Kumarappan Muthuraman

Falcon 3D · 2017 – 2020

PEEK 3D printer

A high-temperature FDM printer for dental implant work

180 °C
Heated bed temperature
A brown PEEK box with the Falcon 3D logo, printed on the machine
Role
Founder & CEO
Organization
Falcon 3D
Period
2017 – 2020
Tools and methods
  • SolidWorks
  • Fabrication
  • Gantry and motion design
  • Thermal design
  • CNC and laser cutting

A custom high-temperature FDM printer that prints PEEK, built for the dental implant market and licensed to dental professionals.

The challenge

PEEK needs far more heat than common printing plastics, and that heat is hard on motors and electronics.

What I built

  • A custom heated bed that reaches 180 °C, heated by power resistors.
  • Water-cooled blocks on the stepper motors.
  • Electronics moved outside the chamber for thermal isolation.

Result

The printer produced functional PEEK parts and was licensed to dental professionals for implant fabrication.

A PEEK dog-bone specimen being printed
Fig. 1. Printing a PEEK tensile specimen
Stepper motor with an aluminum water-cooling block and brass fittings
Fig. 2. Water-cooled block on a stepper motor
The cooling block from another angle
Fig. 3. The cooling block from the side
Six brass barbed fittings
Fig. 4. Fittings for the cooling loop