3ntr’s new Spectral 30 offers an ability to 3D print high temperature materials at higher levels of quality than their previous equipment. 

The Italian 3D printer manufacturer has been marketing their A2 and A4 high temperature devices for a couple of years, and they produced excellent output from our inspection of sample parts. 

3ntr Spectral 30

Now they’ve added a new device, the Spectral 30, to their lineup. Like its predecessors, it is designed to handle high temperature 3D printing materials, such as PEEK, ULTEM and others. These materials are highly desirable for their more powerful engineering properties, but have often proven difficult to 3D print. 

The most visible feature on the Spectral 30 is that it offers no less than four extruders in the build chamber. There are some dual nozzle high temperature machines, but I am not aware of any other machines having four nozzles. 

Two nozzles are extremely useful because the part can then be 3D printed with soluble support (which occupies the “other” nozzle). This allows for easy 3D printing of extremely complex geometries, where the difficult support structures can be simply dissolved away while the 3D printer operator is having lunch. 

Spectral 30 Materials

But with four nozzles there are other possibilities. With soluble support in one nozzle, it is then possible to have three different model materials, and all of them could be high temperature materials. 3ntr officially supports these materials on the Spectral 30: 

Ultem AM9085F

PEEK

PEKK

PAEK

PPSU

ABS

ABS ESD

ABS HD

ABS FAST

ASA

Carbon+

Iglidur Nylon+

nPOWER

Glass+

PCABS

PETG

zWAX

For example, you could 3D print a part with a core of ABS, but with a shell of carbon fiber reinforced material. This approach could allow 3D printer operators to reduce the use of the more expensive materials by placing them only where needed instead of 3D printing the entire part. 

Spectral 30 Filament Drying

Another interesting feature of the Spectral 30 is that it includes a filament drying system. This is an incredibly important feature for any machine intending on 3D printing high temperature materials, which turn out to be frequently hygroscopic: if you expose them to the atmosphere for any length of time the print quality drops notably. 

Some high temperature 3D printer options have neglected this effect, and unsuspecting 3D printer operators have encountered challenges when 3D printing high temperature materials. 3ntr’s solution should avoid these issues. 

3ntr produces a filament drying system they call the “Vento”, which includes a 920W heater and a bunch of smart electronics to ensure perfect conditions for the material held inside. The Spectral 30 is bundled with four Ventos in order to cover off all four extruders. 

The Spectral 30 includes sophisticated heat management systems to ensure the printing environment is always at optimal levels. Each of the four nozzles can hit a whopping 500C, and the print bed can reach 300C, perhaps the highest plate temperature I’ve yet heard of. Of course, the build chamber is also heated, and in this case up to an amazing 250C. Because of the extremely high temperatures involved, the extruders are liquid cooled. The Spectral 30 will definitely require gloves to operate!

Spectral 30 Specifications

The Spectral 30 offers a generous build volume of 300 x 300 x 300 mm (hence the name “30”, as in “centimetres”). The machine also includes the usual networking connectivity options, as well as a number of convenience features, such as automated leveling, filament-out automatic pause, and jam detection. 

If you’re considering high temperature 3D printing of complex geometries in multiple materials, you should definitely check out the Spectral 30 from 3ntr. 

Via 3ntr