Why choose 3D Pot-Ceramic Printer
1. REAL CLAY
The most predominant point to be made about our system is the fact that we extrude thick clay. Unlike other machines that run air compressors and hoses and need very diluted clay or slip, our extruders use thick clay. Basically clay straight out of the bag with only a little water added.
2. LARGE PRINT
Our printers and extruders can print high-quality large scale 3D prints, up to 36". Primarily this is because of the thick clay, and our ability to utilize large nozzles. We offer sizes from 1 mm all the way up to 16 mm.
3. FAST PRINTING
By using thick clay and bigger size nozzles you can print faster (130 mm/s) and taller (48") There is no need for drying or heating of the clay in order to get the support during printing. Even large vessels are capable of self support. With larger nozzles the layer height can also increase which additionally decreases your printer time.
4. CONSISTENCY
We prepare clay for printing in a de-airing pug mill, that’s why there are virtually no air bubbles in the printed vessels. Even if the tubes are loaded by hand with commercially available bag clay, there is very little chance of air bubbles in the final print. That’s how we achieve a superior consistency of the layer height.
5. REVERSING
Our extruders are capable of rapid reversing which gives us the ability to stop and start during interrupted prints. This allows you to print more complicated shapes besides cylindrical vessels.
6. EASY MAINTENANCE
The clay can be left in our system for up to a month as long as the pressure is unloaded prior to storage. Virtually no consumable parts are necessary to purchase with our system.
7. NOZZLE SIZES
Unlike other systems, we offer large selection of nozzles from 1 mm all the way up to 16 mm. The biggest difference is that our extruder prints directly from the nozzle of the extruder. This is a huge advantage which most people have yet to realize. By direct extruding from the extruder we are able to use a much thicker clay body. With thick clay you are able to print large objects at a faster rate and much higher in size.
8. LOW PRESSURE
Almost all of the other machines use an air compressor to pressurize a pressure-pot (at up to 100 psi/6.8 Bar) full of clay which is then forced through a small hose. It is not possible to get the same thick type of clay through a hose assembly because of the pressures build up from parasitic drag inside the hose. Additionally from the fluctuating air pressure in the reservoir tank your clay flow will change many times during the print. Also hysteresis is a problem caused by the hose pulsating from the pressure changes by the varying air pressure.
The end result of this kind of mechanism with hoses is that the clay is too thin in consistency to produce large self-supporting objects, this is why they use double wall or intricate wall designs just to be able to support the print.
Our 3D PotterBot machines are able to print with a single layer of varying thinkness up to 0.63" (16mm), heights up to 4' (1219mm), X axis up to 26" (660mm), and Y axis up to 18" (457mm).
The ease of set up, loading the tubes, and cleaning of the 3D Potterbot is much easier than the air compressor with a high pressure chamber, hoses, and multiple parts in the auger assembly. When our extruder is empty, it is simple to back off the screw, undo the nozzle, wash it out, and you're ready to go for the next load. You can also load multiple high volume (1000, 2000, 3600, 4000ml) tubes at one time so your tube loading can be even less time consuming.
9. SMALL SIZE
The footprint of a 3D PotterBot is quite small because of our innovative traveling Z axis design. This gives you the ability to create large objects without a huge printer sitting on your table. All that is required for our machine is a relatively flat surface capable of supporting the machine and the traveling X axis. We also have an integrated touch screen which can run the machine without being hooked to an external computer. You have full control of all the features necessary to modify the print as it is in process after loading from a standard SD card.
10. COMMON PRODUCT
Our machines are currently in use in hundreds of architecture institutes and universities throughout the world. We also have many machines in high school environment printing continuously all day long at the amazement of the students.