For this particular posting I decided to watch a
Geekbeat.tv podcast on 3D printing. I
have heard a little about 3D printing over the last year or so and even read up
on some household versions however I had not seem much before on industrial
models.
The hosts of the show interview representatives from
Stratasys and SculptCad about the Stratasys 3D printers. Discussions move from the use of support
structure material on some smaller hollow items to a solid sculpture of a Halo
character all the way up to automobile dashboards.
One of the more fascinating prints for me might have been
the smallest one they demo’d and it was the moveable chain. By using a dissolvable support material, they
are able to print the chain links all together in 1 single print and still retain
the shape of that style of chain. The
single prints with moveable parts in general were fascinating including the
joystick demo’d towards the end. This
particular piece had different textures and rigidity of parts yet it was all
printed at once.
The next type of printer they talked about was a full
color liquid photo polymer that according to the Stratasys representative is
sprayed on as a liquid and cures as a solid.
These printers were used to create the Halo character with multiple
colors as well as the Trek bike helmet prototype. One of many advantages for these types of
printers is that the color is all the way through the material. Scratches or gouges do not distort the color
other than just the surface damage.
Examples were also discussed that 3D printers in
industrial settings alleviate some financial burdens of designing new
products. Whether the 3D printer is
creating prototypes of the actual item to be manufactured or the printer is
creating mock up molds for an injection mold process, the iterative process of
each of those steps can be cheaper and quicker if 3D printing is used.
Overall I found the video very interesting. Although the printers are financially out of
reach for home use…bummer, it was exciting to see some prints from beefier
models that are being used in industry.
As technology is improved upon, as it always is, some day the industrial
models spoken about in this video may become household models in the future.
“3DPalooza – 3D Printers Get Up-Sized for Industry with Stratasys” Dec 2, 2014.
rather interesting read. I have always been curious on 3D printers and how they work, from what i have heard about the topic they are pretty incredible machines. how long does a normal printing process take?
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