MakerBot, a
Stratasys company, has introduced a new solution that significantly simplifies 3-D printing with ABS polymer material by ‘effectively streamlining workflow steps and reducing the need for more equipment and additional costs’.
Developed for high performance on the MakerBot ‘METHOD X’ and ‘METHOD X Carbon Fiber’ 3-D printers, the new MakerBot RapidRinse and ABS-R materials are ‘suited to print a range of industrial applications to specification, from manufacturing tools to production parts’ (
www.makerbot.com/methodx).
RapidRinse is a new patent-pending fast-dissolving support material designed to eliminate ‘cumbersome and costly post-processing procedures’. RapidRinse easily dissolves in warm tap water and does not require caustic chemicals, typical for some soluble support materials.
Without the need for solvents, engineers no longer need to purchase additional post-processing equipment, as RapidRinse’s water-soluble properties are intended to make it an easier and safer support material to work with, leaving behind minimal residue.
MakerBot said: “ABS is one of the most in-demand, yet difficult, materials to successfully print on a desktop 3-D printer due to its propensity to shrink, warp, curl, or crack without the right conditions. ABS-R is a new ABS formulation that provides superior printing reliability and performance for consistent, repeatable ABS prototypes, tools, and parts. ABS-R is optimised to work with the new RapidRinse fast-dissolving support material to deliver the best print quality.
“The METHOD X’s heated chamber combined with proprietary RapidRinse soluble supports are designed to deliver ABS parts as easily as polylactide (PLA) but with superior material properties. Printing with RapidRinse on METHOD X can produce dimensionally accurate ABS parts of ±0.2mm, giving engineers more confidence in creating parts to spec.”
Nadav Goshen, MakerBot’s CEO, added: “Our goal with METHOD has always been to make industrial 3-D printing easy, reliable, and accurate on a desktop 3-D printer. With RapidRinse and ABS-R, we are continuing to deliver on that promise. METHOD is the only desktop 3-D printer in its price class with a heated chamber that can print a range of advanced polymers, composites, and metal — all on one machine.”