3D Printers

Mazak Adds Hybrid Metal 3D Printer to Machine Tool Lineup

After such corporations as GE, Autodesk, and HP have proudly placed themselves in the 3D printing market, more companies that aren’t immediately involved with the technology have taken it upon themselves to join the 3D printing fray.  The latest is Yamazaki Mazak Corporation, or Mazak, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of machine tools.  The Japanese company has just announced the addition of a new metal 3D printing technology to its line of CNC equipment.  The new INTEGREX i-400AM machine is not just a metal 3D printer, however, but a hybrid-multitasking machine that is meant to combine metal 3D printing with the accuracy and surface finish of machining.

mazak INTEGREX i-400AM metal 3D printing hybridThe INTEGREX i-400AM is capable of 3D printing metal both quickly and with great detail cycling through multiple Ambit™ laser cladding heads.  This gives the machine the ability to coat large areas and to build up three-dimensional parts.  While Mazak has previously created multi-tasking machine tools in its INTEGREX series, the INTEGREX i-400AM is the company’s first 3D printing machine, developed in conjunction with Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies.  Mazak says of this latest development, that they have “always been at the forefront of multi-tasking in machine tools and adding metal deposition capabilities is a natural extension of this theme. Hybrid multi-tasking will provide our customers world-wide with new possibilities for their Mazak machines.”

high speed fine 3D print heads on INTEGREX i-400AMDr. Jason Jones, CEO of Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies, adds, “We are honored that Mazak chose our Ambit™ range of tool-changeable cladding heads to be at the heart of their new INTEGREX i-AM series of machines. The ability to automatically change deposition heads gives this machine a unique advantage over other hybrid offerings.”

INTEGREX i-400AM 3D printing

Mazak just demonstrated the new machine, including the directed energy deposition heads and the laser marking head live at the JIMTOF exhibition in Tokyo this week.  They were also able to show off the device’s ability to create components with multiple materials, depositing a nickel-based super alloy onto a stainless steel substrate.

Together with the hybrid CNC machining-3D printing equipment currently being developed by Hurco, the INTEGREX i-400AM demonstrates the continued evolution of industrial 3D printing, hinting at a day in which complete objects may be fabricated in a single production process.