3D Systems Launches E-commerce Site for New FabPro 1000, Making the Easy-to-Use Industrial 3D Printer Easy to Buy
Staff Report From York County CEO
Monday, July 16th, 2018
3D Systems has launched an e-commerce site for its new FabPro 1000 entry-level industrial 3D printer which combines smooth surface quality, accelerated throughput and a straightforward user interface.
This powerful, compact additive manufacturing system is optimized for producing high quality plastic part prototypes as well as casting patterns for jewelry at print speeds up to three times faster than competitively priced systems. It's powered by 3D Sprint™ best-in-class software to simplify part preparation and print monitoring and is offered with three different materials: FabPro Tough BLK for functional prototyping and production parts, FabPro Proto GRY for fine featured prototypes and models, and FabPro JewelCast GRN for jewelry master patterns used for gypsum investment casting applications.
"The FabPro 1000 checks all the boxes on professional designers' and engineers' wish lists for entry-level 3D printing. Yes it's a compact device, but it's also a powerful integrated solution, including optimized software, a choice of specialized materials, an intuitive user interface, and an optional, revolutionary, light-based UV post-curing unit," said Phil Schultz, senior vice president, general manager, on demand manufacturing and plastics, 3D Systems. "The result is that FabPro 1000 delivers very high quality parts quickly and efficiently with a low Total Cost of Operation. To make these advantages even more accessible, we've launched an e-commerce site for FabPro 1000. We encourage everyone to visit the site, check out the specs and pricing, and order their FabPro 1000 today."
Customer feedback on the FabPro 1000 confirms the system's superior price/performance ratio. One example is Simon Walker, the owner of Artforge which designs and manufactures highly accurate collectible miniatures and unique jewelry.
Simon has been using the FabPro 1000 for precision investment casting. He reported, "In my experience, I have been very impressed with the FabPro 1000's print quality and smooth surface finish – so important when you're producing pieces to be cast for fine miniatures and intricate jewelry. The Achilles heel of most 3D printing solutions for investment casting has been the material. However, with the FabPro JewelCast GRN resin, I am getting consistently great casts. It is very strong and robust, so much so that we can even file the printed resin patterns if needed. When we do a casting cycle using the resin patterns, the investment powder is easily removed from the now metal patterns just like regular casting operations. As the flask of gypsum investment is plunged into water, most of the investment powder dissolves away and the rest can easily be cleaned off. That's the hurrah moment for us.
"All in all, you get a lot more for your money with the FabPro 1000 than other entry-level 3D printing solutions," Walker continued. "The software is a good example. You import the design, the 3D Sprint software automatically identifies and fixes most problems, and adds the automatic support structures. Then you can do what you like – scale the design, create mirror images, copy it, change the support structures, etc. and then send the file to the print queue. It's easy to use, intuitive and quiet - and that's what people want."