedicated to building race car wings, noticed the lack of material options available for more modestly priced AM systems and decided to do something about it. He founded MarkForged with the intention of designing a 3D printer that could build in carbon fiber, and the Mark One is the result of that ambition. 

Mark named his process “Composite Filament Fabrication,” but it still remains essentially a material extrusion printer. Materials get fed into the system and are pushed out through a dual quick change extruder head to form the desired shape. In the case of the Mark One, potential materials include carbon fiber, nylon, fiberglass, and regular PLA.

The Mark One is a desktop AM system, with an aluminum unibody that is attractive enough to look appropriate in just about any workplace. The bed has been designed to use kinematic coupling to ensure it remains within 10µ of level every time it is clicked into place.

With the first prototype recently rolled out at SolidWorks World 2014 specs for the Mark One are available. With a footprint of 22.6 in. long by 14.2 in. tall and 12.7 in. in depth, it has a build envelope of 12x6.25x6.25 in. While the company says its features are subject to change before release, it currently lists print resolution at 100 microns for non-composites and 200 microns for composites. It can connect to Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems and supports STL and OBJ files. It has a USB port and can accept an SC Card, and can connect via Wi-Fi. The price will be set at $5,000.

At SolidWorks World, a 3D printed  nylon part with an internal composite support impressed attendees with its rigidity, which the company says is 20 times stiffer than ABS and five times stronger. Rapid Ready will be keeping an eye on updates for this interesting new 3D printer.

Below you’ll find a video of the Mark One in action.

Source: MarkForged, Popular Mechanics, SolidWorks World