Does the FibreSeeker 3’s Continuous Fiber Technology Actually Matter?

If you want stronger 3D-printed parts, the continuous fiber FibreSeeker 3, now on Kickstarter, promises to deliver that. But does that continuous fiber technology actually matter and will it give you stronger parts?

You already know about carbon fiber and glass-filled 3D printing filament, which are supposed to produce strong parts. But to facilitate extrusion, those materials are filled with tiny little pieces of chopped fiber. That is very different than traditional fiber-filled material, like fiberglass and carbon fiber panels, which have fiber mats. There is a great deal of debate about whether or not those fiber filament materials provide a real-world benefit and they certainly don’t match their traditional counterpoints.

The FibreSeeker 3 is supposed to bridge that gap, bringing true fiber reinforcement to 3D printing. It does that by using a second print head to lay down a single, long strand of carbon fiber through the entire part. It is truly novel.

I have little doubt that FibreSeeker 3 parts will be stronger than those printed on conventional printers. But how much stronger and in what scenarios?

First, we need to keep in mind that this is only an improvement in tensile strength. It won’t do anything for, say, compression strength. That’s why all of the demonstrations and statistics on the Kickstarter campaign page focus solely on tensile strength.

That is still very useful, but I have one big concern: the continuous fiber follows the thermoplastic extrusion and therefore aligns with the print’s layer lines. Presumably, the fiber will only extend between layers at the layer change points (and potentially in Z hop locations).

3D-printed parts are already weakest perpendicular to the layer lines and, if I am correct, this continuous fiber technology isn’t doing much to provide reinforcement in that direction. It provides additional strength in the direction that 3D-printed parts are already strong, but doesn’t help where those parts are weak.

That might not matter to backers and clearly it hasn’t stopped the FibreSeeker 3 from succeeding on Kickstarter, as the campaign has raised more than $2M. But until I can see the technology for myself, I will remain somewhat skeptical.