Selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing has rapidly emerged as a go-to solution for fabricating durable, industrial-quality parts. However, as adoption expands across industries, post-processing solutions have failed to advance simultaneously.
Affordable options require extensive manual labour, and automated systems carry exorbitant price tags, often over £100,000.
Formlabs are going all-out to reinvent SLS post-processing with the new Fuse Blast. As the latest addition to the Fuse ecosystem, this compact system automates cleaning and polishing in just 15 minutes for a complete powder-free part.
Tackling tedious post-processing
The new addition to the Formlabs Family, the Fuse Blast is a fully automated media blasting solution that takes away the labour out of media blasting. Thanks to the new Fuse Blast it is no longer necessary to spend time on thoroughly depowering parts on the Fuse Sift .
Parts proceed from a powder cake laden with semi-sintered powder to a smooth, professional-grade surface finish. Automating this workflow boosts production scale and output without expanding staff.
The Fuse Blast’s tumbling basket gently rotates parts inside the cabinet as compressed air and abrasive media blast them clean – an ioniser then removes static charges to release surface dust and media particles, ensuring pristine parts that are powder-free.
The Blast also includes a rinse feature to keep the system’s interior sparkling clean for a mess-free workshop environment.
Optimised efficiency
A specialised passive media separation feature extends media lifespan by over 400% by preventing premature saturation with powder, making a quick 5-minute de-coating in the Fuse Sift sufficient before placing parts in the tumbler. The Fuse Blast then handles the intensive blasting work, slashing hands-on labour by 80%.
The system ships with pre-programmed cycles for optimised part cleaning, including a Delicate Mode for fragile geometries. Users can manually blast oversized or tricky components using the ergonomic nozzle and foot pedal station.
An upcoming integrated Polishing Module will prepare parts for professional dyeing or coating with a smooth, semi-gloss finish.
Compact plug-and-play design
Despite its industrial capabilities, the Formlabs Fuse Blast retains the Fuse ecosystem’s relatively small footprint. The unit easily integrates into any SLS workflow, whether alongside the Fuse 1+ 30W printer or a large-format system from another manufacturer. Although there is no guarantee on the same level of performance with other powder, the unit does offer configurable parameters and other users have gotten great results with third party printed SLS parts.
It generates little noise pollution at under 70 decibels, relegating manual blasting cabinets and their associated protective equipment to the past.
Options for hands-on attention to detail
Beyond pre-programmed ‘set it and forget it’ cycles, users can also incorporate manual blasting in their workflow for delicate parts or large pieces that don’t tumble quickly.
The ergonomic blasting nozzle in the glovebox lets you adjust the nozzle, operate the air and media streams using a foot pedal, and clean large or delicate parts in just a few minutes. The orientation of the blasting nozzle arm makes it comfortable for the user, even during manual cleaning.
For targeted and precise blasting, users can handle parts with both hands and control the blast stream with foot pedals, ensuring every bit of powder is efficiently removed – no other system offers such fantastic capability.
Fuse Blast streamlines SLS post-processing at Autotiv
As a leading 3D printing service bureau, Autotiv leverages a high-volume industrial SLS printer to deliver ultra-fast turnarounds for clients across industries.
However, manually clearing loose powder from printed parts became unscalable despite multiple staff working overtime.
The compact Fuse Blast is neatly slotted into their existing 3D printing workspace. Parts are easily transferred into the integrated tumbling basket for automated compressed air blasting to remove powder.
Although initially sceptical about using Fuse technology on their third-party system, the Fuse Blast quickly proved its effectiveness when Autotiv received an order for thousands of tiny SLS parts. Automated cycles prevented days of backbreaking labour attempting to hand-clear each component.
Autotiv estimates the Fuse Blast saves hours of post-processing time every single day and the increased throughput has won more customers and expanded production capacity.
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