Finnish MiniFactory announced the Innovator 2 professional desktop 3D printer.
The Innovator 2 is, as you might expect, an improved version of their powerful Innovator 3D printer. That machine was able to 3D print a wide variety of materials as its hot end could hit up to 390C. The new machine seems quite a bit more powerful, though.
What’s new on the Innovator 2? The foremost aspect is that the Innovator 2 is specifically designed to 3D print high temperature PEEK material, which can be difficult to 3D print as the tricky material tends to warp and delaminate in some machines.
Let’s go through the list of notable features:
The fully enclosed – and filtered with HEPA/Carbon – build chamber is now “actively heated”. This should ensure a very consistent build environment for misbehaving materials. The build chamber can be heated up to 90C, similar to Stratasys’ high temperature machines.
Like an increasing number of other professional desktop 3D printers, the Innovator 2 now includes a fully automated calibration system that should increase print reliability tremendously. Getting that first layer to stick properly is essential, and automated leveling and calibration is the best way to do so.
The Innovator 2 also includes automated nozzle cleaning, something that can corrupt prints with stray material. This should also increase print quality.
A massive 7” color touch screen replaces the original Innovator’s small control panel. This panel should provide a far easier way to operate and monitor the machine, and its displays could even be upgraded via firmware in the future.
The maximum nozzle temperature on the Innovator 2 is now a whopping 450C, meaning this machine can 3D print practically any 1.75mm diameter filament material you can find. They say you can 3D print: “PEEK, ABS, NYLON etc.”
Build volume is quite large at 370 x 260 x 300mm, and the 0.4mm nozzle can apparently 3D print layers as small as 0.03mm, smaller than most desktop 3D printers. Print speed is said to be up to 120mm/second, but of course your milage will vary depending on materials and object geometry.
Dual extruders means that this machine can 3D print soluble support structures on the second extruder, making it possible to 3D print very complex geometries very accurately and with far fewer concerns.
We don’t have pricing on this machine, but I suspect it is similar or even higher than the price of last year’s original Innovator, which was set somewhere near USD$7,000.
[UPDATE] We’re now told by MiniFactory that the price of the new Innovator 2 will be in the €30K (USD$35K) range.
Via MiniFactory
