Consumer Inkjet 3D Printer on the Way From CTC

[Brian_Krassenstein]

As numerous 3D printers and materials have been coming to market lately, the R&D team at Zhuhai CTC Electronic has been busy working in secret to develop an inkjet 3D printer which they expect to unveil at the next International CES show in Las Vegas, next January. Details are slim on the new 3D printer, but it will feature a cube shape with a sleek aesthetic design. This could be a major move for the Chinese company and could spur companies like 3D Systems and Stratasys to bring their inkjet technology to the consumer space as well. More details on the plans by CTC can be found here: http://3dprint.com/73333/china-inkjet-3d-printer/

[Pierrimus]

I keep thinking it shouldn't be too difficult to design one that uses the current UV curing resins (albeit thinned greatly) to create a layer. The printer might need to be like a dark room and the ink cartridge would have to have a safe parking spot each layer so it would not be exposed to the layer UV curing lamps. Also these would come on when the print is complete to kind of bake it solid for a period.

Just a concept. The true adoption driver is going to end up being cost. We're truly in the period of the tech wars in 3D printing. Think Beta vs. VHS or HDDVD vs. Blue ray, while we're seeing so many new choices in ten years we'll probably have a whole new, and much faster, ballgame.

[curious aardvark]

I don't think it'll come down to an either or.
The huge range of cheap (important) materials avalaible for fdm will keep it very much alive for some years.

But the idea of a uv cured inkjet has to be one of the simplest technologies to develop as 100% of it already exists.
Uv light cured 3d pens and inkjet printers.

I suppose the main question is: who currently holds the patents of the process ?

[Dufflite]

I have a lot of experience in the 2D UV printer market and I think the bulb life would be an issue with UV. In the 2D world LED is establishing a foothold replacing UV Curable technology on the higher end machines. An LED cure would be fantastic for 3D as the bulbs last 1000's of hours and run much cooler than UV.