Tumaker’s Modular 3D Printers: FFF and FGF Flexibility in One Platform

By on January 21st, 2025 in news, printer

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The Tumaker NX 300 Modular 3D printer [Source: Fabbaloo]

Today we’re looking at a Spanish 3D printer manufacturer, Tumaker.

You may not have heard of Tumaker, but they’ve been around since 2014, building polymer extrusion 3D printers. In 2019, the company was acquired by IT3D Group and INDART 3D, which has leveraged the 3D print capability: IT3D Group distributes the equipment worldwide, while INDART 3D performs the R&D and manufacturing for the company.

Today Tumaker offers three different 3D print platforms:

  • Tumaker Mini Pro
  • Tumaker NX 300 Modular
  • Tumaker Bigfoot 500 Modular

These machines are a bit different than your typical extrusion devices in that they all are capable of using either FFF or FGF modes. This is accomplished with a modular system of interchangeable and independent print heads.

It’s even possible to change print heads during a job. This makes it possible to lower the cost of prints, as pellet material is typically 10X less expensive than filament.

For FGF mode, these devices require the company’s external pellet feeder. The Automatic Pellet Feeder can hold up to 7L of pellets, although the amount of material is a bit less due to the space between the granules. It also includes a humidity sensor.

Tumaker Mini Pro

The Tumaker Mini Pro 3D printer [Source: Fabbaloo]

The Mini Pro could be the smallest commercial FGF 3D printer I’ve seen, with a build volume of 200 x 200 x 200 mm. It includes all the usual automated calibrations, network connectivity, and touch screen interfaces you’d expect on a machine. It works with the usual open-source slicing software tools.

For materials, the device can handle all the common types as the hot end can reach 300C. The Mini Pro ships with a 0.4mm nozzle, but there are optional nozzles of 0.15, 0.25, 0.60, and 0.80 mm that can also be used.

Tumaker NX 300 Modular

The NX 300 (seen at top) is a larger device, with a build volume of 300 x 300 x 250 mm. Like the Mini Pro, it also includes the interchangeable nozzles and can switch from FFF to FGF as required.

The NX 300 offers a rather low noise level of only 44dB, which is far quieter than most “quiet” 3D printers.

By “modular”, it means there are a number of different combinations of toolheads possible:

  • One direct drive
  • One pellet
  • Two direct drives
  • One direct drive + one pellet
  • Two pellet

Tumaker Bigfoot 500 Modular

The Tumaker NX Bigfoot 500 Modular 3D printer [Source: Fabbaloo]

The Bigfoot 500 is, as you might guess, the largest of the three, with a build volume of 500 x 500 x 500 mm. It shares many of the same characteristics of the other two machines, but at a larger scale.

One difference is that the Bigfoot 500 can handle large-format filament spools, up to 6kg. It also ships with a Simplify3D slicer license, but is compatible with other popular slicing tools.

Flexibles

Extremely flexible 3D print by Tumaker [Source: Fabbaloo]

Tumaker seems to specialize in flexible materials, as we saw several examples of incredible TPU prints, as you can see above. We were told they can print TPU Shore 47 in FFF mode, and down to only 30 in pellet mode. That’s a capability that isn’t easy to find in most 3D printers.

Examples of flexible 3D print geometries with TPU 47 by Tumaker [Source: Fabbaloo]

Because of their abilities to print flexible objects, Tumaker said they have had significant interest from producers of orthopaedics and insoles. In addition, they have sold equipment to automakers and defense industries.

Tumaker has a broad distribution network, now covering 63 countries, so there is very likely a local reseller in your area.

Via Tumaker

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!