Q: What are the primary benefits of the SLA 7000 System from 3D Systems? The SLA 7000 is focused primarily on significant improvements in throughput and thinner layer part building capability. The SLA 7000 is up to 4 times as fast as our SLA 5000*, the current standard. In addition, this machine is capable of building layers that are 50% thinner than the tooling buildstyle of current SLA machines. The .001 inch layer* capability is ideal for tooling applications as it provides a smooth surface finish with minimal stair-stepping, which means substantial reductions in pattern finishing time. In addition, the SLA 7000 produces parts in the 0.001 inch layer build-style as fast or faster than existing machines build at much coarser layer thicknesses*. Q: How does the SLA 7000 System from 3D Systems improve my product development process? The SLA 7000 is a close relative to the existing SLA 5000. This new system builds on the strengths of the SLA 5000 while adding new functionality that enables the system to outperform existing rapid prototyping systems. Although the SLA 7000 appears very similar to the SLA 5000, significant mechanical and software differences exist. The SLA 7000 is focused on adding value to the process of stereolithography via improvements in speed, surface finish, and throughput. Q: Is the SLA 7000 difficult to use? No, the SLA 7000 is as easy to use as the SLA 5000. The familiar resin refill system and the Windows NT-based buildstation software make this machine an easy-to-learn and easy-to-master productivity tool. Q: What improvements have been made in the area of reliability? The SLA 7000 continues to improve on the industry-renowned reliability of the SLA 5000. Added reliability has been achieved via a thorough reengineering of all machine subsystems. This means more up time for you, so you can build more parts for your customers. Q: Why should customers purchase the SLA 7000? The high productivity and precision capability of the SLA 7000 makes it a key element of our customer's objective...to shorten the product development process resulting in faster time-to-market. Q: What is "throughput"? Throughput is defined as the volume of prototypes or patterns which can be produced per unit of time. Throughput is impacted by time required to prepare data for building, the speed of the actual build process, and the time taken to post-process and finish parts. Part preparation time is substantially reduced by the speed and ease-of-use of the 3D Lightyear part preparation software that is included with the SLA 7000. The machine itself is optimized to minimize the part build time. For applications requiring good surface finish, the 0.001 inch* tooling buildstyle substantially reduces finishing time. Q: What is special about the SLA 7000 Laser system? The laser is a diode pumped solid state laser with 800mW (end of life) power at the vat. It incorporates a totally self-contained, maintenance-free internal water cooling system. This means that the laser is stable over a wide range of ambient temperatures. Performance is improved as a direct result. Q: What is the concept of the dual spot laser? The SLA 7000 is equipped with two different spot sizes. The border spot size is .010 inches and is identical to the laser on the SLA 5000. The spot size for hatching is .030 inches. Think of the concept of painting a large area. You might use a thin brush for the outline of the painting and a roller to fill in the larger inside areas. Spot-size switching is fully automatic. The system is also smart enough to identify areas too small to hatch with the larger spot, in which case it automatically hatches with the smaller spot. Q: How does the SLA 7000 reduce part costs? Most experienced users of stereolithography technology recognize that a significant portion of the cost of an SL part is the capital depreciation and overhead associated with operation of the equipment. Other costs, such as material consumption, are much less significant. With substantially faster throughput over previous machines, the depreciation and overhead cost-per-part from an SLA 7000 is reduced. In short, the economic model for making and testing parts using SLA technology just changed. *Depending upon part geometry, build parameters, and material. Download Datasheet: Page 1 (.pdf 168K) Page 2 (.pdf 87K)