Formlabs Announces SLA Resin Pumping System, New Materials at CES 2024

CES 2024 kicks off today in Las Vegas, and just like in years past, top 3D printing company Formlabs is making some exciting product announcements from the show floor. This morning at CES, the company announced its new Resin Pumping System—an accessory for its Form 3 and Form 3L printers—as well as two new materials, Polypropylene Powder and Premium Teeth Resin. These new solutions will help Formlabs lower costs and increase production for its ecosystem, which is used by customers for prototyping and in-house 3D printing.

“3D printing production is steadily increasing, and the introduction of Resin Pumping System, Polypropylene Powder, and Premium Teeth Resin are three big steps in our mission to provide professionals with a full ecosystem of the tools they need to bring their ideas to life,” Formlabs Chief Product Officer Dávid Lakatos said in a press release.

Resin Pumping System

Formlabs, which many in the industry still think could go public in the near future, has sold over 130,000 printers around the world, and its ecosystem includes both selective laser sintering (SLS) and stereolithography (SLA) 3D printers, as well as over 45 materials to produce end-use parts, rapid tooling, and more. The new Resin Pumping System is a plug-and-play replacement for the standard one-liter cartridge—delivering five liters of resin to a printer’s tank, the accessory enables increased and continuous 3D printing, while also reducing waste and cost-per-part.

The company says its new system is easy to use, and not only lowers resin costs, but also reduces packaging waste by 86%. It’s used with with the  Form 3 and large-format Form 3L SLA printers, and is said to enable non-stop printing for five times longer. The Resin Pumping System operates with five liter containers of select materials, at an initial discount of at least 10% when compared to typical one liter cartridges.

One happy customer is leading U.S. drone manufacturer Skydio, which was founded in 2014 by two MIT graduates after they helped start Google’s Project Wing. In 2018, the company launched R1, which it calls a “breakthrough in autonomous drones for consumers.”

“Skydio is constantly 3D printing to iterate using Form 3+ printers, which provides a huge advantage in hardware development. Resin Pumping System benefitted me and my team because I don’t have to check on the one liter cartridge, which ran out once and caused us to place a frantic, last-minute order,” said Skydio Senior Hardware Development Specialist Eric Weinhoffer. “Now, Resin Pumping System and the five liter container reduce the mental burden on me and ensure our printers keep running.”

The new Formlabs Resin Pumping System costs $199 and is available for order immediately.

Polypropylene Powder

The lightweight, low-density, and chemically resistant properties of polypropylene (PP)—the world’s second-most widely produced commodity plastic—makes it attractive for applications in automotive parts, packaging, consumer products, and more.

The new high-performance manufacturing Polypropylene Powder by Formlabs, currently available for purchase, will grow the company’s SLS portfolio, so that users can more efficiently and inexpensively print PP products, like custom lab and sports equipment, home appliances, and electronics, in-house on the Fuse 1+ 30W.

Premium Teeth Resin

The last new product Formlabs will debut at CES today is Premium Teeth Resin, a nano-ceramic filled FDA registered Class II biocompatible material. This resin balances natural-looking aesthetics and validated longevity with excellent clinical performance and intraoral mechanical properties, in addition to simpler digital workflows, to create 3D printed denture teeth and temporary full-arch implant-supported restorations (All-on-X). Users can count on Premium Teeth Resin, currently available to order, to help accurately customize prints to specific patient anatomy, and ensure personal, affordable dental care.

“I have been thoroughly impressed with Formlabs Premium Teeth Resin,” said Dr. Christopher Baer, dentist, Baer Dental. “The material not only has the strength we need for denture teeth and All-on-X appliances, but it also polishes with minimal effort to reveal a natural, lifelike translucency.”

The Dental 3D Printing Market

More accessible 3D printing workflows, and specialty materials like the new Premium Teeth Resin, are helping to lower the cost and labor barriers to digital dentistry. According to “3D Printing in Dentistry 2023” by AM Research, the dental 3D printing market generated $4 billion in revenue in 2022—nearly an entire third of the overall additive manufacturing market. For several years, Formlabs has been a leader in the dental 3D printing industry, with its technology ecosystem supporting over 15 million 3D printed dental parts. Especially with the recent shutdown of Smile Direct Club, the 3D printing double unicorn remains in a good position to grab an even bigger piece of the digital dentistry pie.

With the debut of its new Resin Pumping System, Polypropylene Powder, and Premium Teeth Resin, Formlabs plans to improve the efficiency, scalability, and versatility of its 3D printing ecosystem, and further enable in-house 3D printing for customers in a variety of industries. You can see the company’s ecosystem, and its three newest solutions, for yourself at Booth #54221 at CES in Las Vegas this week.