| Type: | Private |
| Foundation: | May 2012 |
| Founder: | Erick Wolf and Eva Wolf |
| Location City: | Costa Mesa, California |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Key People: | Erick Wolf, Chairman and Mark Mathews, President |
| Industry: | 3D printing |
| Products: | 3D printers |
| Num Employees: | 25–30 |
Airwolf 3D is a 3D printer designer headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. It was founded in 2012 by Erick and Eva Wolf.
Airwolf was founded in May 2012 by Erick Wolf, a garage mechanic and patent attorney with a mechanical engineering degree, and his wife Eva. The inspiration for the company came from a 3D printer that Erick bought just before Christmas 2011.[1] After encountering difficulty with his goal of getting the printer to print replacement parts for itself, he spent several days working on the printer before determining that it wasn't able to complete the task. The printer was eventually scrapped for parts, and Erick instead began building his own printer, which was named the Airwolf 3D.
The original Airwolf printer (v.4) was derived from the Prusa Mendel and Mecano Air designs, hence the name "Airwolf."[2]
The company started shipping fully assembled 3D printers in June 2012 from their garage in Newport Beach, California. The first printer was sold to Lars Brubaker and Kevin Pope of MatterHackers. MatterHackers went on to develop MatterControl, 3D printing software that works with many 3D printers and is offered in a customized version for Airwolf 3D.[3]
Airwolf's customer base includes Boeing, John Deere, Raytheon,[4] Saleen Automotive,[5] and Honeywell — as well as schools and home hobbyists.
The AW3D 5.5 was introduced in late 2012 and superseded the v.4 and v.5.
The AW3D XL was introduced in January 2013. The maximum printing surface is approximately 12" x 8" x 7". It operates on a RAMBo board made by Ultimachine which offers options for expandability, such as a dual extruder, multiple fans, and several other features including direct heatbed control.[6]
The AW3D HD was introduced in November 2013 at the 3D Print Show in Paris, France. It featured a print area of approximately 12" x 8" x 12".[7] The AW3D HD featured a print volume of 12" x 8" x 12" (1150 in3) and had a layer-to-layer resolution of 0.06 mm (0.002 in). The HD was equipped with a single print head that came standard with a 0.5 mm nozzle or a 0.35 mm nozzle as an option.[8]
The AW3D HDL was the Airwolf 3D base model 3D printer, which could be upgraded depending on the user's needs. It was equipped with an unheated print bed and a single print head capable of sustained temperatures of 260 °C (500 °F). The AW3D had a print resolution of 0.08 mm with a maximum print speed of 150m m/s. The AW3D had a build volume of 12" x 8" x 11" (1056in3) and came standard with 0.5 mm print nozzle or a 0.35 mm nozzle optional.[9]
The AW3D HDx was introduced in May 2014. It is a 3D printer can build prototypes out of engineering-grade materials like polycarbonate, bridge nylon and nylon 645. The HDx uses the company's JRx hot end and can continuously hold temperatures of up to 599 °F (315 °C), which allows 3D printing in more durable materials. The HDx was selected as Editor's Pick of the Week by Desktop Engineering.[10] The HDX had a print volume of 12" x 8" x 12" (1150 in3) and had a layer-to-layer resolution of 0.06 mm (0.002 in). The HDX came was equipped with the proprietary JRx high-temperature print head and came standard with a 0.5 mm nozzle or an optional 0.35 mm nozzle.[11]
The AW3D HD2x was a dual-head 3D printer that was introduced in 2014. The HD2x featured a dual print head capable of sustained temperatures of 315 °C (599 °F). The original HD2x was designed for traditional hard-wired printing and slicing functionality; however, wireless capability was later provided by Airwolf 3D's Wolfbox wireless controller. The HD2x was capable of printing in two different colors or two different materials simultaneously, provided that the two materials had similar extruding temperatures. The HD2x had a print volume of 11" X 8" x 12" (1056in3) and offered a layer-to-layer resolution as fine as 0.06 mm (0.002 in).[12]
The AW3D HD-R was introduced at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.[13] The HD-R was the first Airwolf 3D model to offer integrated Wi-Fi and cloud based slicing, file storage, and file management based on the AstroPrint platform by 3DaGoGo.[14] The HD-R could be interfaced via a traditional PC connection or a mobile device. By default, an 8" tablet was supplied with each unit for wireless interface. The HD-R came equipped with dual print heads, each capable of sustained temperatures of 315 °C (599 °F). The dual print head configuration allowed the user to print with two different colors or two different types of filament, provided that the filaments had similar extruding temperatures. The HD-R was built with an improved aluminum backbone for rigidity,[13] and had a maximum build envelope of 11" x 8" x 12" (1056 in3).[15] The HD-R had a print resolution of 0.06 mm (0.002 in) and came standard with a 0.5 mm nozzle or an optional 0.35 mm nozzle.[15]
The first in the AXIOM line is made from extruded aluminum and injection molded polycarbonate parts. It has a large build volume of 12.5" x 8" x 10", can print layers as fine as 40 microns, and its heated bed, along with the company's proprietary hot end, allow the AXIOM to print in a wide variety of materials, from PLA to Nylon and polycarbonate. And, with the integration of cloud printer management system AstroPrint, the AXIOM can be controlled via the web, as well as USB, micro SD card, or Ethernet.
Wolfbite is a 3D printing adhesive to facilitate the bonding and removal of nylon and nylon blend prints from glass and ceramic build plates. The product was formulated to solve the problems of warping and adhesion that are inherent when 3D printing with nylon.[16]
Many components are fabricated using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a common thermoplastic.