fancy wearing a carbon fiber neck tie? now, before you start accusing us of sprouting nonsense, we need to stress that carbon fiber neck tie is not a myth – it can be done, simply by printing using the Mark One Carbon Fiber 3D Printer by Mark Forged. however, just how you are going to wear it is another story. anyhow, the goal of the machine is to simplify the process of creating carbon fiber product which would otherwise be an extremely complicated process and so yes, this 3D printer, as the name suggests, really prints carbon fiber product. but it can also print other ‘less exquisite’ materials such as fiberglass, nylon and of course, the environmentally-friendlier PLA.
like most of the 3D printer we have featured here before, Mark One is one heck of a sleek looking rig (seriously, what could go wrong when blasted aluminum were involved, right?). it is of desktop size, measuring 23 inches wide, 12 inches tall and 13 inches deep, making it absolutely compact enough to share a space with your Mac machine or similar. according to its maker, Mark Forged, the printed objects of the Mark One Carbon Fiber 3D Printer are “packed with tens of thousands of full length, continuous carbon fiber strands“, resulting in a carbon fiber material that are 20 times stiffer and five times stronger than ABS and has a high strength-to-weight ratio over CNC machined 6061-T6 aluminum.
now comes an even better news: the Mark One Carbon Fiber 3D Printer by Mark Forged will be available to ordinary folks who have the dough to drop, though it is by no means cheap; it will set you back at a princely sum of 5 grand. if you are undaunted by the price, you’d be glad to know this machine will be up for pre-order this month with shipping expected to be in the second half of 2014. indeed a tempting proposition for carbon fiber lovers. as for us, if it is big enough to print a vented bonnet, we will be all in for it. wait, it can’t? perhaps, i guess we can settle for a gear knob and a couple of foot pedals then.
p.s. thanks to Mark Forged Team for sending us the hi-res images. really appreciate the gesture. thank you!
Mark Forged via Inhabitat
