Longer 3D, a desktop and industrial 3D printer manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China, is launching an affordable desktop solution for LCD SLA 3D printing called the Orange 30.
Developed by Longer Technology, Inc., a subsidiary of the Chinese company that is based in San Diego, CA, the Orange 30 is capable of producing complex and detailed jewelry, dental and architectural models.
The new 3D printer comes as a response to customers that asked for an economic solution for more precise 3D printing capabilities compared to the company’s previous desktop-FDM releases. The Orange 30 will have a retail price of $450 making it, according to the company, the “most affordable LCD printer with faster printing speed and higher precision” and a competitive build size.
CEO Changshi Lao at Longer 3D comments:
“The new Orange 30 3D printer from Longer 3D aims to provide an affordable solution for customers looking to purchase a desktop SLA 3D printer that is capable of producing high quality, detailed 3D prints at an affordable price as lower quality FDM solutions.”
Longer 3D for industrial and desktop 3D printing
Founded in 2014, Longer 3D operates amongst a host of 3D printer manufacturers located in Shenzhen, China, with reportedly over a 100 currently situated within the region. The company’s selection of 3D printers have been applied in various fields, such as biomedical, industrial manufacturing and education.
With two lines of 3D printers geared towards industrial and desktop solutions respectively, users have utilized Longer 3D’s systems to produce everything from oral dental molds, ceramic implants and biological blood vessels to jewelry pieces and anime figurines. Its LG-S300 system, for example, is an industrial metal 3D printer designed for use in aerospace, medical, tooling, automotive, electronics and energy power applications. To ensure the quality of its systems, the company also owns a factory, allowing Longer 3D’s R&D technicians to test its machines.
Pushing SLA 3D printing in the consumer market
With 3D printing burgeoning in industrial and enterprise sectors, the consumer market for 3D printing is continuing to grow, however it is still dominated by FDM technology.. Longer 3D has sold a multitude of its previous FDM 3D printers, the LK1 and LK2, and it is now looking to push its Orange 30 SLA 3D printing solution as a go-to choice for the consumer market. The company believes its SLA 3D printing can help boost consumer-grade printers towards the concept of “manufacturing change” that is often applied to industrial-grade 3D printers.
Key features of the Orange 30 includes a touch screen with matrix UV-backlit LED technology which helps to realize high-contrast and uniform distribution of surface light source on the print. Combined with a 2K resolution LCD, this helps to achieve higher precision printing with an accuracy of 47.25um. The system also comes with a printing volume of 120 x 68 x 170 mm.
Other features include a high temperature warning system that monitors the 3D printer temperature in real time, preventing damage to the Orange 30 if temperatures exceed limits. Furthermore, Longer 3D has developed its own slicing software to be used in conjunction with the Orange 30. It is said to be faster than open source slicing software and provides support functions for the 3D printer, like the automatic detection of suspended parts and cross-linked grid support to help guarantee the success rate of complex models.
Popular FDM 3D printers from China
Some of the most popular consumer 3D printers in the market have come from China in recent years, like the Creality CR-10 FDM 3D printer, due to the availability of low-cost systems in the country’s market. Longer 3D state that the low 3D printer prices mean that there is “no profit at all” for manufacturers, with many 3D printer companies in Shenzhen facing difficulties due to hardware costs, software developer wages, factory assembly, testing, aging and other labor costs.
Longer 3D has previously attempted to popularize SLA 3D printing in the consumer market with its Orange 10 3D printer, however the cost of the system was too high. To help generate support for releasing its new low-cost solution for SLA 3D printing, the company launched a Kickstarter for the Orange 30 on May 30th. The $30,000 target for the crowdfunding campaign was reached in less than one day, since then over $90,000 has been raised to date. Early bird prices for the Orange 30 on the Kickstarter currently start at $229, which includes a 250 mm bottle of resin to use with the system. The Orange 30 is expected to start shipping in August 2019. “With our Kickstarter campaign, we hope to develop the Orange 30 based on the suggestions and feedback of our customers and wider community,” added Dr.He YI, CTO of Longer3d.
“In order to continue the development of the Orange 30, further investment and community engagement will help us deliver an affordable SLA 3D printer that responds to our customer demands.”
Additive manufacturing in China
The 3D printing industry in China has made great strides in recent years, beyond the popularity of its consumer 3D printers.
China has made formal efforts to increase the use of additive manufacturing in industry, with the ‘Made-in-China 2025’ initiative calling for an additive manufacturing industry exceeding 20 billion Renminbi (US$3 billion) by 2020.
Since then, Chinese 3D printing manufacturers like Farsoon Technologies have made efforts to help aid the adoption additive manufacturing in the country. The company had launched a new business model 2018 for additive manufacturing in China, creating an open platform system for all metal AM systems to encourage innovation.
In addition, a forecast in 2018 by the International Data Corporation predicts that the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) will spend $3.6 billion on 3D printing over the next three years with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.4%.
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Featured image shows The Orange 30 SLA 3D printer from Longer 3D. Photo via Longer 3D.
