Costa Mesa-based Airwolf 3D has gradually been improving their desktop 3D printers since their inception three years ago. After numerous AW3D machines, growing from RepRap-style aluminum extrusion printers to fully enclosed systems, the company has just announced a new model, the AXIOM, representing Airwolf’s maturity as a mainstream manufacturer.
The AXIOM is designed to be a professional-grade machine with all of the modern features that make a 3D printer easy to use, while producing quality results, including: auto-leveling, an “easy feed” filament system, an enclosed build area, and what the company describes as an “end-user replaceable cassette system (ERC)”. While the first features are meant to ensure repeatability and trouble-free printing, the ERC system allows users to upgrade or change extruders. With the ERC, the extruder and its accompanying components are contained within a cassette-like structure that can be removed and replaced with ease.
The first in the AXIOM line is made from extruded aluminum and injection molded polycarbonate parts. It has a large build volume of 12.5”x8”x10”, can print layers as fine as 40 microns, and its heated bed, along with the company’s proprietary hot end, allow the AXIOM to print in a wide variety of materials, from PLA to Nylon and polycarbonate. And, with the integration of cloud printer management system AstroPrint, the AXIOM can be controlled via the web, as well as USB, micro SD card, or Ethernet.
Erick Wolf, founder and chairman of Airwolf 3D, describes the process behind designing their latest product, “We took a clean sheet of paper and set out to solve the issues that users have in operating desktop 3D printers.” He continues, “The conceptualization, design and testing took us almost two years to get perfect and we could not be more pleased with the results. AXIOM offers higher resolution, more material capabilities and better ease-of-use than printers costing more than three times the price.”
In addition to the AXIOM, to be launched tomorrow at the Design and Manufacturing Show in New York, Airwolf will also be releasing an educationally-focused model of the machine, dubbed the AXIOMe, which will offer many of the same features, but at a reduced price. The AXIOM will retail at $3995 and the AXIOMe will have a price of $3995, so, if you’re interested in pre-ordering, you will soon be able to head over to their site and expect your printer to be delivered in mid-July. If you’d prefer to see the AXIOM in action, first, and happen to be in New York, you can stop by the Design and Manufacturing Show at the Javits Convention Center and check it out!
