Mark One - Carbon Fiber 3D Printer

[Solidabble]

From what they say, the Carbon Fiber filament is 5 times stronger than traditional ABS. So I guess the strength is there

[KASL]

Yes, but the carbon fiber is reinforced with the plastic? the plastic melt on the carbon fiber?

[greatestalive]

KASL, I'm not sure what you mean. They have said that the Carbon Fiber filament is 5 times as strong. Does it matter if it is reinforcing the plastic or not?

[myearwood]

ABS has max GPa of 2.5. Raw carbon fibers have max GPa of 965. BMW body parts are CF fabric molded with resin. So are bicycle frame parts. That is CFRP. CFRP should have max GPa of 580. That's 232 times stronger than ABS. That's why people can make a whole bike or baseball bats or golf clubs from CFRP.

[JohnA136]

I have to agree, I can not see how we gain strength just by putting Carbon Fiber powder into the plastic? It would have to be extremely fins to not clog the nozzle.

[awerby]

While they aren't very specific about how their process works, from reading the site http://markforged.com/ it seems that they've produced a special patent-pending extruder head that will pass a continuous thread of carbon fiber through itself. Presumably, this thread is coated with plastic so that it adheres where it's deposited. Apparently it will also work with regular filament, so parts can be made with the composite where strength is required, and filled in with a honeycomb of regular PLA or whatever.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[Rickward]

Wow, I'd love to see this patent. Is there any way to find it online?

[Compro01]

It sounds to me like the filament is made of continuous strands that run the entire length of the reel.

Wow, I'd love to see this patent. Is there any way to find it online?

I looked through the USPTO database for the company name and the names of all the listed employees, but came up with nothing. The patent must not be published yet.

[Eddie]

Here are some more details, a lot of information regarding some of your concerns

http://3dprint.com/details-emerge-on...er-3d-printer/

[automobiles]

I couldn't believe my perspective when I analysis this content. I too didn't really consider the opportunities of having graphite 3D printed before. There are so many amazing uses for this.