Ice1 and Ice9 - First Ever Affordable SLS 3D Printers

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08-13-2014, 08:05 AM
Brian_Krassenstein

Ice1 and Ice9 - First Ever Affordable SLS 3D Printers
We may be about to enter the realm of desktop SLS printers. An Italian company called Norge Systems will be launching a Kickstarter campaign for 2 SLS 3D printers starting next Monday. The Printers, called the Ice1 and Ice9 are priced extremely reasonable for the technology they utilize. Below are the basic specifications and price of both machines. More details on the company and their plans can be found here: http://3dprint.com/11787/ice1-ice9-s...printer-norge/

Ice1 Desktop SLS Printer
- Build Envelope: 20x20x25cm
- Print Speed: 8 to 25mm/hour
- Scan speed: up to 3 m/s
- Layer Thickness: 0.1 – 0.15mm
- Laser: Solid state 10W laser
- Price: $13,000
Ice9 Desktop SLS Printer:
- Scan speed : up to 4 m/s
- Build Envelope: 30x30x45cm
- Layer Thickness: 0.1 – 0.15mm
- Print Speed: 10 to 30mm/hour
- Laser: 40W tube laser – Able to act as a laser engraver as well
- Price $34,000
What do you guys think? Is this going to transform the industry? Check out an image of both these new machines below:
http://3dprint.com/wp-content/upload...norge-feat.jpg
08-13-2014, 11:11 AM
JRDM

If it pans out, it could be very nice.

I don't think I would back it though. A year is a long time to have money out on a preordered machine, even more so at $13k and $34k. Maybe if I knew & trusted the company, but even then, it's a sizable risk. And this is a new company without a track record.

Also, who knows what else will be made available before this ships?

I question using it as a laser engraver too though. Maybe they have a way to prevent the soot & ash from contaminating the SLS powders.

It's also pretty obvious they're reading from teleprompters.
08-13-2014, 01:27 PM
Feign

In what world is $13,000 considered 'affordable'? I mean, wow, really?

But more seriously, this being the cheapest SLS machine makes more of a case for SLS not being ready for home use any time soon. The 12-ish grand difference between these and the Form1 for instance will buy a whole lot photopolymer for very similar detail and finish to plastic powder SLS.

Now, if they could make metal parts, I'll concede that there might be a market for it, but even a 40 watt laser is not likely to do the trick.
08-13-2014, 01:41 PM
Brian_Krassenstein

They plan on doing metal in 2016 but would likely use a different laser, more expensive I assume. $13k is certainly more affordable then the other options out there and for a medium sized business that's not a huge expense, but I get what you mean.
08-13-2014, 02:30 PM
JRDM

SLS is very different from SLA. SLS you can make strong parts with nylon and such. SLA, at least Form1 and below, currently makes fragile acrylic-based parts.
08-15-2014, 10:50 AM
curious aardvark

yeah home affordable it isn't.

But for reliable nylon prototyping - that's pretty good.

Plus it's a whole different realm of 3d printing tio fff

Mind you between now and when/IF they ever get to market - no doubt the price will rise a bit.

So, what does nylon powder cost ? Anyone know ?
08-15-2014, 03:31 PM
Compro01

Quote:

Originally Posted by curious aardvark

So, what does nylon powder cost ? Anyone know ?

According to what I can find, somewhere around $12/kilo.
08-16-2014, 05:45 PM
Remco

Quote:

Originally Posted by Compro01

According to what I can find, somewhere around $12/kilo.

That's a reasonable price indeed.

What you guys shouldn't forget that prices for FDM machines used to be $3000 for a good one and they came down all the way to $300 (these are not out yet but you get the point). The Norge printers are only the beginning for what is waiting out there (cheaper/better/etc..) :D
08-16-2014, 06:32 PM
curious aardvark

And the thing to remember about sls printers is you end up with a big cube of powder.

compared to fff there's a LOT Of post print processing and clean up before you have the part.

It's not as user friendly as a fff setup - yet !
08-16-2014, 06:44 PM
Remco

Quote:

Originally Posted by curious aardvark

And the thing to remember about sls printers is you end up with a big cube of powder.

compared to fff there's a LOT Of post print processing and clean up before you have the part.

It's not as user friendly as a fff setup - yet !

Are you saying that SLS is less user friendly then fff?

(SLS) Quickly dusting away the powder VS manually removing support material (FFF).

I'll pick SLS any day. It's far superior IMO.
08-17-2014, 02:17 AM
Hugues

Quote:

Originally Posted by Remco

Are you saying that SLS is less user friendly then fff?

(SLS) Quickly dusting away the powder VS manually removing support material (FFF).

I'll pick SLS any day. It's far superior IMO.

Well, looking at the 70+ different FFF parts i printed in the last year, i'd say maybe 5, max 10 had support material. But with SLS i would have to clean each one of them. So...more post-processing with SLS in general.

But the finish is better with SLS i guess, compared to FFF. But maybe not that much better than DLP ? Which is my next printer i'm receiving in November (and no powder to remove, maybe a quick alcohol wipe).
08-17-2014, 03:26 AM
JSenior

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugues

Well, looking at the 70+ different FFF parts i printed in the last year, i'd say maybe 5, max 10 had support material. But with SLS i would have to clean each one of them. So...more post-processing with SLS in general.

But the finish is better with SLS i guess, compared to FFF. But maybe not that much better than DLP ? Which is my next printer i'm receiving in November (and no powder to remove, maybe a quick alcohol wipe).

With SLS you don't have to worry about supports, you don't have to worry about warping. 99% of the time, what you try to print, is exactly what you'll get out of the machine. You can nest all your parts within each other so can fill the entire build area with multiple parts. It also very quick and very cheap once you own the machines. Post processing consists of some compressed air unless you want to do extra smoothing.

If this was a £20k order and I could have one now (as long as it is as good as it looks,) then I would buy one. I can't imagine there's going to be many takers on putting down the money now, with the hope you'll receive a working model in a year however.
08-27-2014, 07:33 AM
Brian_Krassenstein

The Kickstarter project for Ice1 and Ice9 has just launched: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...nters?ref=card
08-27-2014, 10:26 AM
curious aardvark

versus dlp - sls gives a much wider range of materials, larger builds and no light sensitive liquids.

I don't see the resin based printers lasting the course for anything but niche markets like orthodontics and jewellery where small volume high details is necessary.

Could be wrong but looking at the whole 3d printing cene in general, resin based systems just don't seem to offer much in comparison to other systems.
08-04-2015, 04:54 PM
David M Ponder

Hi All,

Has anyone here heard what become of Norge Systems since it failed to get funding on Kickstarter?
I have read on their website that they have joined with Prodways but there is little information about any product release dates or even still order details?
Has anyone actually order one and if so what happened, what feedback was there, what promise/commitment was there to honour any agreement?
I am most interested to know how this all has panned out?

Kind regards,

David
08-05-2015, 04:32 PM
awerby

As far as I know, if a Kickstarter project doesn't reach its goal, nobody gets charged for their pledges. Here's what they say on their site (but it's vague): http://www.norgesystems.com/ice-9-lo...sls-3d-printer

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com