Liquid Crystal Magna

Large format industrial
LCD 3D printer

A complete manufacturing solution
1,000’s successfully deployed around the world

More than 8 million parts made with Magna. Reliable manufacture of high-performance, functional, cost-effective parts

Validated by BASF ForwardAM

Printer
Specifications

Large volume

510 x 280 x 350mm
20.1 x 11 x 13.8”

High resolution

137μm pixel pitch delivering outstanding finish

Fast printing

≤ 86mm/hr at 350μm layers volumetric speed = 24 ltr/hr

ResinGlide platform

Less waste with interchangeable, easy cleaning platform

Blow-Peel technology

Patented technology ensures reliable, fast printing

Long lasting screen

No-UV degradation

Energy efficient

11% of the energy per printed kg compared to FDM

See how Magna can transform your business

We provide three unique options to experience the benefits of digital manufacture:

a) Purchase Magna

We design your installation, train your staff and optimise your part and process and partner with you in your digital journey

b) Purchase parts

We are a large volume digital manufacturer and significantly more cost-effective than a bureau

c) Parts as a service

We install the full Magna process, train you, supply resin and you only pay for the good parts you make

Magna Factory

Lots of cost-effective, functional parts with a great finish

Magna Factory is your own farm of Magna printers with wash and cure processing. We install, train staff and validate your parts to meet your production needs.

The most cost-effective way to make millions of parts. Typical Magna Factory users create >€1m of sales a year.

We start by evaluating the suitability of your part to printing on Magna. We apply DfAM to improve it, lower its cost, lightweight it, incorporate other parts and supply a TCO.

We configure your Magna Factory to make the quantity you want; we will train your staff and optimise your process.

Every Magna will produce between 1.5kg and 7.5kg of parts per shift. Magna Factory users get special pricing on hardware and resin, delivering amazingly low TCO’s encouraging maximum usage.

Based in a region blighted by economic decline, Merit 3D had the vision of bringing manufacturing back to USA. They started working with Photocentric in 2018 and now have a large Magna farm of over 30 printers. They have crafted a dominant position selling printed parts at prices equivalent to injection moulded ones.

The machine that breathes

Photocentric developed proprietary technology to eliminate unwanted forces at separation. This enables consistent, high-quality prints that are dimensionally accurate and faster print times. Blow-Peel is a patented technology in our Liquid Crystal Magna.

The machine that breathes

Photocentric developed proprietary technology to eliminate unwanted forces at separation. This enables consistent, high-quality prints that are dimensionally accurate and faster print times. Blow-Peel is a patented technology in our Liquid Crystal Magna.

Complete printing system

Custom designed wash and cure units to deliver the complete processing solution.

Photocentric Air Wash L
Photocentric Cure L2

Photocentric Air Wash L

Efficient cleaning

The Air Wash L is designed for large scale production. Its air agitation system cleans very effectively when used with our resin cleaner.

Using Air Agitation

90L, 20G wash unit

Increase throughput

Air Wash L can operate 24/7

Plug and Play

Easy to setup

Streamline the process

Designed to hold the entire Liquid Crystal Magna platform with full z build volume

A more thorough clean

Millions of bubbles contact the prints delivering a thorough clean

Clean in one process

Washes both the printed parts and platform together

Photocentric recommends BOFA extraction systems to connect to the Liquid Crystal Magna printer and the Air Wash L station.

Photocentric Cure L2

Cure large parts with heat and dual wavelength light

The Cure L2 takes a full Liquid Crystal Magna platform and will cure it effectively with both light and heat.

Large chamber volume

Cure L2 takes a full Magna platform so you can post-expose on platform.

Time regulated control

Digital timer control, set the time and leave your prints to cure.

Peak properties

Your printed parts will be dry and strong with ultimate material properties.

Complete printing system

Custom designed wash and cure units to deliver the complete processing solution.

Photocentric Air Wash L

Efficient cleaning

The Air Wash L is designed for large scale production. Its air agitation system cleans very effectively when used with our resin cleaner.

Using Air Agitation

90L, 20G wash unit

Increase throughput

Air Wash L can operate 24/7

Plug and Play

Easy to setup

Streamline the process

Designed to hold the entire Liquid Crystal Magna platform with full z build volume

A more thorough clean

Millions of bubbles contact the prints delivering a thorough clean

Clean in one process

Washes both the printed parts and platform together

Photocentric Cure L2

Cure large parts with heat and dual wavelength light

The Cure L2 takes a full Liquid Crystal Magna platform and will cure it effectively with both light and heat.

Large chamber volume

Cure L2 takes a full Magna platform so you can post-expose on platform.

Time regulated control

Digital timer control, set the time and leave your prints to cure.

Peak properties

Your printed parts will be dry and strong with ultimate material properties.

Magna advantages

Magna creates more value than any other printer. Used correctly it will last a lifetime. Our customers make lots of parts and create lots of value for their business.

Magna is the workhorse of digital manufacturing.

Part making support

We pride ourselves on our customer service and guarantee you print successfully. We have the most experience of printing with LCD screens of any company. All Magna customers can access this knowledge.

We will orientate and support your part for you using the latest Voxel Dance software and give you advice on how to make your part most efficiently.

Printer comparison

Why buy Magna?

Proven machine for manufacturing volume, Photocentric has printed over 6 million parts with Magna and our customers millions more.

Magna is an open system with a wide variety of Photocentric and BASF validated resins.

IP secure, can operate without internet connection.

Complete processing system with Carbon analysis, TCO, full software and maintenance.

UK manufactured with dedicated highly experienced service department ensuring success.

Printer

Technology

Resolution XY

Build Volume WxDxH

Vol Litres

Peel-release Technology

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Processing Solution

Printer Price

Resin Price /kg

Total Cost of Ownership

Printed Part Cost

Printer

Photocentric LC Magna

Technology

LCD

Resolution XY

137μm

Build Volume WxDxH

510 x 280 x 350

Vol Litres

50

Peel-release Technology

Patented Blow Peel

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Open

Processing Solution

Designated wash and cure units

Printer Price

$20,995

Resin Price /kg

$40-114

Total Cost of Ownership

Low

Printed Part Cost

Very Low

Printer

Nexa3D XiP Pro

Technology

LCD

Resolution XY

46μm

Build Volume WxDxH

292 x 163 x 410

Vol Litres

19.5

Peel-release Technology

LSPC ACF film

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Open

Processing Solution

Designated wash and cure units

Printer Price

$59,995

Resin Price /kg

$97-450

Total Cost of Ownership

Moderate

Printed Part Cost

Moderate

Printer

Nexa3D NXE 400Pro

Technology

LCD

Resolution XY

46μm

Build Volume WxDxH

275 x 155 x 400

Vol Litres

17.1

Peel-release Technology

LSPC Liquid Membrane

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Open

Processing Solution

Designated wash and cure units

Printer Price

$41,995

Resin Price /kg

$100-450

Total Cost of Ownership

Moderate

Printed Part Cost

Moderate

Printer

Stratasys Origin One

Technology

DLP

Resolution XY

4k Light Engine

Build Volume WxDxH

192 x 108 x 370

Vol Litres

7.7

Peel-release Technology

Air

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Open

Processing Solution

Requires 3rd party solution

Printer Price

$20,995

Resin Price /kg

$100-400

Total Cost of Ownership

High

Printed Part Cost

High

Printer

Carbon L1

Technology

DLP

Resolution XY

4k Light Engine

Build Volume WxDxH

189 x 118 x 326

Vol Litres

7.3

Peel-release Technology

Non-oxygen Layer

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Closed

Processing Solution

Requires 3rd party solution

Printer Price

$50,000 pa

Resin Price /kg

$50-399

Total Cost of Ownership

Extremely High

Printed Part Cost

Very High

Printer

Formlabs 3L

Technology

2 x 250 mW lasers

Resolution XY

25μm

Build Volume WxDxH

336 x 200 x 300

Vol Litres

20.2

Peel-release Technology

Silicone Coated PE film

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Closed

Processing Solution

Designated wash and cure units

Printer Price

$12,000

Resin Price /kg

$119-1299

Total Cost of Ownership

Moderate

Printed Part Cost

High

Printer

Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K

Technology

LCD

Resolution XY

43μm

Build Volume WxDxH

330 x 185 x 400

Vol Litres

24.4

Peel-release Technology

ACF Film

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Open

Processing Solution

Designated wash and cure units

Printer Price

$1,580

Resin Price /kg

$15-110

Total Cost of Ownership

Extremely Low

Printed Part Cost

Very Low

Printer

Peopoly Phenom XXL V2

Technology

LCD

Resolution XY

137μm

Build Volume WxDxH

527 x 296 x 550

Vol Litres

85.8

Peel-release Technology

None

Fastest reliable rate of print volume

Open / Closed System

Open

Processing Solution

Requires 3rd party solution

Printer Price

$8,299

Resin Price /kg

$44-60

Total Cost of Ownership

Low

Printed Part Cost

Very Low

The accuracy of parts printed on Magna
Magna compared to other manufacturing methods
Aspects impacting Magna’s printing tolerances, accuracy and precision
How we test accuracy on Magna

 

 

Magna is a remarkable printer, and it will deliver accurate, precise and consistent parts if you understand how to use it correctly.

Blue 460nm light delivers consistent and repeatable cure through depth, across the build area, across different Magna printers, for life.

Magna has an 4K screen providing 137-micron pixel pitch across its entire 510mm (20.1”) by 280mm (11.0”) build area.

The fixed LCD screen never goes out of focus or alignment ensuring reliability in the x:y plane. Highly accurately engineered linear drive ensures precise performance in the z direction.

 

3D printing with resin (stereolithographic printing) by laser, DLP or LCD systems and powder bed fusion 3D printing (SLS and MJF) have the highest tolerances of commercially available plastic 3D printing technologies. Compared to machined accuracies, resin and powder 3D printing tolerances fall between standard machining and fine machining tolerances.

These are the terminologies when discussing accuracy:

Accuracy

Accuracy is how close a measurement is to true value, which is derived from comparing the measured value from a Magna part to the dimensions designed in CAD.

Precision

Precision is the repeatability of a measurement, which means how much you can rely on Magna to produce your expected results, every time.

 

Tolerance

Tolerance is how precise the critical elements of a part need to be, achieving tighter tolerances generally means higher manufacturing costs, Magna’s pixel pitch defines tolerance.

 

Tolerancing in 3D Printing

In traditional machining, tighter tolerances are exponentially related to increased cost, requiring additional machining, so machined parts are designed with the widest tolerances allowable for a given application.

Contrastingly, 3D printing has a single automated production step and tighter tolerances may require more effort in the design stage but can yield significant savings in prototyping and production.

 

 

Part design and preparation

Designing the model for the LCD Additive Manufacturing process is essential in achieving print success. The orientation of the part, positioning the leading angle correctly, creating its support network, the introduction of latticing are all critical in avoiding warpage. Our Customer Service department will assist you in teaching you how to orientate and support your part for Magna.

 

Post processing

Magna comes as part of a full eco-system with Air Wash L and Cure L2 units. This enables the parts to maintain isotropy by being washed and post exposed on the platform. The wash solution is optimised to remove excess of resin and maintain mechanical integrity. The combination of heat and double wavelength light fully cures the parts completely.

 

 

Finishing

Finishing includes de-supporting, sanding support artefacts and spray painting. Sanding is suitable to achieve correct in a one-off part, because less tolerancing is required in the design phase, but with larger assemblies, or when producing multiples, accurate dimensional tolerancing is essential.

 

Material selection

Bottom-up printing is more physically demanding on the part than printing top-down. Resins that print successfully provide both the desired end use properties and green strength (modulus before post-curing) necessary to hold the weight of the part and withstand shrinkage during printing. Poorly formulated resins can exhibit significant shrinkage and warpage, the effects of this are more evident in large parts. Photocentric select chemicals carefully to deliver the necessary short terms properties while still delivering essential long-term functionality. Compensation factors in the resin print profiles are tailored to deliver accurate parts.

 

 

 

The minimum z built resolution starts at 25µm, the pixel pitch is a factor in creating the resolution in the x:y axes, and the minimum feature size is typically formed from 2 or 3 pixels combined.

We print test cubes and large structures and then measure all the elements of the parts, relative to each other.

Build volume accuracy

You will be able to achieve within +/- 0.10% volumetric accuracy in printed parts compared to CAD.

Build volume repeatability

When printing a full platform of aligner dental models with Magna and scanning each model, 90% of the scanned data aligns within +/- 100µm compared to the CAD data, irrespective of the model’s position on the platform.

 

Build production volumes

From hundreds of small to very large parts, the Liquid Crystal Magna Printer delivers accurate end-use parts in industrial scale.

Applications

Liquid Crystal Magna is transforming manufacturing for applications across multiple industries.

Tooling >

Produce functional and affordable moulds for your industrial applications.

Automotive Aftermarket >

Magna is proven as the most effective method of making small and medium sized fixtures for the automotive aftermarket sector.

Dental Models >

Achieve volume production at exceptional speed on your dental models

Figurines and Models >

Our high-resolution printers deliver the optimised solution for making figurines and models

Industrial Parts >

Our LCD technology enables lots of parts to be printed very quickly.

Orthotics >

Improve patient lives with customised medical devices

Applications

Liquid Crystal Magna is transforming manufacturing for applications across multiple industries.

Tooling >

Produce functional and affordable moulds for your industrial applications.

Automotive Aftermarket >

Magna is proven as the most effective method of making small and medium sized fixtures for the automotive aftermarket sector.

Dental Models >

Achieve volume production at exceptional speed on your dental models

Figurines and Models >

Our high-resolution printers deliver the optimised solution for making figurines and models

Industrial Parts >

Our LCD technology enables lots of parts to be printed very quickly.

Orthotics >

Improve patient lives with customised medical devices

Daylight Resins

Specially designed daylight 3D resins for the Liquid Crystal Magna, providing functional properties across a wide variety of applications.

Cures entire build area simultaneously

Order of magnitude more curing ability than lasers.

Cures the entire platform not single pixels, individual control of over 8.3 million pixels. At 100 μm nearly 3 trillion addressable voxels

Energy efficient 3D printing

Lowest CO2 plastic printing process

We can supply a Carbon Footprint for your part

Cures entire build area simultaneously

Order of magnitude more curing ability than lasers.

Cures the entire platform not single pixels, individual control of over 33 million pixels. At 100 μm over 300 quadrillion addressable voxels

Energy efficient 3D printing

Lowest CO2 plastic printing process

We can supply a Carbon Footprint for your part

97%

UK manufactured from UK made components

Magna is assembled in Peterborough predominantly from components made in the UK.

97% of the value of components in a Magna are made in the UK.

European software to slice, support and control the printer.