New SpiderBot V4.0 HT delta to support low-cost PEEK and PEI 3D printing
For the 5th year of its existence, following 2 years of R&D, French delta 3D printer manufacturer SpiderBot is introducing the new SpiderBot V4.0 HT (High Temperature). The system leverages a new technology developed by the company’s founder, Philip Boichut, to support affordable 3D printing with advanced, high-temperature plastics such as PEEK and PEI.
In order to do so, the delta system features an exclusive system for pre-heating the part using infrared radiation, maintaining it at a very high temperature. This makes it possible to achieve better results on technical materials by limiting deformations, warping, shrinkage, and even by reducing post-processing requirements
The idea was to heat only the part instead of heating the printing chamber and, unlike many 3D printers, to cool down the printing chamber. Radiant heaters are disposed all around the chamber pointing towards the printing area. High-temperature fans extract excess heat generated by radiants, thus the SpiderBot V4.0 has a cooled chamber. Thanks to this patent-pending cooled chamber, the outside of the enclosure at the radiant level does not exceed 65°C while the part is heated at more than 200°C.
Although still imperfect, compared to SpiderBot’s upcoming ABSolute3 industrial-grade solution, which features a true hi-temperature chamber, this solution improves the printing quality of technical parts in PEEK, while enabling low-cost production and availability of the machine. In addition, The system’s print head is liquid cooled, with the water temperature never exceeding 45°C, even when printing for several hours at 420°C, with a part at ~200°C and a 24°C ambient temperature.
The available printing space is Ø180x180mm, however, for PEEK or high shrink materials, Boichut recommends not exceeding Ø150x120mm. Boichut also reports that technical parts as large as 80mm were printed in PEEK with very little warping.
SpiderBot has started the production of 10 machines with delivery scheduled for the beginning of the 4th quarter of 2018 at a price of less than 7,000 €, ex. VAT, for the first 10 machines. KISSlicer also created a suitable SpiderBot toolpath for the PEEK, and its “Preload” function reduces sewing marks and cords considerably.
