Formlabs Launches the X1: Let’s Pack It In?

• I’d like to share my disappointment. When Formlabs teased that something big was coming, I really hoped the firm would finally get around to making CNC machines, as it always...

I’d like to share my disappointment. When Formlabs teased that something big was coming, I really hoped the firm would finally get around to making CNC machines, as it always should have. I would have been happy with a lathe, frankly, or a simple desktop mill. Sadly, it’s just another 3D printer. Formlabs has now launched the X1. This is a larger SLS system, available for $84,999, that can be bought towards the end of this year. The Fuse X1 is 330 × 330 × 565 mm, and the company says that the part cost will be half that of other powder bed fusion systems. Positioning Whereas recently HP made a lower-cost machine and depowdering kit available for $60,000, that low-cost system was already aggressively reducing part costs and making powder bed fusion very accessible. Now Formlabs has place