Announcing Fuse X1: The Accessible Industrial SLS 3D Printer By Formlabs

Fuse X1 delivers production-quality SLS parts at a new scale, with 7.5x the build volume of Fuse 1+ 30W. Previously, producing large parts would require expensive outsourcing or added labor as large parts were sectioned, printed, and then glued together. With a 330 × 330 × 565 mm (13.0 x 13.0 x 22.2 in) build volume and maximum part length of 713 mm (28.1 in), Fuse X1 makes it possible to print large parts without extensive sectioning. This lowers costs, eliminates some labor, and shortens timelines. 

Fuse X1 delivers these large parts in a small footprint of 1.3 m²  (12.5 ft²) — less than half that of legacy industrial printers and only ~2.5x larger than Fuse 1+ 30W, making in-house printing of large parts achievable even in small spaces. 

Designers can only iterate at the pace of their tools. From the frame to the baskets and sunshades, Radio Flyer electric bikes and accessories are designed in-house. A few years ago, when Radio Flyer first started developing ebikes, it would take two months to prototype a frame. First, a metal frame would be built. Then, it would be clad in small prints from multiple printers. The large build volume of Form 4L and robust materials enabled the engineers to skip the metal frame, dividing the CAD model into 19 builds to print. This required a week of print time followed by days of gluing parts together. 

With Fuse X1, the Flyer Loop bicycle frame can be printed in just one Fuse X1 build. LoBello finds that the parts are dimensionally accurate, enabling him to slot them together with ease, for nine times less labor and prototypes in 10% of the time. This allows LoBello to iterate more, and focus on the design of the final product and not on designing for printing.

The Fuse X1’s large build volume, coupled with 30%+ packing density by volume, enables delivery of production-quality parts for 50% less than competing printers, all in half the floor space. This low cost per part makes manufacturing more accessible than ever. Use the Formlabs API to integrate Fuse X1 with your Manufacturing Execution System (MES) for streamlined production. 

At announcement, Nylon 12 Powder, a versatile and biocompatible material with high detail and dimensional accuracy, is available for Fuse X1. Settings for additional materials are coming soon: Nylon 11 Powder will be available by the end of 2026, and both Nylon 12 GF Powder and TPU Powder by Summer 2027. To achieve the lowest cost per part, bulk powder discounts are available for all Formlabs materials; contact sales to place a bulk order.

Delivering 10,000 3D printed parts a week requires high throughput from every square foot of a facility. Printers have to be fast and reliable, all with a low cost per part. At Autotiv, over 200 printers run round the clock, delivering parts to customers in the US and beyond — often in a single business day. 

Prior to Fuse X1, Autotiv would print large parts on their Farsoon SS403P legacy SLS 3D printer, which would take about 70 hours to cycle. With a cycle time of ~24 hours, Autotiv can effectively run two or three builds on one Fuse X1 in the same amount of time it would take to run one build on the Farsoon. This allows them to scale production without taking up more space, delivering large SLS parts to clients in drastically shorter lead times. 

Bulk powder discounts and fast print times result in a low cost per part on Fuse X1, for a fast return on investment, making it easy for Autotiv to continue to scale SLS 3D printing with Fuse X1. 

Fuse X1 delivers same-day large parts, with 3x the throughput of competitors and 5x the throughput of Fuse 1+ 30W. 

Adaptive Thermal Control is a new thermal architecture designed to maintain stable print conditions across the build chamber. It collects and processes 700 times more thermal data per second than the Fuse 1+ 30W. This data is used to drive 13 independent thermal zones that deliver, maintain, and sinter powder at an incredibly precise and stable temperature from the first layer to the last, giving customers unlimited freedom and exceptional part quality.

Adaptive Thermal Control unlocks unlimited packing freedom in large-format SLS for the first time. While maximum packing density for MJF 3D printers is approximately 10% and around 20% for legacy large-format SLS printers, Fuse X1 can achieve over 30% volume packing density to fit more parts per build and achieve unprecedented throughput.

Prints are set up in PreForm, Formlabs’ free print preparation software. Fuse X1 packing is only limited by part geometry. Only 1 mm spacing is required between parts and the parts will dictate print set up.

At Tesla Giga in Nevada, the additive manufacturing department delivers 10,000 to 30,000 parts a week. Printers need to be fast, changeover times minimal, and uptime is key.

Tesla’s team uses a non-marring shim to hold glass without marring or marking it. It’s a stopgap part that will be needed for six months. Jepson had initially looked into injection molding the non-marring shim, but found that the cost per part of SLS 3D printing them was competitive. Prior to Fuse X1, Jepson printed 10,000 to 20,000 non-marring shims a month in dedicated builds, as with traditional large-format SLS 3D printers, packing small parts around one large part would impact the dimensional accuracy of the parts due to the inferior thermal control. However, with the high packing densities enabled by the Adaptive Thermal Control of Fuse X1, Jepson says, “With the X1, we are able to pack these in around other parts and utilize what would have otherwise been empty space, further driving down our cost per part.”   

Printing the non-marring shim on legacy SLS was more costly due to the dedicated builds required, meaning it would have made sense to move to injection molding two to three months into the project. But Jepson says, “Now with the reduced part cost on the Fuse X1, that changes that math completely and we may not move to an injection mold at all.”

Formlabs engineers built on the technology of Fuse 1+ 30W, developing AI-powered Print Intelligence™ for Fuse X1. Print Intelligence monitors, adapts, and protects every stage of the print process, delivering the reliable, easy-to-use printing you’ve come to expect from Formlabs. 

One of the most common causes of print failures in SLS is foreign debris. A single hair can ruin a build and cost thousands of dollars in downtime. Print Intelligence eliminates this problem by detecting part defects in real time and selectively removing the affected part from the following layers. On another printer, a single hair could cause compounding defects that ruin an entire print. On Fuse X1, Print Intelligence isolates the failure and completes the rest of the build, maximizing part yield. 

Print Intelligence includes five integrated subsystems: 

• AI Failure Prevention uses computer vision to monitor every layer with real-time thermal imaging to detect anomalies before your build fails. Print Intelligence™ detects part defects in real time and selectively removes the affected part from the following layers, saving materials and time. 

• Thermal Management maintains stable conditions across the entire build volume using 13 independently controlled thermal channels with continuous sensing across temperature, heater-current, and thermal camera feedback.

• Motion Control ensures consistent recoater and doser operation through five-axis closed-loop motion with encoder feedback.

• Systems Health Monitoring continuously verifies system readiness and operational stability with chamber pressure control, powder level sensing, and interlock monitoring.

• Optics Control ensures consistent performance throughout every build with real-time regulation of the 120W laser and high-performance galvanometers, including temperature, current, and IR window clarity.

These subsystems monitor printing to sense issues before they ruin an entire build, saving time, material, and ensuring delivery of parts when you need them.

While traditional powder bed fusion 3D printers require costly facility buildout, specialized HVAC, and multiple days setup with a technician, Fuse X1 can be rolled through a standard door and installed in less than one hour so that you can start printing on day one. Single phase power and external nitrogen are required, for installation and printing without a facility retrofit.

The 1.3 m² (12.5 ft²) footprint of Fuse X1 means it takes up less than half the space of a legacy industrial printer. This means twice as many printers can fit in the same space, maximizing throughout per square foot and making it possible for even small prototyping labs to deliver large parts.

Formlabs is committed to building the tools that make it possible for anyone to bring their ideas to life. With the Fuse X1 Ecosystem, large-format industrial SLS is now accessible, empowering users to produce larger parts than ever before, or deliver higher volumes of parts — all at a lower cost per part. 

Explore the Fuse X1 Ecosystem to learn more or contact sales to start printing.