3D Printing

Coming Soon: Sculptable 3D Printing Filament from Adam Beane Industries

Desktop FFF 3D printing is capable of bringing digital designs into the physical world, but the resolution of FFF machines is still lacking. Plus, a 3D printed object may lack the hand-craftsmanship that philosopher Walter Benjamin might say injected the aura into a human artifact. Whether or not it will make up for the “contemporary decay of the aura” or not, Adam Beane Industries has found a way to bring hand-craftsmanship back into the sculptural 3D printing process with a new malleable filament that can be manipulated after a print has been made.

Established by sculptor Adam Beane, Adam Beane Industries is a studio dedicated to helping other sculptors make the best of their craft. In addition to tutorials and workshops, this includes the production of materials called Cx5 and Cx5s, designed to be more workable than traditional clays and waxes. Likely made up of a thermoplastic, the materials are meant to “model like clay, tool like plastic, and finish like wax”, with users heating them up to model and letting them cool down to harden into place. The different between the two is that Cx5 remains a bit harder when cooled down and Cx5s remains moldable after cooling.

sculptable-3d-printing-filament-adam-beane-industries

The artists is now bringing his materials to the world of 3D printing with a filament line that has the same properties as Cx5 and Cx5s. Once an object has been printed, it can be re-heated for further manipulation. In the video below, you’ll see how it can be etched, indented, and shaped with a bit of heat, with the application of further Cx5 allowing for additional, non-printed details.

Beane has yet to release the new filament, but it should be available later sometime this year.  3D printing filament is only getting more advanced and nuanced.  So, while this malleable material may be have a big impact on the modeling world, the properties of the filament may also be expanded into other applications.  It will be exciting to see just how this expansion takes place.