The Neo800 and smaller Neo450.
Almost exactly four years after the debut of its first professional stereolithography system at TCT Show, British 3D printer manufacturer RPS has today introduced the second additive manufacturing system in its Neo range, the Neo450.
A more compact version of the original Neo800, the Neo450 is presented as a more ‘affordable industrial grade 3D printer’ with a smaller build volume of 450 × 450 × 400 mm to facilitate the manufacture of small to medium parts including prototypes, rapid tooling, and master patterns.
David Storey, Director of RPS, said “The Neo is a technically advanced product packed with great benefits and features, and significantly raises the bar and expectations within the field of SL printing. We developed the Neo 3D printer to drive forward and transform the expectations of stereolithography. Thankfully, gone are the days of hand finishing poor quality parts from fragile materials. Neo printed parts rival both the quality and accuracy of injection moulded parts directly from the printer.”
The Neo450 comes in two variants, the Neo450e and Neo450s, which offer alternative performance and functionalities depending on the needs of the user. The Neo450s is up to 40% faster than the Neo450e and offers both standard and high definition builds, eliminating the need for multiple systems with different capabilities. It is also equipped with a more powerful laser, 3-axis dynamic scanning system and advanced software algorithms to allow fast printing of parts over the entire build area. As with previous Neo models, both machines benefit from the same open materials platform and RPS’s Titanium software.
Explaining the rationale behind the two systems, Storey added: “With the Neo450 series, we wanted to design and develop a reliable, versatile machine that offered customers more functionality. With the Neo450e, customers can produce complex industrial-grade quality parts from an affordable 3D printer. With the Neo450s, customers can now quickly produce small to medium parts in SD or build intricate HD parts over the entire build area.”
The original Neo800 has been adopted by a range of users across automotive and service provider industries. Last year, Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) leveraged Malcolm Nicholls’ in-house system to produce prototypes for its BAC Mono R supercar, while earlier this year KW Special Projects shared plans to install a Neo800 inside its new Digital Manufacturing Centre. Back in May, RPS also secured its first installation in the U.S. when Midwest Prototyping installed a Neo800 at its Wisconsin-based service bureau.
The Neo450 is available to order now.
