Objex Unlimited is a Certified Reseller of the MarkForged Mark One 3D Printer, the World’s First and Only Carbon Fiber, Kevlar, and Fiberglass 3D Printer

The following video presents Meet the Mark One: the world’s first Carbon Fiber 3D printer:

Brilliant ideas need brilliant materials.
Designed to overcome the strength limitations of traditional 3D printed materials, the revolutionary Mark One 3D printer is the world’s first 3D printer designed to print continuous carbon fiber. Now you can print parts, tooling, and fixtures with a higher strength-to-weight ratio than 6061-T6 Aluminum.

NEWS RELEASE

MarkForged Mark One – The World’s First Carbon Fiber, Kevlar, Fiberglass 3D printer.

August 11, 2015, by Objex Unlimited

Objex Unlimited is happy to announce that we are now certified resellers of the MarkForged Mark One, the world’s first and only Carbon Fiber, Kevlar, and Fiberglass 3D Printer.

Print Strong Parts.

Higher strength-to-weight than 6061 Aluminum: Image Courtesy of Objex Unlimited

Have you ever had a 3D printed part that wasn’t strong enough? The revolutionary Mark One prints with the strength of 6160 aluminum. With parts that are up to 30x stronger and 30x stiffer than ABS 3D Printed parts, now you can have the dependability of CNC parts with the flexibility of 3D printing.

"30x Stiffer than ABS | 30x Stronger than ABS: The Mark One prints outer contours and curves in engineering nylon and fills each part with close-packed reinforcement in continuous carbon fiber, Kevlar or fiberglass. The printer actively switches between two nozzles during a print, creating fiber-reinforced plastic parts with a strength-to-weight ratio better than aluminum." Image Courtesy of Objex Unlimited — “30x Stiffer than ABS | 30x Stronger than ABS: The Mark One prints outer contours and curves in engineering nylon and fills each part with close-packed reinforcement in continuous carbon fiber, Kevlar or fiberglass. The printer actively switches between two nozzles during a print, creating fiber-reinforced plastic parts with a strength-to-weight ratio better than aluminum.” Image Courtesy of Objex Unlimited

How does it work?

The Mark One uses two print heads: One builds Nylon parts, and the other is a revolutionary new print-head that extrudes composite materials to reinforce the nylon to make solid, strong-as-aluminum 3D Prints. The composite materials used in the machine are Carbon Fiber, Fiberglass, and Kevlar.

The Materials

"One part. Thousands of continuous carbon fibers. "Image Courtesy of Objex Unlimited — “One part. Thousands of continuous carbon fibers. “Image Courtesy of Objex Unlimited

Composites made with continuous reinforcing fibers exhibit substantial increases in strength and stiffness compared to similar materials using discontinuous (chopped) fibers. Carbon Fiber has the greatest strength-to-weight ratio in the world. Kevlar is best for parts that require a degree of abrasion resistance. Fibreglass has the best strength-to-cost ratio, making parts nearly as strong as Carbon Fiber filament, but almost twice the weight.

You can also select pause points in your print to allow embedded components up to 10 micron accuracy.

The Software

The Mark One comes with it’s very own 3D Printing and slicing software, free of charge. Operating on the cloud, you can upload your files, collaborate and share with others, and clone multiple versions of a file for different print configurations. In addition, the software is extremely powerful, giving you the option to automatically choose the orientation of fibers, or specifying the orientation on a layer-by-layer basis. The software was specifically designed to give users total control over fiber orientation in each layer and thus, directional strength.

Our Experience

We’ve been running the MarkForged Mark One since March of this year and so far it’s been an extremely smooth ride. The rock-solid construction of the milled aluminum makes for a very solid machine. It has travelled to trade-shows, demonstrations, and been through some rough conditions, but is still one of the few 3D Printers that just seems to work every time we go to switch it on and run a print. That is, of course, taking care to run the standard maintenance procedures such as bed levelling, head cleaning, and keeping nylon filament dry (we’ve heard of issues with nylon filament that gets moist under-extruding and causing print problems, but we have not run into this issue personally). The Carbon Fiber filament has a tendency to clog a little easier than other filaments, but there are tools to unclog your heads and Professional Kit ships with lots of spare nozzles.

In addition, we’ve been extremely happy with how the machine generates support materials for the prints, especially since MarkForged has released the firmware update with the improved support material algorithm. Updates seem to be frequent, bringing minor improvements to the operation of the printer each time.

The included Eiger software is by far one of the best slicing and 3D Printing software, giving you a very detailed view of the print and vast customization options for literally every layer of the print. Not only does the software do a great job at automatically generating the best setup and orientation for the Composite Fiber materials, you have the option to reinforce and change everything to your needs.

A fantastic option for those looking for a little more than the standard plastic-jet printers in the Consumer to Prosumer price range. The Mark One printer starts at $5,499 USD for a standard kit, or for $8,799 USD you can get the Professional Kit. If you have any questions, want to see the printers in action, or are looking to order, please don’t hesitate to contact Objex Unlimited 3D Print Studio.

Mark One Composite 3D Printer
$5,499.00 USD

Mark One 3D Printer
MarkForged software
Carbon fiber filament sample, 50 cm3 (3.05 in3)
Fiberglass filament sample, 50 cm3 (3.06 in3)
Nylon filament, 1000 cm3 (61 in3)
1 x CFF Quick-change nozzle
1 x FFF Quick-change nozzle

Mark One 3D Printer and Professional Kit
$8,799.00 USD

Mark One Composite 3D Printer.
MarkForged software. Premium software support.
Kevlar® filament, 300 cm3 (18.3 in3)
Carbon fiber filament, 200 cm3 (12.2 in3)
Fiberglass filament, 300 cm3 (18.3 in3)
Nylon filament, 2000 cm3 (122 in3)
5 x CFF Quick-change nozzle
5 x FFF Quick-change nozzle
2 additional print beds

Objex Unlimited 3D Printing Studio is a 3D solutions provider and 3D product reseller specializing in 3D Printing, 3D Scanning, 3D Design and 3D Services. We’re leading the 3D printing revolution to explore, develop, and commercialize new applications in 3D. Leveraging unparalleled expertise in 3D technologies, we work with you personally to find a product or solution that will save you time, effort, and money. We will bring your ideas and designs to life by creating working parts, beautiful full-colour models, and rapid prototypes. Authorized resellers of 3D Systems, Artec, Markforged and LMI Technologies.

The following video presents 3D Printing Strong:

Video demonstrates the functionality and strength of a low cost, light-weight, fully 3d printed part.

Materials: Nylon & Kevlar. (Carbon Fiber and fiberglass can also be 3d printed).
All composites shown are made with continuous strands, providing exceptional strength (30 times stronger and stiffer than ABS).
Resolution: 0.1 mm
Print Time: 7 hrs

Test: 3000lb car (without a driver & Engine not running) is towed uphill.