Bambu Lab has launched its third-generation H3C 3D printing system, notable for its nine-tool Swaptek technology.
The company expects the printer to eliminate 'long-standing compromises' between speed, reliability, and multi-material capability. H3C printers are available for $2,499 and have been designed to bring multi-material and multi-colour 3D printing to the desktop.
Key to this is the Swaptek tool-changer technology, which enables nine independent print tools to be permanently loaded and pre-heated, ready to be printed. Switching between different filaments is said to take less than six seconds, delivering what Bambu is describing as a 'single, seamless, one-click workflow.'
By working with nine materials, the company suggests users will be able to combine rigid engineering polymers, dissolvable supports, and ultra-soft rubber-like materials, such as TPU (as soft as 75A) in a single part. Potential application opportunities, Bambu notes, could include lighter footwear, more ergonomic bags and hybrid devices that were previously impossible to produce in one pass.
With Swaptek, users will also be able to utilise multiple nozzle sizes in the same part - such as a 0.2mm for finer details and 0.4 mm to build the bulk of the part.
Other features of the new printer include the airtight Smart Filament Management storage system that reads material types via RFID and is paired with an 85°C built-in drying module, and automated tool-offset compensation, bed-leveling, and active G-code pre-heating capabilities.
Bambu says the H3C has been designed with a 40% lighter motion platform than previous systems, which allows blazing speeds up to 1,400 mm/s.
