The ability to 3D-print objects in exceptionally strong materials like Kevlar, fiberglass, and for the first time, carbon fiber, means one thing: “No more Yoda heads,” according to MarkForged creative director Jeff Klein. MarkForged (stylized as MARKFORG3D) is the Boston-area startup behind the Mark One, a 3D printer that launched in its current form in September and is billed as the world’s first to extrude carbon fiber. The advantages of this material — typically used in the production of airplanes, spaceships, racecars, bicycles, and military vehicles — are myriad: it’s thin, light, heat-tolerant, and hardier than the average 3D printer filament. “It's 20 times stiffer than ABS, five times stronger than ABS, and has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than 6061-T6 Aluminum,” Klein told Architizer during day one of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which makes Mark One suitable for printing industrial-strength parts — as opposed to the tchotchkes that home 3D printers are usually limited to (Star Wars-themed or otherwise). The machine’s rapid prototyping begins by laying down a nylon filament, a lower-cost material ideal for printing trial and error. Once you’ve tweaked your design to its ideal specifications, you can bolster that nylon ...
The ability to 3D-print objects in exceptionally strong materials like Kevlar, fiberglass, and for the first time, carbon fiber, means one thing: “No more Yoda heads,” according to MarkForged creative director Jeff Klein. MarkForged (stylized as MARKFORG3D) is the Boston-area startup behind the Mark One, a 3D printer that launched in its current form in September and is billed as the world’s first to extrude carbon fiber. The advantages of this material — typically used in the production of airplanes, spaceships, racecars, bicycles, and military vehicles — are myriad: it’s thin, light, heat-tolerant, and hardier than the average 3D printer filament. “It's 20 times stiffer than ABS, five times stronger than ABS, and has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than 6061-T6 Aluminum,” Klein told Architizer during day one of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which makes Mark One suitable for printing industrial-strength parts — as opposed to the tchotchkes that home 3D printers are usually limited to (Star Wars-themed or otherwise). The machine’s rapid prototyping begins by laying down a nylon filament, a lower-cost material ideal for printing trial and error. Once you’ve tweaked your design to its ideal specifications, you can bolster that nylon ...