If FFF 3D printing is like a hot-glue gun, MXT is a syringe.

In the FFF process material is melted as it passes through an extruder’s hot end. Unlike FFF, MXT melts filament in advance and stores it in an internal reservoir. This extra step enables unprecedented speed and precision in the printing process by working with material that is stored at its ideal temperature and is uniformly viscous throughout the print.

Using a reservoir of molten filament allows MXT to print with unprecedented control due to the local force exertion. Where traditional FFF technologies push solid filament through extruders by exerting force at a distance from the hot end, thus creating a gap of time between the cease of force and actual filament extrusion. MXT has implemented a servomotor to feed the reservoir and a metering pump just above the hot end powered by a servo motor as a source of controlled, local force. With this highly accurate feeding combination, MXT pushes an incredibly measured volume of uniformly viscous filament through the hot end locally. This eliminates time gaps between the mechanical systems and drastically improves printer precision, enabling better results at a faster pace.

The process makes printing five times faster than traditional FFF printers with a throughput of up to 500 cubic centimeters per hour (cm3/h) at maximum extrusion rate with its finest 1-millimeter nozzle. Because of its level of accuracy and liquid-filament deposition, MXT extruders don’t need to take the extra steps that FFF printers do when turning corners, stopping, or rapidly starting and stopping; drastically reducing print time.

MXT also eliminates oozing by implementing a secondary force called retraction, where the extruder’s metering pump runs in reverse to eliminate pressure in the nozzle, stopping or pulling any filament already past the reservoir to halt extrusion accurately and instantly.