China in 3D - 3D printers are made here.

At the end of March, we went to China, pursuing two main goals: visiting our main suppliers of 3D equipment, concentrated in Shanghai and its suburbs, as well as exploring new directions on CNC machine tools and searching for direct manufacturers-suppliers at CHCMT 2017.
From this post you will learn about the first part of the trip - a visit to our suppliers of 3D equipment.

After one day of adaptation in a fairly comfortable and modern metropolis, which Shanghai has now become, we went to the office of RAISE 3D. Their office is located in a new respectable array of buildings, not far from the center, but in this area there is already something imperceptibly resembling an industrial zone.

RAISE 3D
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After meeting with the sales director and completing the mutual presentation of our companies, we learned that RAISE is experiencing an explosive growth in sales - production is struggling to cope with shipments of more than 500 vehicles per month. Then we were invited to the showroom, where we were met by a solid cosmonaut more than two meters high, as if hinting at the fact that large-format and stable printing is the visiting card of RAISE printers.



Here we got to know the 2-extruder modification of the N2 Plus .



Two-material printing has small patches, but for a simple design with two extruders, the result is not bad.



The question of the feasibility of FDM printing with a layer thickness of 50 microns and less, the time spent on it and the quality obtained has always been controversial. However, all the printouts presented had a high quality and smooth surface.













We concluded that RAISE 3D printers have a sufficient list of properties that are attractive to a wide range of users:

• Huge print area: up to 305 x 305 x 610 mm
• High print quality, with a layer thickness of up to 10 microns
• The ability to print two materials
• High-quality assembly and convenient touch display
• Very affordable price.

Next we went to the Mankati office located already away from the center of Shanghai. We do not often sell their printers, but the announcement of the new model and the location convenient for us clearly determined that it was worth a look.

Mankati

It was difficult to assess the company itself, which, as it turned out, is in the process of moving - in most rooms there is a corresponding mess. In the room where we were invited, there was an assembly shop where two workers were engaged in assembling a new model E180 :







The main advantages of the Mankati E180 listed on their website are:

• Connect using Ethernet and WiFi
• Air filter to filter the air from the chamber (this is very important in China)
• Camera to monitor the printing process
• Material feed sensor, for the possibility of refueling the bar
• High temperature hot end, table and camera: 350 ° C, 110 ° C and 60 ° C for work with engineering materials
• High print quality
• Rail guides

We were very interested in the possibility of printing with various materials, including PEEK, but the representative of Mankati, referring to the high cost of the material itself, could not show us any samples.

The small screen, which has an inconvenient location, with even smaller letters on it, a push-button control on the side, and also a USB port, which is generally located on the rear panel, was very much alarmed. Our engineers would obviously not be delighted with this solution, as they have to repeatedly to print new files during the working day. Perhaps in this way they encourage users to use Wi-Fi more often?





The next day we had to go to the nearby city of Hangzhou, which is 200 km from Shanghai. We easily covered this distance on one of the high-speed trains, which can reach speeds of up to 350 km / h, whose network of lines is longer than similar ones in all of Europe and Japan combined.

Shining 3d

In Hangzhou, at the train station, we were met by Kirill Xia, the manager of Shining 3D responsible for sales in Russia. Together with him we went to their office, which is a large separate building. We did not rent the building from the outside, but, so that you could imagine the scale, we offer several photographs of the reception, as well as recreation rooms with a volleyball court and a huge terrace:











The building also has a lot of spacious showrooms, separate rooms for developers of various equipment, sales departments and working areas of other employees.
After a hearty lunch from corporate chefs, we went on a tour of the office.



At first, we were shown classes in which they conduct training seminars and practical exercises for schoolchildren - this is how the company contributes to modern education and promotes 3D technology in China.









In the classes there are a lot of beautiful figures of various superheroes and animals. I would like to catch the company on the use of printers from other manufacturers, but all the models were glued together from parts not exceeding the dimensions of the working chamber of their small Einstart-S .



Looking ahead a bit, I’ll show you how all this is printed in their production:







A huge number of printers on large shelves and two engineers engaged in post-processing and removal of supports. Of course, we are convinced that such a number of printers cannot efficiently serve two people, but they have definitely not heard about the problems with the print queue.

After undergraduate classes, we went to the medical showroom, which presents Shining 3D's capabilities in this area, such as SLA-printing of dental models and articulators, biocompatible surgical patterns (materials from Somos and NextDent ), printing metal crowns and surgical prostheses .









All this demonstrates the capabilities of a wide range of their professional equipment. Among the samples there are Stratasys marketing models - it turned out that Shining 3D is their official dealer in China. This is quite logical, because the company does not manufacture inkjet printers, similar to PolyJet or MJM, but is well versed in the sales and commissioning of such machines.

A subsidiary of the company is developing a bioprinter, which is sold only in the domestic market, at an estimated price of $ 70,000





In the next room is located the OptimScan scanner (the Chinese name is OKIO).



The integration of the scanner with a robotic arm from the company FANUC allows for automated metrological control of production and significantly speeds up the scanning process for identical parts. To make sure that this is not just a decorative stand, we asked for a presentation and after 15-20 minutes of settings, we saw the system in operation.



In the same hall, related to industrial production, there are examples of printing industrial 3D-printers of the following technologies: SLA, SLS-Nylon, SLS-WAX / Sand and SLM.
The surface quality of the models, together with their large size, is very impressive. Shining3D is engaged in the provision of 3D printing services in China. The choice of demonstration samples indicates an excellent understanding of the production tasks that their equipment is designed to solve at various enterprises.

SLA printing for prototyping and obtaining a perfectly smooth surface without post-processing:



Polyamide printing for rapid prototyping of models with complex geometry:



Smelted models and sand molds for casting of final metal products:







SLM is an expensive but justified print of turbine blades and lightweight parts with a bionic design:







After visiting the showroom, we went to look at the cars themselves and their work.

iSLA-650 Pro (print area 650mm × 600mm × 400mm, layer thickness - up to 50 microns).







SLM EP-M250 (Printing area 250mm * 250mm * 300mm, layer thickness - up to 20 microns).







EP-C3650 SLS Wax / Sand (Printing area 360mm * 360mm * 500mm, layer thickness up to 0.08mm)







Not far from the office there is another large building in which the company plans to launch the next production of industrial machines. So far, only SLA-printers are being assembled there, but the building by area has great potential and can accommodate the production of their entire line of professional equipment.



In this form, the machine is sent to customers:



Then we looked into the office of new developments, where we saw future innovations, such as the next model of the handheld scanner Shining Ein Scan Pro Plus , whose predecessor, Ein Scan Pro , is already quite popular in Russia.







In the same place any works on the metrological scanner were conducted. How it works can be seen in the video:



The prototype of the new cabinet dental printer - the only one from Shining products, was surprised by its high price. The estimated cost of this device is more than $ 10,000, while all over the world dentists are already actively using FormLabs Form 2 for $ 5,000, and its competitors are constantly releasing new products, knocking prices down.





One of the most anticipated products for us was the intraoral (that is, intraoral) dental scanner , which coped well with scanning the jaw model.



In 40 minutes by taxi, in the same city, there is a manufacturer of very popular and purchased 3D printers - Wanhao.

Wanhao

A parked truck stood at the entrance to the office and the printers were loaded straight into the container. This is not surprising, as we later found out, because this small but very efficient production ships more than six thousand 3D printers every month.



The office is a few floors, on the first - a warehouse for all that is necessary for assembly. On the second - the assembly of the most popular i3 Plus and i3 v2.1 . On the same floor they are tested and packaged.
On the third floor - the assembly of less massive Wanhao 4s , Wanhao 5s , Wanhao 6 and new items - DLP-printer Wanhao 7 .

We offer to look at all this in the form of a video tour:

Assembling and completing i3:



Assembly and equipment of other printers:



Stock:



You, like us, are probably interested to look at examples of printing a Wanhao Duplicator 7 DLP printer.



Here are the printouts:







In a few weeks we will receive a batch of these printers to the warehouse and make a more detailed overview of their capabilities.

And now - attention!

We provide TopWanhao promo code only to readers of this review, according to which you can get a discount of 1000 rubles for this printer by pre-ordering our managers.
The leader and founder of Wanhao, Gary Chen, voiced his ambitious plans to us - to take first place in the number of sales of 3D printers in the world. On his way there remains only XYZprinting , which he intends to get ahead this year.

In addition, he has a bright goal: to make 3D printing as affordable as possible, so that every student and beginner maker can use it.

Well, we wish him good luck in this!



findings

China is actively developing 3D technology - it has grown enough popular brands in this area, known and in demand both in Russia and around the world.

Shining 3D, for example, showing high professionalism and having a solid investment, very soon can press down world leaders such as Stratasys and 3D-system. We hope that this will make industrial 3D printing massively affordable for medium and even small businesses, that it will cease to be exclusive, which is used only by the energy and aerospace industries.

Important point: If you are interested in the mentioned equipment, if you have any questions or need any clarification - please contact our managers are always happy to help. See you in the new publications.

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