PRESS RELEASE 23/07/2014
Noztek, an extrusion manufacturing company based in London England have produced a high temperature version of the filament extruder called the Noztek Pro HT. They noticed a gap in the market for the extrusion of high performance thermoplastics using industrial 3D printers.
They were approached earlier this year by several companies, one who wanted to prototype products for space and deep sea exploration and another was a well known British passenger jet company who were interested in prototyping engine components.
The reason for the interest in a much higher temperature filament extruder is the need to extrude thermoplastics such as Ultem, The thermoplastic Ultem belongs to the resin family of amorphous thermoplastic polyetherimide (PEI). PEI resins are high performance polymers that combine excellent thermal properties, exceptional dimensional stability, inherent flame retardance and good chemical resistance miestenapteekki.com. In fact once cooled this polymer can be milled in much the same way as metal.
Ultem is ideal for the transportation industry due to its high strength-to-weight ratio and its VØ rating for FST (flame, smoke, and toxicity). This unique material’s pre-existing certifications make it an excellent choice for the commercial transportation industry – especially aerospace, marine and ground vehicles.
Noztek upgraded their existing professional extruder, with a bespoke heater band capable of maintaining temperatures of up to 600c. A new PID temperature controller and high performance K-sensor have also been added, these two components allow for more accurate temperature readings.
Steven Forster one of the founders of Noztek says “This is an exciting new addition to the Noztek range of products. It will allow companies to manufacture thermoplastic filament and 3D print incredibly robust prototypes at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods”.
The Noztek Pro HT is available in 110v and 240v versions with a price tag of £1239.95.