Formlabs recently announced its Tough 1500 Resin, a stiff and pliable 3D printing material that can be bent and returned to its original shape to enable engineers, product designers and manufacturers to create parts that require increased pliability, advancing Formlabs’ mission of enabling anyone to make anything.
The Tough 1500 Resin aims to bridge the material gap many creators face with tough and durable resins - one that is resilient and can be used to produce stiff and pliable parts that bend and spring back quickly under cyclic loading. One company using Tough 1500 Resin paired with Formlabs’ powerful, top-of-the-line 3D printers is Unplugged Performance, the world leader in premium performance upgrades for Tesla vehicles, to install new carbon fiber car bumpers. Prior to utilizing Tough 1500 Resin, the upgrade process was painstakingly long and yielded only about one car upgrade every two days. Now, Unplugged Performance completes about three car upgrades per day using Tough 1500 Resin.
The Tough 1500 Resin stems directly from Formlabs’ user feedback - many were looking for the perfect material that was tough enough to withstand significant pressure, but resilient enough to give and bounce back.
Tough 1500 Resin is ideal for prototypes that repeatedly bend and quickly return to shape; jigs and fixtures requiring repeated deflection; and simulating the strength and stiffness of polypropylene (PP). Some applications include housings and containers (electrical housings, bottles, and packaging); jigs and fixtures (non-marring grips, drill-guides, and locators); connectors (snap fits, press fits, hinges, threads, and joints); and high wear prototypes (consumer goods, tools, and assemblies).
