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CTC Electronic Unveils Metal 3D Printer Range

Zhuhai CTC Electronic Co., Ltd is one of the more fascinating companies to me. A rapidly growing Chinese company, with a pre-3D printing manufacturing record, I still have a lot to learn about their management and the quality of their printers. When they launched their desktop FDM line, it was difficult to determine if they were simply producing MakerBot clones, a trend that began around four years ago, or if they were a innovative player in the growing 3D printing space. Since then, the company has expanded its 3D printer line significantly and, while I still have not seen one of their machines in person, they are now boasting a pretty massive portfolio. Growing from FDM to SLA, both desktop and industrial, CTC Electronic has just pulled out their wildest card yet: a range of selective laser melting (SLM) metal 3D printers called the “Walnut” series.

CTC Walnut 26 metal 3D printer (PRNewsFoto/Zhuhai CTC Electronic Co., Ltd.)
CTC Walnut 26 metal 3D printer (PRNewsFoto/Zhuhai CTC Electronic Co., Ltd.)

With a goal of riding the success of metal 3D printing seen by companies like Arcam and EOS, designed its own range of SLM machines, which, despite its relative newness, the company claims “is one of the major metal 3D printing technologies that has gained industry-wide acceptance.” The series includes the Walnut 26, Walnut 18, and Walnut 11, all which rely on a water-cooling, 1064nm, 500W IPG fiber laser with a spot diameter of 0.06-0.12mm and an argon gas shield. The systems use a F-THETA-LEN scanning galvanometer with a speed of 6.0-12m/s. The Walnut 26 has a build volume of 260mm×260mmx260mm, so I suspect that the 18 measures 180mm x 180mm x 180mm and the 11 measures 110mm x 110mm x 110 mm. Altogether, this allows the Walnut series to 3D print with, according to the company, “stainless steel, die steel, cobalt-chromium alloy, nickel alloy, aluminium alloy and iron-base alloy,” and more.

The company claims that they were able to launch the Walnut line so quickly after their industrial SLA system due to their own dot-scan 3D operating system. PR Manager Yoyo Hee explains, “We are the first and, to date, quite possibly the sole manufacturer in China to have built the dot-scan 3D operating system on our own, and, at variance with other domestic makers, we do not rely on technologies developed by foreign outsourcing firms. SLA and SLM are based on the same software algorithm, enabling rapid research and development.”

With their SLM systems, the company believes that they will be able to tackle the metal 3D printing industry, as there are no other proprietary manufacturers of metal 3D printing systems in the country, according to CTC. Hee elaborates, “As one of the top 3D printing technology suppliers in China, CTC provides customers worldwide with comprehensive solutions encompassing resin, metal, fused deposition modeling (FDM), SLM, desktop and industry-grade. The launch of the CTC Walnut series marks a key step towards realizing our vision.”

Personally, I’m excited to see one of these machines up close, along with their prints. If the company really can deliver on what it promises, the Chinese 3D printing space may very well dominate manufacturers from other regions, given the typically low price point of their machines.