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There is a small paragraph about this printer on the manufacturing company’s website that tells us what the company claims about it.
To start with, the company considers its printer as an industrial 3D printer that has both; the best in class software, as well as the hardware and advanced sensors.
Moving on, the company talks about a reinforced, precision-machined gantry and a removable as well as a replaceable precision ground print bed.
The hardware side in the filament extrusion system is not only optimized to resist wear from micro carbon fiber-filled nylon filaments but also maintain print quality over thousands of hours, be it the nozzles or the extruder hobs.
Stating about the material sensors, the company claims how, when you are in the printing process, are scanning laser on the printhead which enables the printer to dynamically adjust the first layers of a print.
This allows you to achieve perfect bed adhesion and inspect parts for accuracy after printing.
Also, the X7 has a 3rd-generation fiber reinforcement system that enables you to lay down continuous fiber into parts.
In this article, we are going to look in-depth at various aspects of this printer starting with its features.
Features
Below mentioned are the points that you should juggle while being out there deciding which 3D printer to buy.
Compare these points with the other 3D printer from other companies seeing what this one has, that that one does not and so on so forth.
Carbon Fiber Strength and industrial reliability as well as accuracy
The company claims that parts and functional prototypes printed by this printer have a strength that is more than parts and functional prototypes built with machined aluminum possess.
There is a gear’s picture which you get to see before the webpage dedicated to this printer on its manufacturer’s website ends that looks high-quality.
The machine is equipped with hardware that is designed to perform each and every job with complete precision.
Markforged X7 also has sensors that will ensure to notify you of the things which you need to be notified of.
In addition, there is the unique software that comes with the printer which is user-friendly as well as reliable.
Markforged X7 also has this unique feature of micron-level laser scanning which is unique enough to not be found in any other 3D printer.
This unique feature is for closed-loop calibration that leads to the yielding of parts and functional prototypes with layer visibility as small as 50 micrometers.
Fast Print Speed
The first claim mentioned on the webpage dedicated to this printer is about the speed of this printer.
The company claims how users of this printer are able to get industrial-grade parts in their hands within hours and not weeks.
The Markforged X7 enables professional designers as well as engineers in the field to fundamentally improve their manufacturing operation at a very fast speed.
This is extremely useful for batch production when you have to print more than one part or functional prototypes continuously.
Ability to print with a variety of 3D printing materials
Often when a printer is equipped with a lot of features as much as Markforged X7 is, it does not allow you to print with a variety of 3D printing materials.
But with Markforged X7 that is not the case, as it lets your print with a long list of materials that include Onyx, Onyx FR, Nylon, Carbon Fiber, Fiberglass, Kevlar, as well as HSHT Fiberglass.
Details about each of these printing materials are available on the manufacturer’s website.
3D Printing Software Meets Production Management
Markforged X7 can be operated from a browser-based software on which you need to design your part, upload it, and then select from the wide range of composite as well as continuous fiber-based filaments that are available for printing.
Once this is done, all you got to do is hit print, it is made simple enough for even the newcomers in the field to understand and work with it without any difficulties.
The webpage dedicated to this printer on its manufacturer’s website, there is also an option of trying it yourself. You can click on it to know more about this software.
After having known about the features of this printer in-depth, let’s get to know about the specifications of the printer.
Specifications
Markforged X7 is based on FFF 3D printing technology and offers a build volume of 330 mm * 270 mm * 200 mm to its users.
The weight of this printer is 48 kilograms, while its machine footprint is 584 mm * 483 mm * 914 mm.
Made of kinetic coupling, the print bed of this printer is flat to within 80 micrometers.
You can inspect the printer while the printing process is going on, engage in active print collaboration and bed leveling.
Markforged X7 needs power in the range of 100 to 240 Volt AC and 150 Watts of power.
The extrusion system of the printer is the second generation, out of plastic and out of fiber detection type.
The RF Module of this printer has an operating band of 2.4 GHz Wi-fi standards as per 802.11 b/g/h.
You can print with plastics and fibers on this printer. In plastics, the printer offers printing with Onyx, Onyx FR, and Nylon White.
In fibers, the printer offers printing with Carbon fiber, fiberglass, Kevlar, and HSHT fiberglass.
The tensile strength of the printer is 800 Mpa, whereas the flex modulus of the printer is 51 Gpa.
The layer height visible on the parts or functional prototypes of this printer is 100 micrometers by default.
If you wish, you can decrease the print speed and have up to 50 micrometers of the resolution, whereas by increasing the print speed, you can have 250 micrometers of resolution.
The parts or functional prototypes that you decide to print with this printer will have closed-cell infill in multiple geometries.
Price
Clicking on Get A Quote option which is the first one you get when you land on the webpage dedicated to this printer, leads to a webpage wherein on the right side of the webpage you get to see the Contact form that you need to fill.
Scrolling down that webpage you get to read about some more features of this printer, whereas on the left you get information about Carbon Fiber, Kevlar as well as Fiberglass materials.
There is also an option to contact the printer manufacturer or mail them for knowing the price of this printer.
There is no straight mention of the price of this printer on its website.
There is a tab named Shop on the website that directs you to a webpage from where you can buy Materials, Consumables, Spare Parts, Desktop 3D printers as well as Software.
First Impression
The pictures of this printer posted on the website make it look like a refrigerator that we have at our home.
The body of the printer is colored in grey. The upper compartment of this printer has a transparent body that lets one see the inside of the print chamber of this printer.
A closed up picture of the printer chamber shows us the nozzle system which is operated via rails, a print bed over the stand, and the filament spool holder at the back of the printer.
The lower compartment is divided into two i.e. left and right and might contain the filament storage space.
The filament is connected to the extruder which is connected with the nozzle system.
The nozzle will move up and down with help of rails after the layer by layer building of parts or functional prototype happens.
Setup
Being an industrial 3D printer the Markforged X7 must come pretty much assembled when shipped to your location.
All you would have to do is read about the different parts of the printer in detail before starting to 3D print parts and functional prototypes if you are a beginner in the field of 3D printing technology.
However, if you have experience in hand working on a 3D printer based on the same 3D printing technology, things would be a lot easier.
If there are any doubts you can contact the company rather than guess. See videos about the printer, read about it online as well as Contact the company.
Printing Type/Cost
Based on Continuous Fiber Reinforcement or FFF 3D printing technology, the Markforged X7 uses filaments of various kinds of materials to print parts and functional prototypes.
For cooling or solidifying of these parts, this technique recommends exposing them to ambient temperature or cooling via blowers.
Overall, the cost of printing a part or functional prototype using this printer is generally less than other technologies.
Print Quality
Credit: treatstock.com
CashCo, Wartsila, Seimens Energy Innovation Center are some of the places which have been benefitted by using the parts or functional prototypes printed using Marforged X7 or the printer itself.
There is a picture of a unique kind of gear or turbine just before the section wherein the manufacturer lists down the above-mentioned companies.
This photo will give you a good idea about the print quality of parts or functional prototypes that are printed using this printer.
Software
Credit: markforged.com
Eiger Cloud is the name of the software that the printer comes with.
Although there are other options available too, you would have to spend on that.
The security would require you to clear a two-way authentication in a single sign-on.
Customer Service
Before the webpage dedicated to this printer ends on its manufacturer’s website, there is a section wherein options of talking to an expert, requesting a demo, or trying the software.
There is also the tab of Contact Us on the website, which you can click on to get the Contact details about the company.
You can fill the contact form, contact the company personnel via phone, and email.
Strangely the Support tab on the website is only visible when you reach the end of the webpage dedicated to the printer.
Opening the Support tab, you can get to search about the Knowledge base, browse through the company’s Library about its Desktop series 3D printers, industrial series, metal system, software, materials, and troubleshooting.
All of this, if searched in detail can solve your problem easily.
Parameters Influencing Buying Decision
The complete summary of this article can be found in the points below which are crucial while you are in the market and comparing two different 3D printers.
3D Printer cost: You will have to Get A Quote to know the exact price of the printer. When you search with the keywords “Markforged X7 price” on Google you are shown that the price of the printer is $69900.
3D Print quality: Extraordinary, in terms of strength as well as in terms of delivering dimensional accuracy.
3D Print speed: Markforged X7 is said to takes hours for printing parts and functional prototypes that otherwise take days.
3D Printer capability: You can play with various materials out there in the market.
3D Printer Practicality: The printer offers a huge build volume which will let you print parts and functional prototypes that will be applicable in various industries.
3D Printer User expectations: There is a tab titled Industries which lists down ten different names wherein Markforged is able to deliver.
The Verdict
It is expensive, but then it delivers quality. Small business owners and manufacturers in the field of 3D printing can get their hands on the printer for delivering their clients with a high-quality output.
