Founded in 2011 by three MIT Media Lab students, Formlabs is now a major player in the 3D printing industry. Based in Massachusetts, the U.S. company offers a wide range of 3D printers, including Form 3B+ and Form 3+. These are aimed at various professional sectors. Among these sectors, there is the healthcare field, and more specifically the dental branch, which benefits from several machines, such as the Form 3BL. In addition, Formlabs offers a wide range of resins, most of which are intended for the fields of dentistry and engineering.
Form 3BL features
Dedicated to dental and large format printing, Form 3BL offers a print volume of 335 x 200 x 300 mm. Based on LFS (Low Force Stereolithography) technology, the machine is compatible with all Formlabs resins. Capable of full-time operation, the printer features intuitive part positioning software and automated post-processing options to facilitate the manufacture of custom parts. In addition, the Form 3BL contains two resin cartridges so as not to interrupt printing in progress. It is a large-format version of Form 3B, which is said to be 2 to 3 times faster than existing DLP technologies and is specifically designed to minimize build times.
As mentioned above, Form 3BL is designed to facilitate the post-treatment phase with the supplied finishing kits. In particular, the rinsing tray allows the entire Form 3BL impression volume to be cleaned for professional rendering of medical models. Formlabs has also integrated other tools and accessories to offer the possibility of quick removal of impression material. The printer translates easily into clinical care: it is easy to integrate into clinical workflows. Finally, it is also possible to control and monitor the printer fleet remotely and track resin and tray usage in real time.
Examples from Formlabs of parts which can be printed on the Form 3BL are a ventilator enclosure, which takes 65 hours to print, in grey resin, and costs just $86 USD. It is also possible to print an adult humerus in just one hour for $15 USD.
