Malping Expands High-Performance Polymer 3D Printing With FGF PEEK Service

Most desktop 3D printing services stick to PLA and PETG. Malping, a German bureau based near Stuttgart, is heading in the opposite direction. The company has expanded its additive manufacturing offering around high-performance polymers, including PEEK, PEKK, PPS-GF20, and Ultem 9085, and is now pushing fused granular fabrication as a practical way to print large PEEK parts without the usual filament markup.

Why FGF Matters for PEEK

PEEK filament is expensive. Depending on the grade, it can run 500 to 700 euros per kilogram. That cost makes sense for small, intricate parts, but it becomes painful when you need larger geometries. Fused granular fabrication skips the filament step entirely and feeds PEEK granulate straight into the printer, the same raw material used in injection molding. Malping says this can cut piece costs by 40 to 60 percent on big components.

Speed is the other advantage. A typical filament machine might extrude 50 to 100 grams of PEEK per hour. Malping's ExAM 510 from New AIM3D, with its 104-liter build volume, can reach up to 500 grams per hour. For parts above roughly 1,000 cubic centimeters, the bureau now considers FGF the economical default.

Filament Still Has Its Place

Malping is not abandoning filament. For small, detailed work, FFF still wins. The company uses nozzles down to 0.2 mm and diamond-tipped nozzles for abrasive carbon-fiber and glass-fiber composites. The plan is to pick the right process per part rather than force everything through one technology.

The complete workflow also includes CNC finishing. Malping coordinates the printing and post-machining in-house through a partner shop, aiming for tolerances down to 0.05 mm on functional surfaces, threads, and bores. That matters because high-temperature polymers are often used in functional, not decorative, applications.

Process Control Is the Real Product

Printing PEEK well is harder than printing PLA. The material needs dry storage, heated chambers, controlled crystallization, and sometimes post-print annealing. Malping documents process parameters for every part and can print test coupons from the same build job for customers who need traceability. For regulated sectors like medical technology, it also handles certified material grades with separate documentation.

The move signals a broader shift in polymer additive manufacturing. As more bureaus add granulate printing and post-processing, high-performance plastics are starting to look less like a specialty and more like a standard production option.