Form 4BL: Maximum Throughput at Blazing Speed

Introducing the Form 4BL, the fastest large-format dental SLA printer designed for printing high-quality dental models and biocompatible parts. Whether you're looking to boost your model production or create custom appliances quickly, the Form 4BL delivers unmatched speed, precision, and ease of use. It offers a 4.6x larger build volume than its predecessor, making it ideal for labs with high-volume needs.

Thanks to significant technological upgrades, the Form 4BL prints up to 2-4 times faster than the Form 3BL, allowing you to produce over 120 orthodontic models per hour. With a 2.7x larger build surface than the Form 4B, you can print multiple batches in a single session, reducing user interaction and maximizing efficiency.

For labs requiring consistent throughput, the Form 4BL is built to deliver the reliability, accuracy, and performance needed to meet demanding production schedules efficiently and cost-effectively.

The Form 4BL is built on the same technology as the Form 4B, ensuring fast printing without sacrificing accuracy. With quicker heating and 5-10x faster resin dispensing, your prints start sooner. Once printing begins, you can achieve speeds between 10-80 mm/h, depending on the material used.

On the Form 4BL, you can print 32+ models in Fast Model Resin at 160 μm within 15 minutes, resulting in over 100 models per hour. The print time remains consistent whether you’re printing one part or many, helping you plan your workflow more effectively.

The ~1.8x increased throughput of the Form 4BL comes with three times fewer user interactions than the Form 4B: printing with the smaller build platform requires removal and reinsertion three times to reach the same output as the Form 4BL. This means you can produce more models in less time while freeing up workers for higher-value tasks — all while maintaining the same high precision and accuracy.

At Aurora DTC, the Form 4BL was the first large-format dental 3D printer added to their fleet, and it was met with enthusiasm. Rich Heilweil, the Rapid Prototyping Team Lead, said, “It’s unique, something different for us. It’s very productive to be able to nest so many models at once and print in one run. It’s a big advantage for us.”

Printing many applications at high volumes, Aurora likes to dedicate each printer to a specific resin and application. For the Form 4BL, they use Precision Model Resin to print highly accurate implant models and dies at 50 μm layer height.

Milos Markovic, Director of Cad-Cam and Implantology at Aurora DTC, emphasized that accuracy and speed are key when choosing a 3D printer. He was impressed by the finish and quality of the Precision Model Resin, and the Form 4BL not only offers blazing speeds but also meets Aurora's high-throughput needs.

Rather than printing multiple runs on the Form 4B, which required frequent user intervention, the Form 4BL allows Heilweil to batch print, so he can print the same number of models in fewer builds. With fewer print runs in a day, there are fewer pauses in other tasks for post-processing, leading to more time for higher-value work — all while maintaining or increasing the number of models produced daily.

Models are the highest volume application at Aurora, but Markovic sees potential for biocompatible printing in the future. As dentists continue to adopt intraoral scanning at an increasing rate, the demand for digital dentures is rising. Markovic can envision a future where large-format 3D printing of biocompatible resins would revolutionize production.

Dental professionals rely on reliable tools to meet deadlines with high-quality results. Knowing that a print batch will succeed keeps operations running smoothly. The Form 4BL addresses these challenges by offering faster performance, greater reliability, and easier operation than previous large-format SLA printers.

Inside the printer, six intelligent control systems precisely measure and maintain the temperature, resin level, print forces, and print status. Plus, with remote monitoring, you can monitor and manage your prints from anywhere using an integrated camera, preventative maintenance reminders, and our free Dashboard software.

Reliability starts at the factory with a 60-point calibration and quality control inspection, so the Form 4BL arrives ready to print. We understand that downtime costs your business, so we’ve re-engineered our consumables for long-term use. Resin Tanks for the Form 4BL are estimated to last 75,000+ layers, and the Light Processing Unit 4L (LPU 4L) for 600k - 1.9M layers. When needed, the LPU 4L is easy to replace, so the Form 4BL can be up and running without delays.

At Kreimer Dentallabor, Stephan Kreimer, MDT, found that adding a Form 4BL to his printer fleet increased productivity and efficiency. As a full-service dental laboratory, over 80% of Kreimer Dentallabor's customers are digital, meaning the lab produces high quantities of dental models—around 30-50 a day.

Managing this volume of models plus manufacturing appliances with a team of 12 would be impossible without reliable, high-throughput 3D printing. Additionally, high labor costs and limited access to skilled technicians mean efficiency and cost-savings are top priorities.

While the team loved the speed and accuracy of the Form 4B, the quick print batches necessitated frequent movement from a task to the printer and back again. With the addition of the Form 4BL, these interactions were reduced by more than 50%. Now, Kreimer Dentallabor can batch models together, saving time and reducing the potential for distractions.

“You spend much less labor time on cleaning, washing, and curing because you can process three times more models at once. The time needed for post-processing 30 models is almost the same as for 10 models,” says Kreimer.

Kreimer’s team found that learning to print on the Form 4BL was just as intuitive as earlier Form Series printers, minimizing the time it takes to onboard team members, whether they're new to the printer or new to the lab. As Kreimer says, “everyone can do it in 15 minutes.”

Learn more about how Form 4B and Form 4BL drive efficiency at Kreimer Dentallabor in our case study.

Reliably producing precise, accurate parts with a perfect fit is top of mind for dental professionals — whether they're restorative models with removable dies and implant analogs, or final restorations that need to look life-like and adapt perfectly. Parts printed on the Form 4BL have ±0.15% XY dimensional tolerances across the build platform, for parts that match your design parameters every time.

The Form 4BL features the same technological advancements as the Form 4B. Highly collimated light and 46 µm pixel size with pre-tuned anti-aliasing for subpixel resolution and lower peel forces allow you to achieve the sharpest details and smooth surfaces.

Formlabs’ dental material library includes 15+ materials, including seven biocompatible resins. These can be printed on Formlabs' biocompatible printers, including the Form 4BL. Formlabs’ biocompatible resins are developed and manufactured under our ISO 13485 and EU MDR certified Quality Management System. Scale occlusal splint production with Dental LT Comfort Resin or Dental LT Clear Resin, or maximize surgical guide production to meet customer needs.

All Formlabs resins are validated on the printer, with optimization engineers testing hundreds of printed parts to dial in validated print settings for reliable performance right out of the box. Print highly precise and accurate restorative models with Precision Model Resin, or leverage the speed of Fast Model Resin to produce 120 orthodontic models per hour.

Users seeking more flexibility can take advantage of Formlabs' open ecosystem on the Form 4BL. This includes the Print Settings Editor, which allows fine-tuning of print parameters to meet specific needs, and the Open Material Mode (OMM), which enables broader material compatibility.

OMM empowers expert users to leverage the speed, accuracy, and heating capabilities of the Form 4BL to print with any third-party 405 nm photopolymer resin. To learn if OMM is a good match for your business goals, talk to a dental sales representative.