Carbon fiber is one of the most prized construction materials available to a parts designer. It is also among the most expensive due to the painstakingly tedious process of molding or winding it. If, somehow, carbon fiber could just be printed it would be quite miraculous. To the delight of makers everywhere, the first 3D printer for carbon fiber was unveiled this week at the SolidWorks World 2014 conference in San Diego.
The company that makes the printer, MarkForged, claims its machine can produce parts with higher a strength-to-weight ratio than 6061-T6 aluminum. 6061 with a T6 temper is certainly not the strongest aluminum flavor going — and probably not the material chosen for the bulk of Ford’s new all-aluminum truck — but it’s the most commonly used aluminum, and still pretty tough stuff. In a rather surprising move, MarkForged’s founder, Gregory Marks, has named his new creation the “Mark One.” The machine runs either a 1.75mm fused carbon filament (FFF), or a 4mm composite filament (CFF), using quick-change extruder heads, and users also have the choice of printing with fiberglass, PLA (Poly lactic acid), or nylon.
