Formlabs has unveiled the launch of its new Form 4 and Form 4B 3D printers which aims to provide a fast, reliable, and affordable tool for professionals to bring their ideas to life, delivering most parts in under two hours.

The new flagship resin 3D printer features Formlabs’ proprietary new Low Force Display (LFD) print engine, updates to the company’s library of industry-leading resins, new automated post-processing, and an improved user experience. Form 4’s up to five times faster print speeds will unlock new levels of productivity for product designers, engineers, manufacturers, healthcare professionals, and innovators to take design risks and accelerate time to market.

“Form 4 is a huge leap not only for Formlabs and our customers, but also for the entire 3D printing world,” said Formlabs CEO and co-founder Max Lobovsky. “More than a decade ago, Formlabs created the desktop SLA 3D printer category and set a new standard for accuracy, reliability, ease of use, and affordability in 3D printing. We’ve built on the strength and insights gathered from more than 130,000 printers on the market and over 300 million parts printed to deliver the Form 4, our best SLA printer ever. Its reliability and new level of speed will transform how our customers develop new products.”

As the company’s fourth generation of desktop resin 3D printers, Form 4 takes performance to new levels by delivering fast print speeds, reliability, leading material properties, excellent print quality, and intuitive operation.

Form 4 Highlights

• Blazing fast print speeds: Prints two to five times faster than Form 3+ depending on material, enabling same-hour iteration or batch production with masked stereolithography (mSLA) technology. The printer can complete most prints in under two hours and small parts in minutes of cycle time, and achieve maximum vertical print speeds of 100mm per hour.
• Stunning parts that always fit: With 50-µm pixels, highly collimated light, advanced pixel smoothing, and light touch supports, Form 4’s print quality is unmatched.
• LFD print engine: A departure from laser and galvanometer technology, Form 4 features an ultra high power backlight (16 mw/cm²), proprietary release texture, Light Processing Unit 4 (LPU 4), and dual-layer, flexible film resin tank.
• Intuitive to use: Anyone can learn to print in 15mins — featuring automatic resin handling, instant material changes, automated post-processing, and quick release build platform technology.
• Unmatched reliability: Industry-leading print success thanks to validated print settings, precision heating, force sensing, and debris detection.
• 40% lower cost per part: Delivering affordability with long-lasting resin tanks (75,000+ layers) and Light Processing Unit (1M+ layers), lower resin pricing, 30% larger print volume, and 3.5 times higher throughput.

In addition to the new printers, Formlabs is introducing six new resins to its resin library, including: Four newly reformulated general purpose resins that take advantage of the Form 4 ecosystem to print two to five times faster than Form 3 with improved toughness and colour; fast model resin for high-speed prototypes and production of orthodontic models; and precision model resin for highly accurate dental models that always fit.

Additionally, Form 4 is validated to use 17+ other performance materials from Formlabs’ materials library, with new materials to be added regularly. Form 4B, designed for innovative healthcare professionals in the dental and medical industries, is compatible with 15 additional biocompatible materials. 

“We support all hardware categories at Microsoft. Form 4 is our go-to choice for projects needing tight tolerances and engineering-grade materials,” said Mark Honschke, additive prototyping lead, Microsoft. “It produces high-performance parts with amazingly fast print times and makes it possible for our model makers to produce multiple iterations in a 24-hour period.” 

“Form 4’s speed and materials versatility enable us to create multiple prototypes and manufacturing aids every day,” said Bruno Alves, development engineer AM/IM, Ford Motor Company. “The printer has already changed the way we design and produce parts, helping us drive efficiency in our product development.”

Related: Formlabs debuts new Resin Pumping System, SLA and SLS materials at CES 2024