Chemical and materials R&D startup Thought3D, headquartered in Paola, Malta, is expanding its popular Magigoo brand of 3D printer adhesives to include new mixes for industrial use.
The four new formulations, to be rolled out through Q3 2018, are specifically tailored to improve the bed-adhesion of different engineering-grade polymers, and serve large format 3D printers in partnership with BigRep.
Dr. Keith M. Azzopardi, lead Scientist at Thought3D, comments:
“We do not believe in one-product-fits-all solution…”
“…and thus we have created multiple new mixes to serve client needs in industry, providing to end users additional convenience and freedom to print different industrial plastics on the same printer with little effort by just changing the first layer adhesive.”
Industrial 3D printing adhesives
Re-branded in grey and orange labels, the new Magigoo Pro range is made to be greener and safer for production environments. The adhesive is biocide free, solvent free and made from a high proportion of natural ingredients. The range is available as four different mixes: Magigoo PP, Magigoo PP-GF, Magigoo PC and Magigoo PA.
Magigoo PP and PP-GF
Magigoo PP is a formulation that can be used on a heated bed, specially suited to adhere polypropylene (PP) materials. According to the company, it is tipped for “Easier application of the layer and easier cleaning” than PP tape or an adhesion sheet.
An upgrade of the Magigoo PP, Magigoo PP-GF is for use with glass fiber reinforced polypropylene.
Magigoo PC
Magigoo PC is Thought3D’s solution for polycarbonate filament adhesion. Also usable on a heated bed, Magigoo PC has been tested with well known PC filaments brands and is capable of adhesion with virgin PC materials.
Magigoo PA
The last material in the new range, Magigoo PA, is expected to enter beta testing late 2018. Formulated for use with nylon filaments Jean Paul Formosa, lead product developer at Thought3D, explains, “there is a significant amount of variability within this class which make it difficult to come up with a general purpose solution for all nylons. Nonetheless we believe that a solution which works well with the majority of the filaments is in our reach.”
Consistent adhesion
Each of the Magigoo Pro formulations have been modified to adhere to a variety of different print bed materials. Andre-Andy Linnas co-founder of Thought3D says, “We noticed an increased interest from the 3D printing community to use Magigoo on other surfaces than glass and aluminium,”
“We saw many requests of users printing on Kapton or PEI sheets and we wanted to make the formulation that would perform at much better consistency across these surface materials,”
“Based on our beta testers, we have achieved our goals.”
The new adhesives will be make a tour of this year’s 3D printing tradeshows. Look out for them at TCT and formnext 2018.
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Featured image shows the tip of a Magigoo adhesive tube. Photo via Thought3D
