Lakatos would say he’s “skeptical” that the Form 2 is a machine that could be used by the masses to print out household items, say.
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Formlabs, the designer and manufacturer of powerful and accessible 3D printing systems, today announced the launch of Form 2, the company’s second-generation high-resolution, desktop stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer.
The Form 1 looked the part when it debuted to the tune of almost $3 million on Kickstarter in October 2012, as a fully formed, consumer-ready product, in stark contrast to the laser-cut wooden panels of the first Cupcake CNCs and Thing-o-Matics.
Formlabs printers work differently than most other desktop 3D printers that you might have seen at fairs or in stores. The Form 2 brings bigger prints, smarter components, connected capabilities, and an intuitive printing experience to professionals. It started with mainframes, was adopted by the hobbyist and then evolved into the powerful desktop machines everyone uses today.
Quantity is nothing without quality, of course, and fortunately Formlabs has upped the game on that front too, with a 50% more powerful laser which is able to deliver better print resolution. The machine offers a 40 percent bigger build volume than the Form 1+.
Lobovksy acknowledges that the market for 3-D printers has “gotten more competitive, with way more players” than when the company was founded in 2011, by a trio of MIT students and alumni. That resin system has been automated, and new resin cartridges will automatically refill the resin tank during the printing process. The jury’s still out on, say, a Keurig coffeemaker, but it definitely makes sense for a 3D printer-imagine if you had to pour ink or toner into your old HP or Epson.
Another improvement is the addition of Wi-Fi, so you no longer have to tether via USB to upload a print.
Meanwhile, bigger tech giants like Hewlett-Packard, Amazon, and Boeing keep making noise about getting more seriously into 3D printing.
The Form 2 has Wi-Fi on-board for wireless printing, and Formlabs has also introduced a new dashboard to let the user monitor print progress on a desktop computer, tablet or phone, plus alerts and notifications can be sent from the printer to your mobile. They are proprietary and custom created to be used with the printer.
Formlabs has always gone after professional designers, engineers, and architects, not hobbyists. “We’re moving out of the stage of being fascinated that we can just print-now that needs to be kind of a given”.
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One click-printing is available in an update to the Formlabs’ PreForm Software, allowing for preparation and simplification of the printing process overall. While this printer may seem small, it’s Formlabs’ biggest. “It’s just people trying to run a people-oriented business… that has lasers”.
