Anisoprint & Thought3D Collaborating to Solve Adhesion Issues in 3D printing

Luxembourg-based Anisoprint and Thought3D, headquartered in Malta, are partnering up in making 3D printing a better process overall for manufacturers around the world relying on strong parts. In line with the Anisoprint company’s mission to continue their ‘quest for superior materials to step up to the next level of production technologies,’ they are collaborating with Thought3D (manufacturer of Magigoo and Magigoo Pro 3D printing bed adhesives) to make thermoplastics easier to work with, resulting in more durable components.

“In many cases, to achieve stronger filament, 3D printing material manufacturers strengthen their filaments by adding to their polymer chopped-up carbon or glass fibers,” states the Thought3D team in their recent press release. “However, adding continuous non-chopped fiber makes 3D printed parts even stronger.”

No matter how sophisticated a 3D printer may be, if the materials fed into it are not high-quality—or the proper type of quality for the components required—there could be major challenges encountered during the fabrication process, such as sticking, peeling, and warping. These issues are often more common during the printing of complex geometries, which may exhibit many of these problems during the cooling process as materials suffer from adhesion issues in shrinking, contracting, and deforming due to stress inside the objects.

The Anisoprint Composer 3D printer instills strength in materials like conventional filaments with a combined extruder available for loading of two types of thermoplastics, and then a third for continuous carbon fibers. The Anisoprint team refers to this process as composite filament co-extrusion, instilling exponentially higher strength in engineering filaments like nylon and PC, as well as PLS, ABS, and PETG.

“Bad first layer adhesion is one of the most common issues that can ruin your whole print, not necessary at the very beginning,” says Fedor Antonov, co-founder and CEO of Anisoprint. “This is especially important for open materials system, where the customer can choose different types of thermoplastics to print with. Each one will require a special approach.

“That’s why we’ve introduced several first layer settings in our slicer software Aura and that’s why we are in with Magigoo – we put the Magigoo sticks in every Composer box to make sure our customers will have a proper solution in hand to ensure good first layer adhesion.”

Many users rely on a bevy of DIY fixes for preventing materials from sticking, from the old standbys like hairspray, to glue, and other specialized solvents and substances. The Anisoprint Composer’s heated glass bed helps prevent lack of adhesion, but with Magigoo bed adhesion products, better strength is possible for PLA, ABS, PETG, PC, and nylon.

“Over the past four years we have become experts in first layer adhesion products,” says Andy Linnas, co-founder and business developer of Thought3D. “We are happy to work with Anisoprint as their glass bed and printer are a perfect match for our adhesives. I am sure that our aims align with those of Anisoprint – making 3D printing easy, accessible and affordable to even the most demanding printing applications.”

The 3D printing realm is awash in a variety of composites today as researchers, manufacturers, and materials scientists find themselves not quite happy with many filaments or powders ‘as is,’ thus enhancing them with other materials and properties for specific needs in functionality and production. This industry is one built on innovators, creators—and often, perfectionists. Companies like Anisoprint are known for their success in printing with composites, along with researchers, engineers, and other users around the world engaged in creating materials like nanocomposites, wood composites, and many different types of carbon enhancements.

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The Composer (Photo: Anisoprint)