Many 3D printers lay claim to being ‘industrial-grade’ but when you delve into their material list, rarely do you find anything more durable than nylon.
That’s where Markforged 3D printers differ. In the case of the Desktop and Industrial series 3D printers, these use nylon or Onyx as the base material (Onyx is a proprietary filament made by Markforged, it’s part nylon, part chopped carbon fibre). You can then reinforce prints with continuous strands of a stronger composite - carbon fibre, fibreglass, or Kevlar - to create truly industrial-grade prototypes and end-use parts.
For example, parts printed in carbon fibre are stronger than 6061-T6 aluminium. The Desktop series includes the Mark Two, Onyx One and Onyx Pro, and the Industrial series the X7, X5, and X3. There’s a printer for every application.
Not forgetting the Metal X, Markforged’s greatest machine yet. This 3D printer utilises a process called ADAM (Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing) to print parts in powdered metal surrounded by a plastic support. The parts are then sintered in a furnace externally to become solid. This enables you to manufacture metal parts with geometries and details that would be impossible with subtractive manufacturing processes.