One trend that we have been noticing within the 3D printing space as of late is the continued entrance by larger entities, traditionally not known for anything related to 3D printing, into the space. For instance we have seen Dremel present their own 3D printer, Autodesk do the same, and a handful of other companies enter the market in one way or another, rather unexpectedly.
One such company is Germany’s igus, which has recently brought their own new 3D printer filament called iglide® tribo-filament to market, straying from their traditional business of supplying manufacturers with plastic bearings, linear guides, cable carriers and more.
While there’s no indication that igus will be developing their own 3D printer anytime soon, the company’s parts have been used in the construction of a new delta-style 3D printer called the HEXAGON V2. The printer, created by members of FabLab Karlsruhe, was officially unveiled on YouTube yesterday and appears to utilize many components that one can purchase from igus; for instance the igus® DryLin® linear guides. Below is a list of some of the key specifications of this new machine, and as you will notice, since it’s a delta-style machine its weight-to-size ratio is incredibly low.
- Printer Size: 350 x 390 x 915 mm
- Printer Weight: 11kg
- Build Envelope: 200 x 200 x 430 mm
- Min Layer Height: 0.05mm
- X/Y Resolution: 0.0125mm
- Z Resolution: 0.0125mm
- Print Speed: 150mm/sec
- Firmware: v0.92 Bolt
- Material Size and Compatibility: ABS, smartABS, HIPS, PLA, PETG, Iglidur, HDglass, TPC flex 65 and nylon at 1.75mm
While we have not seen any reviews on this new printer, or tested it out ourselves, one word which does come to mind is quality, as many of the components on the HEXAGON V2 are coming from a company known for their quality plastic parts.
As you can see, the machine is open source, meaning that the design files as well as the STL files for printing out a good portion of your own components are available for free online. The printer itself is for sale at youprintin3d.de in kit form for €1099. According to Fablab Karlsruhe, assembly should take about a weekend to complete if you are up for the challenge.
Let us know if you’ve had the opportunity to use this new 3D printer and how it performed. Discuss in the Hexagon V2 forum thread on 3DPB.com and be sure to check out the video of the printer in action below.
