A few days ago, Sharebot announced that its R&D department had made quite interesting new discoveries while drumming this new machine.
“When preparing prototypes for events such as TCT Show in Birmingham, UK and the Maker Carnival in Rome, our R&D department developed a method for printing sugar using the SnowWhite SLS 3D printer,†explains Claudio Bonfiglioli of Sharebot.
We've heard of 3D printers that use sugar as a material, most notably the 3D Systems' recently acquired ChefJet series. But Tiangong has not seen a SLS 3D printer using traditional materials that can print sugar materials. This makes a lot of sense and can make the SnowWhite SLS 3D printer more widely applicable.
When using sugar for 3D printing, SnowWhite still uses the normal SLS technology, using a laser beam layer to sinter powdered sugar until the 3D printed object is built. In addition, it is known that SnowWhite can also print nylon and graphite materials.
However, 3D Systems' Chefjet Sugar 3D printers cost between $5,000 and $10,000, while SnowWhite prices exceed $10,000. But SnowWhite has other features. Being able to print sugar material clearly gives potential customers one more reason to purchase this more affordable SLS 3D printer. The price of typical SLS 3D printers is often higher than 150,000 U.S. dollars, and some are even close to 1 million U.S. dollars. This is something that individual users and even small and medium-sized enterprises are not expecting.
Sharebot ShowWhite is expected to be officially released sometime in early 2015, and the company will also release several other new 3D printers.
(Editor)