Stratasys officially announced the new J750 3D printer, an impressive new piece of equipment that stands to disrupt the entire product design and development process.
Read: 3D Printer May Disrupt Entire Design Process
The J750 is a multi-material, full-color 3D printer that creates true product-matching prototypes, some of the best 3D printing realism that I have ever seen, accelerated product delivery, and the ability to save an incredible amount of time and resources.
The new printer is capable of producing more than 360,000 color combinations and simultaneously prints up to six base materials, plus one support material, in resolution down to 14 microns.
The printer is an upgrade from the company's Connex 500 printer, which is capable of printing three materials, but still shares the same 490 x 390 x 200 mm build envelope.
So why the J750? Users want simplicity.
Designers, marketers, and engineers want a part with the push of a button. And using the new PolyJet Studio software, the production process has evolved to be nearly as user friendly as using Photoshop.
Designers quickly need multiple iterations of concept models to communicate and improve designs; engineering needs realistic prototypes for manufacturing instructions and engineering prototypes for form, fit, and function; and marketing needs realistic parts that look like the first article, prototypes that will help customers better understand the final product.
Having seen a few examples that were printed from the the J750, the 3D printer seems to be more than capable of suiting all three.
How do I know this? First of all, I shook hands with this interior hand model that was printed with five of Stratasys's color and clear Vero materials and TangoPlus in 9 hours and 18 minutes.
And then I came face to face with this impressive head model that will forever haunt my dreams. It took 84.5 hours to build in six different Vero materials.
Really, the new printer stands to replace several machines and processes in the shop, particularly printing and painting, engineering grade plastic production, sanding and finishing, urethane and rubber molding, and even some CNCs.
