Mimaki USA and Sindoh Introduce New 3DFF-222 Desktop 3D Printer

In 2015, Mimaki USA, an operating entity of Japanese company Mimaki Engineering, announced that it would begin development of its own full color 3D printer, which was then previewed two years later. The company installed its first photorealistic, UV-cure inkjet 3DUJ-553 3D printer in the Americas last winter at print technology company Pictographics in Las Vegas, and is now venturing into the world of desktop 3D printing with its latest product launch.

Mimaki is one of the top manufacturers of wide-format inkjet printers and cutters, along with 3D modeling machines, software, hardware, and associated consumables, like cutting blades and ink. Now it’s adding the new 3DFF-222 desktop 3D printer to the mix, which is co-branded with South Korean 3D printer manufacturer Sindoh.

“The new desktop 3D printer is designed to fit the needs of modern print production environments and it is suitable for a broad range of uses. This latest product introduction demonstrates Mimaki’s commitment to driving innovation and providing our customers with profit-enhancing solutions,” said Michael Maxwell, a senior manager at Mimaki USA.

The FFF 3D printing solution by Mimaki and Sindoh, which was developed to be used as an in-house design and production tool, obviously doesn’t have the more than 10 million color combinations offered by the full-color 3DUJ-553 printer, but it’s perfect for fabricating parts, like jigs, that are used in direct-to-object printing. The desktop 3DFF-222 can also be used to manufacture tools for producing 3D signage, as well as molds for vacuum forming.

The compact 3DFF-222 makes it possible for users to cut back on costs as they work to expand into more profitable markets, and was designed to reduce noise levels during operation, making it a good system for use in an office setting. The 3D printer’s fully covered design, which helps gets rid of any disruption of contaminants that might adhere to a model during 3D printing, and its installed HEPA filter also contribute to this.

The new desktop 3D printer by Mimaki USA and Sindoh, the latter of which also created a 3D printer in partnership with Stanley Black & Decker a few years ago, prints parts up to 8.27″ x 7.87″ x 7.67″ in easily loadable PLA filament cartridges, and also provides remote monitoring of each print through a built-in camera and included app.

“Flexibility and ease-of-use are key features of the new desktop 3D printer,” Maxwell stated. “This printer also complements our industrial printers seamlessly. The 3DFF-222 is capable of inexpensively producing customized print jigs, which can be used to stabilize print quality when printing on UV-LED flatbed printers from our UJF Series. Additionally, customers can create objects for decoration as well as a variety of signage.”

Additional features of the new desktop 3DFF-222 3D printer include a heated flexible bed, which has a built-in thermostatic function for easy model removal and stable formation during 3D printing, and semi-automatic leveling, which measures the table’s horizontal error and tells the color monitor how to maintain a level position.

A 5″ full-color touch panel provides illustrated instructions to make the system easy to operate, and the filament is automatically loaded and supplied to the 0.4 mm 3D printer nozzle after installation, with no manual feeding required. The 3D printer weighs 16 kg and comes with a built-in LED lamp and dedicated 3DWOX Desktop slicing software.

The 3DFF-222, which is the latest addition to Mimaki’s 3D printer portfolio after its full-color 3DUJ-553, is now available for order.

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[Images: Mimaki]