The ExOne Company, a provider of 3D printing machines, materials and services to industrial customers, has announced its initial X1 25PRO beta machine partnership with Kennametal Inc., a company involved in material science, tooling and wear-resistant solutions.
During the beta period ExOne and Kennametal will have an opportunity to evaluate the new X1 25PRO machine and trial test new materials and processes. As a multiple machine customer, Kennametal is on the cutting edge of binder jetting technology adoption for additive manufacturing.
“We see binder jetting technology as a key enabler for our differentiated, high-performance wear materials, such as tungsten carbide and Kennametal Stellite alloys,” said Sherri McCleary, director, Business Development Additive, Kennametal. “Kennametal is uniquely qualified to supply these additive materials and components, and we’re pleased to collaborate with ExOne on cutting-edge technology with the potential to help us advance from prototyping to serial production.”
The new X1 25PRO was revealed at the RAPID + TCT this week. The high-resolution production machine is capable of printing metal, ceramic and other advanced material parts directly. The X1 25PRO can print standard industry powders used in MIM (metal injection molding) and other PM (powdered metal) processes. ExOne has already received a production order for the X1 25PRO. The X1 25PRO will use technology demonstrated on ExOne’s Innovent+ and will be shipping to customers later this year.
“Working with innovative, global companies like Kennametal is another important step towards integrating industrial 3D printing into existing and new production lines. We are excited to bring Kennametal on as a beta user and look forward to beginning the testing program”, said John Hartner,
CEO, ExOne.
Material Partnerships and Collaboration
In related news, ExOne announced a new material partnership program to make further advancements in metal binder jet additive manufacturing. The global enterprise program will focus on process developments and powder optimization on ExOne’s metal systems. Partners will use their application engineering knowledge, powder material expertise and additive manufacturing process experience in conjunction with ExOne’s additive manufacturing solutions, to produce new materials and enhance process optimization with ExOne’s metal 3D printing machines. ExOne is geared to launch the program with qualified partners in the coming months.
Also, ExOne announced a strengthened material collaboration with Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, a division in the high-tech global engineering Sandvik Group. The material collaboration leverages ExOne’s knowledge of binder jetting print machines and processes with Sandvik’s capabilities in materials technology, metal powders, different AM-processes for metals, and post-processing technologies like machining and heat treatment. The purpose of the collaboration is to create a leading edge process solution that can be offered to a broad industrial customer base.
The material collaboration will focus on qualifying and optimizing Sandvik’s Osprey metal powders with ExOne’s binder jetting machines.
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