Editorial: VormVrij is the Dutch Company renowned for their LUTUM® 3D clay printers.
By: Admin, online LUTUM store
It Appears this summer all mayor clay printer brands are presenting new Machines. The latest addition is from the Dutch company VormVrij 3D known for their benchmark setting LUTUM® printers. The first Prototype of the LUTUM® v4 was unveiled at Fabcon+RapidTech fair in Messe Erfurt early June.
At first glance not much changed since the v3, but looks are deceiving.
While the v3 had a build envelope of 43x42x44 cm. The new LUTUM 4 can print up to 51 cm. on a print bed size 43x46cm.
LUTUM v4 2018, LUTUM v3 2016, LUTUM v2 2014
All metal parts received structural updates and are built from custom designed Aluminium extrusions. The v4 has a new internal layout where the electronics are now nicely protected from dust and water deep inside the metal structure making this printer ideal for the harsh conditions often found in Clay Labs and Potter Studios.
LUTUM v3.9 at Royal College of Art London
Another big change is the full metal body of the printer, where previous printers were partially made from wood, the current model has a heavy solid feeling base structure balancing the printer and giving it full stability to print delicate objects.
Manifolds in black refractory clay
And that’s not all, the printer has built in air safety valves that stop the flow of air when the printer is turned off. It also features a large emergency stop button in case of calamities.
The final upgrade is found in the extruder. The v9-pro extruder is built out of solid 18/10 food safe stainless steel. Nozzle size goes from 0.6mm. to 7mm. and layer heights range between 0.5 and 2.5mm. depending on the chosen nozzle.
Old extruder and new 18/10 steel extruder
Print speeds depend on the viscosity of clay, specific object design, layer/nozzle size and range from 20mm/s to 100mm/s. Speed and extrusion rates are determined by the user and can be adjusted on the fly while printing.
Adjusting and testing speed limits in the hardware during final manufacture
There are two types of clay cartridges and they screw directly onto the extruder.
640cc and 1400cc
As a result the LUTUM 4 can handle a broad range of clay, with or without chamotte (grogg) within a wide range of viscosities. New Porcelain clay types for this specific printer are being developed by Imerys, the French clay manufacturer which recently launched its Porcelain line for 3d Clay Printers.
All objects printed on the LUTUM range of clay printers
Notice the extreme detail in the shadow of the printed cube…
The printer comes in three varieties. The LUTUM v4, the v4 MXL printing up to 80cm. and the v4 DUAL, holding two extruders to print with different materials or colors unique to the LUTUM line printers. The standard and MXL printers can be upgraded with a second extruder at any point in time.
LUTUM v4 line up, DUAL, MXL, Standard
The first units are already distributed to a selected group of customers which pre-ordered the v4 machines. Among them are Dutch Potters, Belgian artists and research centers. And French, German, Portuguese and American Universities will start using their new machines this summer.
3D clay printed “bronze” using patine on sculpted 3D print from a scanned boy
The Price of the basic unit starts at €6350 excl. VAT, ex factory.
Compared to other options on the market, the ease of use, stability, and perfect extrusion of clay does make this a remarkable machine.
Do check their Instagram channel for daily updates and print output!
