The next-generation Sapphire® industrial metal 3D printer will print up to 1 meter in height, making it the world’s tallest laser-powder additive manufacturing system
Digital manufacturing innovator VELO3D announced today its plans to launch a next-generation Sapphire industrial metal 3D printer with a vertical axis of 1 meter. The system will ship in Q4 2020, with precision-tool and component manufacturer Knust-Godwin securing the first order to produce parts for an oil and gas application.
Speaking about the new industrial metal 3D printer, Benny Buller, Founder and CEO of VELO3D said, “Our vision at VELO3D is to enable end users to build whatever they want without the constraints of yesterday’s standards. One of those constraints is the build envelope. A meter-tall system enables industrial applications that couldn’t be built before, especially for oilfield service tools and flight hardware. Best of all, it will still utilize our highly patented SupportFree process, in-situ calibration, and process control for quality assurance.”
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The immediate part opportunity that Knust-Godwin will address with the meter-tall Sapphire printer is a part for oilfield drilling that is currently manufactured by more than five subtractive processes. Additive manufacturing enables consolidation of such traditional processes, improving part quality and part performance.
Happy about the customised solution, Mike Corliss, VP of Technology at Knust-Godwin said, “There tends to be a trade-off between large-format additive machines and part quality; VELO3D is attractive to us because of their semiconductor heritage and engineering disciplines around process control and metrology. We have confidence that we’ll be able to build mission-critical industrial parts without compromises made to part quality.”
The technical features of the meter-tall Sapphire printer include a 315mm-diameter build plate, dual 1kW lasers, in-situ optical calibration, and many of the same characteristics of the existing Sapphire machine. It will be the world’s tallest production metal-powder laser additive manufacturing system, exceeding the build height of both the SLM 800 and the GE Additive X Line 2000R.
The system will be commercially available starting late 2020 and compatible with nickel-based alloys.
About Knust-Godwin: Knust-Godwin has been providing high-quality, precision production machining services for over a combined 100 years to companies throughout the world. It specializes in CNC turning and CNC milling with significant experience in the oil and gas, geophysical/seismic, semiconductor, and medical industries.
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