Exclusive: New Details Emerge on Price and Launch Date of Sharebot’s SLS 3D Printer

Source: http://3dprintingindustry.com/

According to sources very close to Sharebot’s management, the Italian company is planning on launching its first SLS 3D printer, possibly the very first such low-cost system to hit the market, by the end of 2015 (currently scheduled between September and October). 3DPI can also exclusively reveal that the machine will have a price between €30-35,000.

Sharebot, which just launched its first DLP 3D printer, Voyager, (which was announced, tested, and delivered in less than one year), just opened up an official page on its website to show off the results obtained with its laser sintering capabilities, as well as the current technical specifications for the machine, presently known as SnowWhite.

It will feature a 2,200+ mm/s C02 laser source, which will enable 35 mm 3D printing on the Z axis (the latest version prints a single layer in about 10 seconds), making it one of the fastest SLS systems on the market. It will be initially configured to support PA12 (the most commonly used nylon powder for laser sintering) and all printing parameters will be configurable from the on board touch screen.

Sharebot suggests it will be particularly well fit as a lab machine to test out new types of powders, since it only requires 3Kg of material to start working and all of the unused powder can be fully recycled (which, if confirmed, would be a significant breakthrough). It also has significantly less intensive energy requirements with respect to other SLS systems currently on the market.

For those who are not yet familiar with the SnowWhite system, it will have a working volume measuring 100 x 100 x 130 mm, with a laser scanning speed ranging between 20,000 to 60,000 cycles. As said, Sharebot expects to be launching it by the end of the current year – with pre-orders opening in July – and has already opened up beta-testing, with the first machine allegedly being tested by a German customer.

The company is also reportedly already open to further beta testing requests. As more projects reach maturity on open SLS technology, there might not be a better time to get into laser sintering and, while other companies have promised even lower prices, Sharebot’s SnowWhite seems to be the closest to completion.