Mark One - Carbon Fiber 3D Printer

[Brian_Krassenstein]

Markforged has just announced yet another ground breaker 3D printer for the week. it's the Mark One Carbon fiber 3D Printer.

It prints in Carbon Fiber, PLA, Nylon, and Fiberglass, and costs around $5000. Will go on pre-sale in February.

Read more about it here: http://3dprint.com/worlds-first-carb...-the-mark-one/

[ToyMakerRon]

Wow, I didn't even consider Carbon Fiber being an option for 3D printers. I'm sure this opens doors for a lot of people. Especially those looking to make automobile parts.

[Eddie]

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read this article. I too didn't really consider the possibilities of having carbon fiber 3D printed before. There are so many awesome uses for this.

[KDog]

Quadcopter frames!!

[myearwood]

Sounds like they added CF powder to a polycarbonate to make a filament. The strength will not be good.

They need unbroken strands of carbon fiber made into a woven fabric. The strands provide the strength.

[bringho]

I'm curios about the actual benefit of carbon fibre filament.

As far as I know a lot of the strength of composites which usually use carbon (or glass) fibre weaves comes from the way the different fibre patches are placed in the layout.

In a FDM print the fiber will only follow the direction of the print so:

In what way would that strengthen the printed part compared to a classic composite weave layout?

[KASL]

Exactly! i see the plactic melt in the carbon fiber, its a nice option to replace the resine. What do you think?

Quadcopter frames!!

[myearwood]

If it is carbon fiber powder mixed with polycarbonate / resin, it will not be very strong. The weaving of long strands is where the strength comes from. The resin is reinforced by the weave. I would like to see some real strength tests using CFRP (carbon fiber reinforce plastic) from this 3d printer compared to the woven+plastic usually known as CFRP.

[donny]

If it is carbon fiber powder mixed with polycarbonate / resin, it will not be very strong.

Is this what it is? Can anyone confirm or deny it?

I wouldn't think there would be a purpose of printing in carbon fiber unless it was indeed strong.

[bringho]

Is this what it is? Can anyone confirm or deny it?

I wouldn't think there would be a purpose of printing in carbon fiber unless it was indeed strong.

Even if it was (short) strands of fibre in the filament, which I guess would increase the risk of clogging the print head substantially. The fibre would only follow the layer path of the print instead of the surface curvature of the printed thing. If I were to print a cone for example, the fibre would still follow the print path layer by layer when I want the weave to criss cross the surface curvature to get the strength from long fibres.

Like myearwood I would really like to see some real strength tests.