This month marks five years since the release of the Form 3, Formlabs’ last major 3D printer refresh. To celebrate the occasion, the MIT spinoff introduced the long-awaited Form 4. Topping the list of notable features are faster print speeds (under two hours for most prints, per company), a 30% increase in build volume, and the print resolution that the company claims rivals injection molding.
Founded in 2011, Formlabs represents a rare sustained success story in the world of desktop 3D printing. This is largely due to the underlying stereolithography printing, which up until that point, had been the domain of mass and highly accurate industrial 3D printing.
Since then, the company has become a mainstay in the world of rapid prototyping. It has also increasingly pushed into the medical field. In March 2020, for example, systems were developed to print nasal swabs for COVID-19 testing. Dental has also been an important market for the company because of the level of customization additive manufacturing offers.
Fittingly, Formlabs says it was able to print 11 dental models in nine minutes and 130 dental crowns in just 20 minutes.
“Fast print speeds do not compromise dimensional accuracy or surface finish,” Formlabs says in a release. The Form 4’s print quality is almost indistinguishable from traditional manufacturing methods such as injection molding, making it the ultimate 3D printer for maximizing productivity, moving production in-house and enabling users to take more design risks.
The system is powered by a new printing engine that uses a technology called LFD (Low Force Display) to harden parts at higher speeds. This is combined with an increased build surface, which allows users to print more small parts at once.
It looks like Formlabs actually did internal testing on this, using the Form 3 to prototype parts for its successor. It’s available for pre-order today, starting at $4,499. It’s set to start shipping in May. The healthcare-focused Form 4B, meanwhile, starts at $6,299.
