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BASF Supplies Materials for Cincinnati Inc’s SAAM HT 3D Printer

German chemical giant BASF has steadily been saturating the 3D printing industry with its presence. The latest partnership established by the world’s largest chemical company is with machine tool manufacturer Cincinnati Incorporated (CI). The two inked a distribution deal in which CI will supply ABS, carbon fiber PET and recycled PET materials from BASF 3D Printing Solutions (B3DPS) for use with its Small Area Additive Manufacturing (SAAM HT) 3D printer.

The SAAM HT 3D printer from CI. Image courtesy of Cincinnati Incorporated.

The SAAM HT is the high temperature version of CI’s desktop-sized 3D printer, originally developed by Boston startup NVBots in 2016 before CI bought the smaller firm outright in 2017. The machine complements CI’s range of massive pellet-based extrusion 3D printers with a comparably petite prototyping device which is capable of automatically ejecting parts upon completion. The HT version of the SAAM is capable of 3D printing at temperatures of up to 500°C, including ULTEM, PEEK and polycarbonate. Material profiles for each filament the system uses can be downloaded, allowing the printer to process them more quickly and easily.

BASF’s Ultrafuse PET CF15 material. Image courtesy of BASF.

Now, with the BASF partnership, the SAAM HT will be sold alongside Ultrafuse ABS, PET CF15, and rPET. While ABS is nearly ubiquitous in the world of filament extrusion for its strength, flexibility and heat-resistant properties, PET CF15 offers additional strength and thermal resistance. BASF describes the material as being easy to process with low moisture uptake.

rPET is BASF’s gesture towards sustainability. Made up of 100 percent recycled PET, rPET “looks and prints just like virgin material,” according to the company. While BASF maintains a veneer of sustainability through the numerous admirable projects is has established related to renewable energy and biomaterials, it is one of the world’s leading petrochemical manufacturers, explores for and produces oil and gas, has been responsible for dangerous environmental disasters, and develops pesticides and other agricultural chemicals that have potentially toxic effects.

A surfboard from YUYO 3D printed from rPET. Image courtesy of BASF.

While any attempt to introduce sustainability to the world is worthy, it might be difficult to overlook the conglomerate’s larger role in the climate and biodiversity crises we’re currently facing. Of course, any large chemical company in the 3D printing industry will be involved in many of these same ecologically harmful practices, which is why a larger discussion about the role of plastics and 3D printing in a sustainable society needs to be had.

Meanwhile, BASF continues to expand its footprint in the additive space. It has partnered with countless firms in the industry while growing its portfolio of additive materials, including an interesting metal filament for desktop metal 3D printing. Its backing of Materialise and Essentium and acquisition of Sculpteo means that it is only becoming more and more important in additive manufacturing.

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Belgian Startup Introduces Flexible, Transportable, Large-Scale Colossus 3D Printer at formnext

This year’s formnext wrapped up last week in Frankfurt, and many companies were there to showcase their latest products, including Colossus, a multinational 3D printing startup based in Belgium. At the trade fair, the startup introduced its aptly named Colossus 3D printer, which it calls the largest and first fully integrated transportable 3D printer in the world. The Colossus was built with flexibility in mind – it’s easy to add on features and upgrade it, and the transportable 3D printer works as a fixed unit as well.

Yannick Aerts, CTO of Colossus, said, “We wanted to build a printing system that really adjusts to our customer needs, so making it as transportable and upgradeable as possible was a main priority.”

Everything on the Colossus, from extruder output and screw types to heated bed, software add-ons, and print volume, is configurable, which makes the system a good fit for a wide variety of industry applications.

The Colossus, with a 4 m³ build volume, is able to support impressively fast print speeds of up to 15 kg an hour, and was designed with what the startup says is “a special accent on materials for furniture, construction applications and large size 3D objects.”

Thanks to the startup’s partnership with the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), ten material compound profiles have been pre-tested on the Colossus, and it’s the first 3D printer of its scale to print with rPET and rPP profiles. Additionally, it can also print with recycled plastic materials.

“Young designers often lack partners to realize their ideas due to the high entry barriers in this market,” said Philippe Mérillet, the Co-Founder of Colossus. “Clients also requested a way to make furniture and other large-scale objects from plastic waste, so we searched the market and a large-scale printer and everything we found was either too slow, too expensive, or could not work with high-temperature materials like rPET or CarbonP which are difficult to extrude. So we decided to develop a printer that would do just that a made for materials.”


After research showed that these kinds of massive, cost-effective 3D printers just aren’t readily available, Colossus had a vision to make a cost-effective, fast 3D printing platform that could also provide a second life to plastic waste. The 2.67 x 1 x 1.5 m Colossus 3D printer features a 3200 x 1300 mm liquid heated bed for easy print removal, along with a granulate-fed extruder print head and a dehumidification unit for achieving better print quality.

“Half of the quality of a print is the state of the material which is why we have a fully integrated drying unit to prep your material so you can get the most out of your print,” Colossus wrote in a release. “Capable of temperatures of up to 400C gives you the flexibility to print almost any plastic material.”

The Colossus 3D printer comes with logging software, in addition to remote connectivity and internet debugging with data points and cameras, so problems can be solved and upgrades can be completed remotely in real-time. The startup provides training, along with contracts for service and maintenance, so customers should feel at ease that the Colossus can run 24/7.

Additional tech specs for the Colossus 3D printer include:

  • Safety glass window
  • Heater
  • Optional air conditioner
  • 1-10 nozzle sizes

The Colossus is adaptable to specific customer requirements and has a fully customizable exterior. There are different lighting and flooring options, and the size of the extruder, window, and dryer can all be changed. You can even order the 3D printer with an extra cooling nozzle. As with most large scale, high throughput 3D printers (3D Printed Canal House, Dirk van der Kooij, etc.) the nozzle has been designed and made by Servan Bakker of Xtrution.

Now that the Colossus 3D printer, which is available for pre-order, has been formally introduced at formnext, the startup plans to improve upon the design and has already completed a prototype. The team is currently researching more options for the system, such as improve retraction, a multi-head system, and a higher print output of up to 25 kg per hour.

What do you think of this new 3D printer? Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. 

[Images provided by Colossus]