Additive Industries has introduced the MetalFab 420K modular metal additive manufacturing system.
Equipped with four 1kW lasers, Additive Industries says it has designed the new machine to deliver higher productivity while maintaining high material quality levels.
The MetalFab 420K boasts a build volume of 420 x 420 x 400 mm, automated laser calibration and in-build laser-to-laser alignment, and a variable beam diameter calibrated from 100 to 500 μm. Additive Industries has also engineered a highly homogenous and high velocity gas flow in a bid to ensure consistency and quality across the powder bed and enable high laser power and scan speeds.
Other features of the new machine include advanced oxygen and humidity controls, a tracking capability that helps to reduce powder ageing, and a new permanent filter design to reduce maintenance intervals and improve waste handling without print interruption. Fully enclosed and automated powder extraction, sieving and transportation serve to increase operator safety, while a modular design allows for onsite expansion. Additive Industries says up to eight jobs can run automatically without operator input and ‘up to three materials can be installed simultaneously’ with multiple additive manufacturing cores.
Users will also have ‘full freedom’ to develop their own process parameters to enhance productivity and enable the printing of ‘hard to process’ materials.
“Our objective at Additive Industries is to develop manufacturing systems which provide market-leading quality and productivity for manufacturers working with additive manufacturing technology – this is the philosophy which drove our development of the MetalFab 420K,” said Mark Massey, CEO of Additive Industries. “Based on the feedback of our valuable global customer base, we have built this new system from the proven DNA of our MetalFab product portfolio with a key focus on the needs of our demanding users in the space, aerospace, automotive and high-tech sectors, who are looking to push productivity further in their manufacturing operations, where no compromise in quality is acceptable. The MetalFab 420K delivers this.”
Additive Industries is taking orders for the MetalFab 420K machine immediately, with delivery expected to commence in Q2 2026. The machine has been through a ‘rigorous 6-month beta testing programme’, with a ‘key US-based customer in the space sector’ utilising the MetalFab 420K on its production floor.
“Our R&D team has delivered a range of technical innovations implemented in the MetalFab 420K, which, with its open architecture, will allow our users to further push the limits of our technology to deliver even more challenging applications and reduced cost per part,” added Niels Cruts, Manager Technology at Additive Industries. “The system has undergone an extensive development and testing period, including a beta program where it has been run in a demanding production environment with one of our key customers in the space sector, producing production parts.”
