How much does it cost to 3D print a metal faucet? What is CFAM? Can you 3D print PEEK on a desktop?
In today’s edition of Sliced, 3D Printing Industry’s news digest, we report the latest stories from Stratasys, GE Additive, 3D Systems, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Arconic, Carbon and more.
High-end luxury and fighting crime
Dutch clay 3D printer provider VormVrij 3D completed a challenge to make 400 identical ceramic cups in just 2 weeks. Using the company’s LUTUM 3D printers, a total of 1,200 cups were made over a 6 week period, fulfilling an order for an Audi A8 Timeshift event.
In a novel spare part initiative, 3D service bureau Visual First are using Stratasys polymer 3D printers to replace metal parts of machines at The Chocolate Factory in Rotterdam. According to Carl van de Rijzen, Visual First Business Owner, “We can 3D print and deliver production parts to The Chocolate Factory in under a week, which is vital to ensuring manufacturing line continuity.”
On invitation from Reebok, London design agency Modla has combined new Flexweave material technology with 3D printing to make a stylish altitude training mask.
The props department at Stratford-upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has been using 3D printers to help solve setting problems in the UK. “Making is having a huge renaissance. When CGI first came in, along with 3D printing, there was a sense that it was a death knell,” says Alan Fell acting head of RSC’s props department in an interview for The Guardian,
“But the budgetary costs of CGI are enormous – sometimes it makes more sense to make things. Similarly, 3D printing does the basic, boring bits – and allows us to immerse ourselves in cerebral, fun problem-solving.”
British Colombia’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (BC RCMP) has issued a government tender for its own 3D printer to help recreate crime scenes for the courtroom.
And, the “first of its kind” faucet pictured below has been 3D printed on a ProX® DMP 320 metal additive machine from 3D Systems. Indianapolis direct metal printing specialist 3rd Dimension made the tap for luxury kitchen and bathroom fixtures design brand KALLISTA, whose products have a price tag typically within the thousands of dollars.
Hot hardware
A preview of SpiderBot’s ABSolute3 reveals that the desktop machine will be capable of 3D printing materials melted at up to 220°C, putting it in line for production using high-performance plastics such as PolyEtherImide, PEEK, PEKK and PEEKK.
After a smash hit on Kickstarter back in 2016, UNIZ has started a new campaign to fund the SLASH OL and SLTV Series of 3D printers that reportedly set a new world record of 3D printing speed to over 700mm/hr z-axis speed.”
Previewed at CES 2017 this time last year, the Bellus3D camera and scanner for mobile devices are now available for pre-order, and in limited quantities to potential resellers.
And the CEAD Group, founded by two co-founders of Leapfrog, has started circulating images of its forthcoming, large-scale Continuous Fibre Additive Manufacturing (CFAM) machine. The system is tipped to have a max build volume of 4 x 2 x 1.5 m, and be capable of depositing up to 15 kg of material per hour.
Software troubleshooting
3D printing software and solutions provider trinckle has partnered with PROTIQ Marketplace to develop a web-based configurator where customers can order metal 3D printed copper inductors. A tricky task, from both a design and a manufacturing point-of-view, the platform makes it simple to produce application-specific inductors on-demand.
3dprintapps.de has released two major updates its GCodePrintr and GCodeSimulator apps on Android. The new version 3.0 comes with dual extrusion support, a number of user interface improvements and many more features to make 3D printing from mobile easier than before.
In addition to voice control for its color 3D printers, XYZprinting has upgraded its hardware with a new feature that protects prints in the event of a power outage.
GE Additive shakeup and Carbon’s latest news
Arconic is expanding its existing advanced manufacturing aerospace operations in Whitehall, MI with an investment of $10 million. The investment is bolstered by the listing of 38 new jobs at the Whitehall facility now listed on the company’s website.
Mohammad Ehteshami is stepping down from his role as CEO of GE Additive to a new advisory role within the company. Stepping up to take his place is Jason Oliver, joining GE from a position at American conglomerate manufacturer Dover Corporation.
Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC, Inc.) has joined the team of investors contributing $200 million to Carbon’s latest round of funding. In more recent news from the company, Carbon has also partnered with Ramaco Carbon to make coal-based 3D printed products.
Roboze, provider of the Roboze One, Roboze One 400+ and the Argo 500 3D printers, has officially launched sales in Germany and expanded its network in Scandinavia and Turkey.
The University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Additive Manufacturing Center has installed a Gleeble 3500 System to aid in the testing of new materials.
And D2M Solutions, a 3D printing service bureau located in Dubai, will be bringing sales of Desktop Metal systems to the Middle East.
A face for 3D printing in medicine
The Regenerative Medicine Manufacturing Society is to have it inaugural meeting on Friday the 26th January. Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) that performs cutting-edge work in the field of 3D bioprinting, is one of the society’s founding members.
Medical technology firm axial3D, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has established a Scientific Advisory Board for medical 3D printing software. Daniel Crawford, Founder and CEO of axial3D, comments, “We look forward to working with these individuals and leveraging their guidance to further axial3D’s execution of our vision – making 3D printing routine in hospitals.”
Hyper-realistic, 3D printed masks from NYU Langone Medical Center have been made in attempt to encourage more people to donate their faces for transplantation.
CEDARVILLE Engineering Group and Rockland Immunochemicals are to collaborate on a “3D Bioprinting Discovery Project.”
Bonus .stls
A wave lamp, originally created by Thingiverse user Markellov has been turned into a weather-predicting instructable by British designer Dushyant Ahuja. So, if you were looking for a new project to get stuck into, this might be it.
Dushyant Ahuja’s complete weather reporting lamp. Clip via Dushyant Ahuja on YouTube
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Featured image shows the Sliced logo of 3D printed clay pots made by VormVrij for Unfold. Origial photo via 3D Clay Printing
