Bison 1000 Tethon 3D - DLP 3D printer

Tethon 3D is a globally renowned designer and manufacturer of materials and equipment for professional ceramic 3D printing. The Bison 1000 3D printer from their catalog is a DLP 3D printer with a 110 x 60 x 138 mm build volume, a 57 µm XY resolution, 22 GB of internal storage, and Ethernet and USB connectivity. The Bison 1000 printer is capable of providing complex industrial designs with ultrahigh detail. Bison 1000 can work with both the Tethon 3D resins as well as validated third-party materials.

Image 1: The Bison 1000 printer. Source: Tethon 3D.

The Bison 1000 3D printer is quite compact, with a size of 508 x 508 x x711 mm and a weight of 32 kg. These dimensions make this printer perfect for small offices and workshops, as well as research labs or manufacturing floors with 3D printer farms composed of multiple Bison 1000 printers, all coordinated with the help of the Tethonware software.

Image 2: The accessories that come with the Bison 1000 printer. Source: Tethon 3D.

The printer is delivered with all the accessories necessary to start 3D printing: an adapter and power cable, a USB drive (with the Tethonware software), a resin tray and build plate (installed in the printer), a wide scraper, a silicon scraper, a rubber scraper, nitrile gloves, and the key to the printer's back door.

Hardware

The light source of the Bison 1000 3D printer is a 405 nm UV LED light. It offers a 57 μm XY resolution, and an FHD resolution of 1920 x 1080. The light source of the Bison 1000 printer has been optimized for curing high-load ceramic materials, with the light intensity adjustable to perform well with a full range of materials.

Image 3: A model 3D printed on the Bison 1000 printer. Source: Tethon 3D.

The build plate of the Bison 1000 printer has the dimensions of 110 x 60 x 138 mm, giving a considerable construction surface suitable for big parts as well as batches. The surface of the build plate has been improved to foster better part adherence.

Image 4: The interior of the Bison 1000 printer. Source: Tethon 3D.

The heated resin tank (with adjustable temperature) helps reduce the viscosity of the resin, thus facilitating faster printing. The tank can fit a full liter of resin, which eliminates the need to keep adding resin during printing. Furthermore, the tank has been designed to facilitate easy part separation, and equipped with a protective film that increases the tank's durability and its resistance to scratches and tearing.

Image 5: A fleet of Bison 1000 printers can drastically increase productivity. Source: Tethon 3D.

Along with the optimized light source, the resin tank is one of the numerous elements that have been improved to accomodate 3D printing with high load materials such as are ceramic-filled resins. These optimizations result in improved part quality and strength, as well as an agilization of the printing process, increased efficiency of the printer, and an economization of resources.

Software and user interface

The Bison 1000 3D printer has been equipped with multiple features that give the user a high level of control and make the 3D printing process safe. One of those solutions is the remote monitoring option possible thanks to a camera (visible in the left corner of the printing chamber) and an application. What's more, Bison 1000 is equipped with interior lights that make it possible to monitor the print status in the dark.

Image 6: The user interface of the Bison 1000 printer. Source: Tethon 3D.

The user interface is displayed on an easy-to-read and highly responsive 85 x 155 mm LCD Screen. The user interface gives access to fully adjustable print settings, printer configuration, attachments, rapid file change, and much more. 

Video 1: The Tethonware software. Source: Tethon 3D.

The dedicated laminating software compatible with the Bison 1000 3D printer is the self-developed Tethonware software. This laminating software is provided for the user on the USB drive included in the package. Tethonware supports .stl, .obj, and .amf formats, and, alongside standard options such as support generation and edition, or hollowing (for reduced material use or improved ceramic sintering), Tethonware offers the "shrink wrap" functionality which allows model repair (especially good for scanned models).

Revolutionizing ceramic 3D printing

The Bison 1000 DLP 3D printer isn't just and resin 3D printer, it is a highly specialized tool for the efficient additive manufacturing with ceramic resins. The numerous optimizations make it possible for Bison 1000 to cure even very high-load ceramic resins. The 3D printed parts can then be debinded and sintered, giving the user a fully ceramic object with intricate industrial-grade detail.

Bison 1000 offers a truly compact and intelligent design, as well as a very intuitive user interface and professional laminating software. This makes the printer adequate for the 3D printing of one-off parts or batches with very specific requirements or meant for testing - applications that subtractive manufacturing may not be able to provide.