Tethon3D has introduced a new, low-cost ceramic resin 3D printer, the Coyote.
The company has long been known as the source for ceramic resins. Presently, they almost certainly have the widest range of ceramic materials available for resin 3D printing, including porcelain, alumina, zirconia, cordierite, and many others.
Along their journey, they began to produce 3D printers to use with their ceramic materials. Why not just let the existing 3D printer manufacturers produce the printers instead? Isn’t it a big deal to develop and market a 3D printer?
They found that most existing 3D printers, particularly the lower-cost systems, have issues when printing ceramic materials. This is because the resins tend to be more viscous and therefore require specialized heating to ensure reasonably print job durations.
They’ve introduced several 3D printers that are directly able to print with these ceramic resins, including the Bison, Gazelle, and large-format Mammoth machines. However, they are all quite a bit more expensive than typical resin 3D printers due to their capabilities and the lower economies of scale for this type of device.
Now they have broken through the price barrier and introduced a new, lower-cost system, the Coyote. It’s priced at US$4,995, which might seem a bit high, but it’s far less than their original device, the Bison 1000, which is currently listed at US$21,950.
The Coyote is an LCD 3D printer, similar to many common resin 3D printers. However, it is equipped with a controllable heated vat, which provides the required viscosity. The Coyote also sports a “high-precision polarization correction system” that provides 98% light uniformity.
The Coyote is ready to print ceramic resins without issue, right out of the box.
There’s something else: I asked Tethon3D why they wouldn’t simply print ceramic resins on common low-cost LCD printers at low speeds. The answer was interesting. It turns out they’ve been testing this approach extensively, and they’ve found that most low-cost systems tend to wear out prematurely.
The Coyote is designed for low-volume production and includes components that allow the machine to take on extensive workloads. Meanwhile, they found the other systems would eventually have motion system failures, making them less useful for more production applications.
If you’re interested in getting into proper ceramic 3D printing at a very low cost compared to most alternatives, the Coyote from Tethon3D might be a good option.
Via Tethon3D
