Desktop Metal
Loctite Helmet
Desktop Metal announced on August 23 that it is expanding its partnership with Henkel on photopolymer and material development. This begins with the qualification of Henkels Loctite 3D IND405 Black and Loctite 3D 3843 for use on the Xtreme 8K, what Desktop Metal say is the world’s largest 3D printer for high volume production of end-use parts.
Both popular engineering materials in the 3D printing industry at large, they are stiff, strong and durable. This makes the materials ideal for a wide range of end-use manufacturing parts and consumer goods. Parts produced in IND405 have high impact resistance and can be machined, tapped and polished.
Loctite 3D IND405 and 3843 are already offered in the ETEC Envision One desktop DLP printer, along with high temperature polymers (Loctite 3955 HDT 280 FST, IND 147, and IND 406), elastomers (Loctite 475 and IND 402), and Loctite Med 413, a biocompatible plastic ideal for medical devices and equipment.
The Xtreme 8K features a build area of 450 x 371 x 399 mm. This new combination of a popular material on a large printing platform enables users to deliver all-new sizes and throughput of parts without tooling.
“Our team is delighted to partner with Henkel and offer their Loctite materials on our truly differentiated DLP printing systems,” said Ric Fulop, Founder and CEO, Desktop Metal. “By printing Loctite 3D IND405 HDT50 High Elongation and Loctite 3D 3843 HDT60 High Toughness on the ETEC Xtreme 8K, manufacturers will be able to produce on-demand end-use parts in all-new sizes and at higher throughputs that help drive down the per-part cost. What’s more, they won’t need to pay for, or wait for, tooling to get the job done affordably.”
The Xtreme 8K is one of the few commercially available top down DLP printers, with two overhead industrial video projectors. The different approach allows heavy parts to be 3D printed on a tray in a vat with thicker viscosity materials.
In addition to Loctite IND405 and 3843, the Xtreme 8K prints a category of resilient DuraChain photopolymers that deliver two-part material strength in a single pot, such as FreeFoam, Elastic ToughRubber and Soft ToughRubber.
