{"id":165816,"date":"2022-10-06T11:17:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T03:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/?post_type=kb&p=165816"},"modified":"2022-11-08T15:22:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T07:22:58","slug":"vulcan-ii-2-3d-printer-all-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"kb","link":"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/kb\/vulcan-ii-2-3d-printer-all-you-need-to-know","title":{"rendered":"Vulcan II\/2 3D Printer: All You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If your 3D printer seems small, you’re right. Check out the Vulcan II, a beast of a machine that 3D prints beautiful homes in less than a day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It’s Concrete, Jim<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The first 3D printed home in the USA (Source: Icon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3D printing with concrete has come a long way from being just a theoretical idea. Start-ups and companies around the globe have disrupted this century-old industry by\u00a03D printing concrete structures<\/a>, both for living and commercial use. In this article, we\u2019re going to focus on one such company,\u00a0Icon<\/a>, which made the Vulcan II and is bringing 3D printed construction technology to the open market.<\/p>\n

Icon is a Texas-based start-up that began around 2017. They\u2019re re-imagining the way homes can be made, with the mission of making the process more affordable, sustainable, and available. With that, they\u2019ve taken some great steps forward, including being the first company in the United States to get a building permit to 3D print a home. They also won an award from NASA for their design of a 3D printed home to be built on Mars.<\/p>\n

Back on Earth, in 2018, they unveiled their own concrete 3D printer, the Vulcan, and the home it printed (in the image above). A year later, they came out with the Vulcan II. It features a clean, sleek design and the ability to print a house of 600 to 800 square feet in under 24 hours, and for less than $4,000.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at why we need these concrete machines and what this second generation Vulcan printer has to offer.<\/p>\n

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Why Print Buildings<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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3D printed homes as part of a non-profit partnership in rural Tabasco, Mexico (Source: Icon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Before we get into the Vulcan 3D printer, it might not be a bad idea to discuss why 3D printing technology is being used at all in the construction industry, specifically with building residences.<\/p>\n

The two most important factors when you\u2019re talking about home building is time and money. It\u2019s well known that 3D printing homes is significantly faster than when built with manual labor. Icon boasts that it can print tiny homes in less than 24 hours and larger homes in under three days. When comparing the\u00a0time it takes to 3D print a house<\/a>, Icon is in the lead. And when it comes to money, 3D printing has the great advantage of needing just a small team to supervise and operate the printer. In other words, fewer people, lower cost.<\/p>\n

Additionally, it\u2019s not news that both natural disasters and political upheaval have displaced and continue to displace millions of peoples all over the world. While not limited to developing nations, they\u2019re often the hardest hit.<\/p>\n

Refugees are a prime example of this. When they arrive at a new, often temporary place, tents are the norm for their shelter. If 3D printing becomes involved, homes could be made from concrete, which is safer and better insulated than tents or other semi-permanent structures, and can be printed quickly and cheaply.<\/p>\n

In line with their mission statement, Icon has partnered up with the global housing non-profit New Story and the Mexican social housing enterprise Echale to build 50 homes in rural Mexico. In their own backyard, Icon also has a partnership with Mobile Loaves and Fishes to build homes for the homeless in Austin. To learn more,\u00a0Icon put out a great\u00a0video that\u00a0shows more about\u00a0this local project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s learn more about the amazing machine that made all this possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meet the Machine<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The early Vulcan setup (Source: Icon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Printer Specs<\/strong><\/h3>\n