At Biqu’s booth, Czech-based independent printer manufacturer Stōn-Wolf (pronounced stone wolf) debuted its eponymous printer. It's a gorgeous slab of thick, mirror-finish metal surrounding an unusual flying-gantry motion system over a 300 x 300 mm build area. Built-to-order in Czechia, kits start at €1,395.

I spotted this beast at Formnext this week — the FieldRack, a mobile 3D printer so rugged it looks like it’s ready to enlist. Built by Nexos.Group and German start-up CR-3D, the idea is simple: why wait for supply-chain miracles when you can just print the missing part right where things are exploding? FieldRack promises boots-on-the-ground manufacturing, swapping lead times for “give me five minutes and some filament.”

There was always speculation, then leaks, but now, Apple has embraced its metal 3D printing story in full by publishing a detailed case study on why and how it 3D prints all of its Apple Watch Ultra 3 and titanium Apple Watch Series 11 cases. It won't name the brand of laser powder bed fusion 3D printer used, except to say its has six lasers, which narrows down the field quite a bit. The materials is 100% recycled aerospace-grade titanium powder, which helped the company save 400 metric tons of raw titanium in 2025 by using 50% less via 3D printing.

But even there it can come from unexpected places. A nondescript table appeared today at Bambu Lab's booth, showing off a bunch of heavy, highly polished metallic looking pieces. Like the CyberBrick was once a stealthy, interactive exhibit at the company's stand, perhaps we'll see a high metal-content filament from them soon, too.

At least so says Recreus, flexible filament specialists whose Formnext highlight solves the difficulties of high-speed printing soft flexibles: a new filament size. Soon, the company will offer a 2.20 mm flexible filament alongside the standard 1,75 mm. The logic goes that 2.85 mm filament takes too long to melt properly, and 1.75mm buckles too easily.

This new goldilocks size melts juuust right for higher-flow printing of flexibles at PLA-like print speeds, they say. Recreus-made Bambu Lab and Prusa Nextruder compatible nozzles, required for this optimal new size, will also launch soon.

CEAD and Caracol both rolled in flaunting 3D printed vessels, apparently agreeing that the best way to show off “large-format printing” is… well, to go full nautical. This year the show floor is teeming with robotic-arm printers, and the organizers thoughtfully corralled them into one zone, which is perfect if you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to walk through a futuristic shipyard run entirely by robots.