3ntr Pushes the Envelope on Filament 3D Printing

By on January 26th, 2017 in printer

Tags: ,

 Truly excellent parts 3D printed on 3ntr's powerful machines
Truly excellent parts 3D printed on 3ntr’s powerful machines

We examined samples from 3ntr’s equipment and found them very capable. 

3ntr is a 3D printer brand from Milan-based Jdeal-Form, a five decade-old manufacturing company, who have plenty of experience with polymers and building making machines of all kinds. 

The company entered the 3D printer market recently and has produced several models including the A2 and A4 models we examined. 

Like several companies, 3ntr is attempting to break into the prototyping market pioneered by Stratays. Their strategy is to increase the quality, broaden the number and type of materials printable and reduce costs all at the same time. And from what I saw, it appears they’re doing so successfully. 

 The 3ntr A2 professional 3D printer
The 3ntr A2 professional 3D printer

The A2, shown here, is able to print in ABS, HIPS, IGLIDUR, Nylon/Carbon, PA66+Glass, Polycarbonate, PC-ABS, PET-G, PLA, SSU01 and TPU, which is quite a variety of powerful materials. We were told this machine can 3D print “any available material.” It has a very generous build volume of 620 x 350 x 490mm and can print layers as small as 0.05mm at a maximum print speed of 200mm/second. 

The nozzle goes up to 410C, able to handle almost all materials available today. What’s more interesting is that the build chamber is heated and can run at 80C, making for extremely reliable 3D printing. I asked whether their design violates the Stratasys heated control patent and was told they do not because the independent heating elements are inside the chamber itself. I suppose that makes the heating design sufficiently different. 

 The 3ntr A4 professional 3D printer
The 3ntr A4 professional 3D printer

The A4 model is identical except that it has a somewhat smaller, but still generous build volume of 300 x 200 x 190mm. 

Both machines feature an interesting carbon fiber build plate that is said to be “always flat” and requires “no calibration”. The plate also features automatic adhesion. I’d show you a picture but we were asked not to show it publicly yet. 

I examined sample prints from these machines and found them to be of exceptional quality. The edges are very sharp, surface texture is near perfect. 

 Crisp, large 3D print made on 3ntr equipment
Crisp, large 3D print made on 3ntr equipment

Here you can see a large industrial part printed on a 3ntr machine that shows the detail possible. 

Some of their quality success may be due to their propriety support material, which is apparently engineered to operate at very high temperatures. 

 A ball joint 3D printed in one operation by 3ntr
A ball joint 3D printed in one operation by 3ntr

The tolerances on this machine are quite incredible. Here is a ball joint that was 3D printed without support material, and it’s near perfect. Pictures are hard to tell this story, but suffice to say that it moves quite smoothly in the joint. 

 Hard and soft materials easily 3D printed on 3ntr equipment
Hard and soft materials easily 3D printed on 3ntr equipment

The materials capabilities on these machines make for some interesting applications. Here we see how they have mixed hard and soft materials together to produce an interesting hybrid object. 

The company has leveraged it’s long experience with polymers to develop a new 3D printing material they call “nPower”. It has great thermal resistance, up to 210C, and is unaffected by chemicals or acids. It’s also “self extinguishing”, but I’m not quite sure what that means, so I looked it up. nPower meets “UL94 V0”, which states: 

V-0: burning stops within 10 seconds on a vertical specimen; drips of particles allowed as long as they are not inflamed.

Certainly a good attribute for any filament. 

Anyhow, 3ntr explains that nPower is 5X less expensive than PEEK, which might be of interest to some operators. 

Now you might be wondering of the price for these machines, and I cannot tell you, as we were told the prices are set by 3ntr’s resellers. 

Via 3ntr
 

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!