As Sam alluded to in Wednesday's edition of Additive Insight, if you'd just skimmed through HP's Formnext press release this week (It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me.), you might have missed the company's big hardware announcement altogether.
At Formnext, HP, which has been in the additive manufacturing space for almost a decade now with its Multi Jet Fusion and Metal Jet technologies, has taken its first step into a new polymer machine category.
Buried amongst new materials developments and partner announcements, in Frankfurt, the company presented what it says is the first instalment in a new line of filament extrusion printers. The HP Industrial Filament 3D Printer 600 High Temperature (HP IF 600HT) is built on an open materials platform and compatible with engineering-grade and high-temperature materials. That includes filaments like PEEK and Ultem, which the company believes will provide it with a stronger play in markets such as aerospace and automotive where such materials are in high demand.
There has been a lot of speculation throughout the Messe this week about where this technology has come from. The name '3DGence' left the mouths of visitors three times during my short visit to the booth, and it's not hard to see why.
