M3D and MakerGear Showcase New 3D Printers at RAPID + TCT 2018

We’ve been hearing all kinds of announcements about new products and systems that will be launched at this week’s RAPID + TCT conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Now, on the first day of the longest-running additive manufacturing conference in North America, we have even more announcements to share, starting with the new full-color 3D printer by M3D.

The Crane Quad 3D printer is a multi-material desktop 3D printer that can produce multi-colored objects. It has over 50,000 possible colors, and is affordable as well – pricing starts at just $199 for pre-orders, and then goes up to $399.

“Our new Crane Quad desktop 3D color printer is a real breakthrough in 3D printing capability and affordability. Its ability to print multiple colors and multiple materials simultaneously is a first, and it takes us one step closer to 3D printers being able to produce real-world objects that outperform traditional manufacturing, both in cost and performance,” said M3D Co-Founder and CEO Michael Armani.

Users can reach those thousands of colors by mixing up to four colors of standard 1.75 mm filament. Then, it’s possible to create multiple color palettes from the common base colors of CMYK: cyan, magenta and yellow with black, white or transparent.

The Crane Quad 3D printer, weighing 8.5 kg with a build volume of 214 x 214 x 230 mm, also lets users print in single colors without having to purchase multiple filament spools, so physical characteristics of different materials can be fused into one object with new properties.

Armani said, “Just as M3D started the home 3D printing revolution in 2014, today we continue to drive the evolution of consumer color 3D printing with the introduction of Crane Quad. For M3D, this launch is not just about introducing groundbreaking innovation – it represents our company’s commitment to the full-color 3D printing movement, and our dedication to providing consumers with the tools to get closer to the widespread on-demand use of 3D printed products that we know is the future.”

The Crane Quad features the Duet 2 Maestro, a new open-source controller board co-designed with Duet3D that has five-axis motion control. The Duet 2 Maestro includes micro USB and micro SD card ports, 120 MHz Atmel/Microchip ARM processor, and 256 microstep resolution. It also has a first-of-its-kind direct-drive extruder, which can mix the materials and colors of most 1.75 mm filaments. The new QuadFusion 3D Print Head has three fans, four motors, and a 0.35 mm mixing nozzle.

M3D is launching two additional configurations of the Crane 3D printer – the base model Crane Bowden, with an industry-standard 8-bit controller that runs the latest version of open source Marlin, and the dual extrusion, direct drive Crane Dual. This has the same features as the Crane Quad, and also includes a compound nozzle for mixing filament colors or materials for property sharing or color creation. Every Crane 3D printer is backed by a six-month warranty.

3D printer developer MakerGear is also introducing a new 3D printer at RAPID. The new M3 Independent (M3-ID) Dual Rev. 1 3D Printer with enclosure is an upgraded version of the popular M3, introduced last year and shown off at RAPID 2017.

The M3-ID Dual Rev. 1 has a touch probe that manages, accelerates, and improves bed leveling with simple user instructions, in addition to checking the print surface in order to, as the company says, “generate a mesh using 9 data points to compensate for any unavoidable variations in the flatness of the print bed.”

A new, optional MakerGear Enclosure helps reduce operating noise, maintain proper temperature, and vent odors. As with the company’s other 3D printers, the M3-ID Dual Rev. 1 also has wireless control, an integrated user interface, WiFi, and high-temperature V4 hot ends.

Rick Pollack, MakerGear’s CEO, told 3DPrint.com, “We are very pleased to announce the release of the M3-ID Rev. 1 featuring a new touch probe and the optional enclosure. The reliable touch probe provides two benefits, first, it provides simple feedback to help the user mechanically level the bed, when needed. Secondly, it generates a model of the print surface based on nine data points that allows the printer to compensate for any unavoidable variations from true flatness. The M3-ID was already an excellent machine, adding the enclosure and the probe takes it to the next level.”

You can see the new M3-ID Rev. 1 with enclosure, and purchase one at a special show rate, at the company’s booth #310 at RAPID.

MakerGear is also demonstrating its new MakerGear Cloud software, which uses cluster-based print queuing and printer cluster mapping to maximize a 3D printer fleet’s productivity. The fully integrated machine and data management solution also adapts to users’ locations, devices, and security needs and provides efficient operation for both low- and high-volume print jobs.

3DPrint.com is also at RAPID this week, bringing you all of the latest news from the showroom floor as we look forward to seeing these and many other new product introductions in person.

Discuss these product announcements and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.