Markforged X7

Specs

Technology: Continuous fiber deposition
Materials: Polymers, composites
Material Names:

• Plastics:
  • Onyx (nylon + carbon fiber, $3.86 / in³)
  • Smooth TPU ($3.48 / in³)
  • Precise PLA ($1.37 / in³)
  • Nylon ($3.46 / in³)
  • Onyx FR (flame resistant Onyx, $4.71 / in³)
  • Onyx ESD (electrostatic dissipative Onyx)
• Continuous fibers:
  • Carbon Fiber ($49 / in³)
  • Fiberglass ($24 / in³)
  • Aramid Fiber (Kevlar®) ($32 / in³)
  • HSHT Fiberglass (thermally resistant)

Material Format: Filament
Build Volume: 12.99 x 10.6 x 7.8 in (330 × 270 × 200 mm)
Price: $70,000
Links: bCourses, Markforged

Benefits to Advanced Lab

• Adding another printer would ease the demand on our existing Markforged X7

Reviews

Markforged X7 review

Techniques

• Designing for Printing Part 1: Unit Tests and Tolerances
• Designing for 3D printing Part 3: Decreasing Print time - orientation, limiting overhands, splitting parts
• Embedding components in Markforged printed parts
• Adhering co-part assemblies
• Bonding Markforged Plastic Parts to Other Materials

Adhesives for bonding Onyx parts

• Loctite 401 (Onyx to Onyx)
• Scotch-Weld DP100 (for bonding Onyx to other materials - source)
• Scotch-Weld DP100Plus
• Scotch-Weld DP420

Humidity Monitoring

• Humidity monitor and alarm
• Hygrometer (cheap and simple)

Maintenance

The Maintenance Schedule Utility tracks consumable lifetimes and notifies you when components are due for maintenance or replacement. Replacing consumables is simple. The printer itself gets a step-by-step instructions and the guides are available in the Markforged Support Portal.

Consumables:

• plastic nozzle
• plastic Bowden tube
• plastic feed tube
• fiber nozzle
• fiber Bowden tube
• fiber feed tube

Calibrations:

• Belt tension (82Hz–85Hz when plucked, measured using a frequency tuner app like PanoTuner Lite)
• XY calibration (performed with a reference bed)

Third Party Materials

• Obsidian PA6+Carbon Fiber - a third party nylon-carbon fiber composite filament.

Storage

• Pelican Air cases - watertight
• Pelican Vault cases - "weather resistant"