Markforged have just released their first materials property datasheet on Metal – the 17-4 PH Stainless Steel Material Datasheet. Take a look at the performance they are getting out of Sinter 1.
There is also data from a Mass Production sintering system, so you can get a sense of how close Markforged are to million dollar furnace performance (very close).
Markforged were at CES. They partnered with Instron to perform live tensile tests of dogbones printed on the Metal X and sintered in the Sinter 1. Its reflective of the reliability and repeatability of the end-to-end system that Markforged are confident enough to show the part performance live. For those of you who have not seen a tensile test or are curious – check out this video from the show.
Ceramic ‘Release layer’ for Easy Metal Support Removal
Finally, Markforged have taken the wraps off another Metal X feature and showing off how metal supports work. The Markforged Metal X prints a thin layer of ceramic material (using a 2nd nozzle) between the part and the same-metal support. This ‘release layer’ turns to dust during the sintering process – and the part separates cleanly from the supports.
Here are before and after photos to give you an idea.
Before:
After:
The Markforged software does all the hard work for you – determining where supports are needed for both the printing and sintering process and, automatically generating the support and release geometry. Just upload your STL and hit print.