3D Printing Enthusiasts Celebrate Christmas Early at iMakr’s Annual Holiday Showcase

Most of us have probably attended some sort of Christmas market or showcase at one time or another. From pop-up markets featuring gifts from local artisans, or walk-through displays of lights and trees, the holiday season tends to be full of events and exhibits, some with broad appeal, and others with a much more specific focus – like, for example, 3D printing.

Last night, iMakr held its annual Christmas showcase at its London store. Attendees enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies while checking out a showcase of 25 3D printers, four 3D scanners and an array of exotic filaments. Several manufacturers were in attendance to give speeches and answer questions about their products. Leading off was DeltaWASP, whose recently introduced TURBO printer is one of the fastest 3D printers in the world, with speeds reaching up to 1000 mm/s. The ultra-fast printer was on display at the event, along with Dynamo 3D’s D3D One Evo 3D printer, which the company introduced last July as their fastest printer to date. Mass Portal spoke to attendees about their Pharaoh 3D printers, which have gained a lot of popularity for their speed, detail and versatility.

A few months ago, Polish company Sinterit released their selective laser sintering desktop printer, Lisa, which was one of the first of its kind to be relatively affordable. Until Lisa’s introduction, SLS printers were generally limited to large corporations, but Sinterit, who talked about Lisa at the iMakr event, is working towards bringing SLS to the masses.

“It was great to see so many 3D printer enthusiasts as the event,” said Michaela Regan, Business Development Manager at iMakr. “Our aim was to show off the new technology and we did! The range of machines was incredible and the talks from the manufactures were extremely interesting.”

That range of machines included scanners as well as printers. RangeVision, who also gave a speech at the event, recently introduced their new line of Smart scanners, which use structured light technology rather than lasers. Other scanners on display included Einscan by Shining 3D and Matter and Form, as well as iMakr’s own 3D scanner, the David SLS. And of course, what would any 3D printing showcase be without filament? Polymaker spoke about their innovative filaments, including a new line featuring jam-free technology.

“At iMakr we are always excited to be able to show the latest innovation in 3D printing which is why we were so pleased to have some of our leading manufacturers at the event,” said Eric Savant, iMakr CEO. “We had a huge range of best in class 3D printers on display including FDM, SLA and SLS.”

A large turnout showed up for the event, according to iMakr. The store, far from being just a retail location, is dedicated to bringing 3D printing knowledge to as many people as possible through events, free training sessions, and support for educational institutions. Their Christmas showcase, while likely attracting a crowd of people who are already pretty well immersed in 3D printing, nevertheless deepened their attendees’ appreciation for some of the newest printing and scanning technology.  Discuss this story in the iMakr Holiday Showcase forum on 3DPB.com.