Best 3D printers 2018: What are the main trends?

Posted By Lucie Gaget on Dec 21, 2018 | 0 comments

3D printing technology is constantly evolving and new 3D printing technologies are appearing on the market quite often. Innovations are always going further and in this little 3D printer guide, we will focus on the best professional 3D printers to see what are the main additive manufacturing trends.

What are the best 3D printers 2018? What are the main trends? Let’s discover it right now in our blog post.

What are the best industrial 3D printers?

HP Jet Fusion 300 / 500

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard about multicolor 3D printing. HP decided to launch a full-color technology with its HP full color Jet Fusion 300 / 500 printer!

After the success of its Multi Jet Fusion technology, always available for all of your projects on our online 3D printing service, the 3D printer manufacturer HP is now going further, including color in its manufacturing process.

More information in the video below:

SLM 280 2.0 by SLM Solutions Group

This machine is using the Selective Laser Melting technology and comes with a patented multi-beam technology and two fiber lasers which expose the building field via a 3D scan optic during the printing process.

Thanks to this innovation, an 80% higher build rate can be achieved. Moreover, the bidirectional powder coating helps to shorten the manufacturing time of individual metal parts.

slm-solutions.us

Markforged Metal X

Here is another metal 3D printer. This machine is changing the way we used to print with carbon fiber composites. It is using a special 3D printing technique called ADAM, for Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing.

This Metal X 3D printer is 10 times cheaper than traditional metal printers and is using a cloud-based printer management software. The aim of this amazing 3D machine is to create cheaper parts and to reduce the weight of your printed objects thanks to its optimized technology.

EOS Formiga P 110 Velocis

This 3D printer is using the Selective Laser Sintering process. EOS is one of the leaders in the 3D printer manufacturing business, the company is a constantly unveiling 3D machines improving both quality and productivity.  

According to EOS, this 3D printer can print polymer parts 20 times faster and the precision of the laser spot has a small focus diameter enabling wall thicknesses of less than a half millimeter.

The building volume of this printer is of 200 mm x 250 mm x 330 mm.

Laser Concept X LINE 2000R

The German manufacturer Concept Laser unveiled one of the largest industrial metal 3D printers. This machine actually has a 160 liter build volume, perfect to create prototypes and functional parts.

Another great feature is that this machine allows two build modules at one time thanks to a rotating mechanism.

X LINE

DMP Factory 500 by 3D System

You certainly understood it, metal 3D printing is a big trend, and here is one of the best 3D printers unveiled in 2018: the DMP Factory 500 by 3D System.

This 3D printer has a great build volume of 500 x 500 x 500 mm and uses simplified workflows. The DMP Factory 500 is a customizable solution, with five modules: Printer Module (PTM), Removable Print Module (RPM), Powder Management Module (PMM), Transport Module (TRM), Parking Modul (PAM).

Desktop Metal Production System

100 times faster and 20 times cheaper than other metal 3D printing technologies. This 3D printer is made for mass production and complex metal parts. For all steps of the process, this machine is using bi-directional printing.

Desktop Metal Production System

Desktop 3D printers

Ultimaker 2+

This FDM printer is really efficient and offers consistent results.

Indeed, FDM printers, fused filament fabrication can be used for some smaller projects or prototyping, and some 3D machines are quite high-quality, like this Ultimaker printer.  You will have the choice among different nylon materials and several options.

Formlabs Form 2  

This desktop 3D printer is not really for professional use, but it will also give you an overview of what is happening in the 3D printing world for 3D printing enthusiasts.

This 3D printer don’t have the quality of an FDM printer like Ultimaker 2+, but is still great to print any little designs. It is still quite advanced and difficult to use.

Main 3D printer trends

3D printer manufacturers are following the trends of 3D printing businesses and we can notice the main trends.

We can clearly see some trends in the little 3D printer selection. Among all 3D printing materials available, metal is now clearly one of the most popular materials. Bigger printing volume is also becoming something really important for 3D printing businesses.

The HP technology is still going further with its new full-color 3D printer, and colorful 3D printed parts might be a new trend.

If big industrial 3D printers are more and more sophisticated and offering advanced features, desktop 3D printer are also starting to become interesting tools. Indeed, there are also on the market some great fused deposition modeling printers.

Share your views with us about this selection of the best 3D printers of 2018! We can see that this year, most of the best 3D printers are actually metal 3D printers. For you, what is the best 3D printer on the market?

To make the most of our industrial 3D printers, you can upload your 3D model on our online 3D printing service and get your 3D printed parts in a few days.

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