To most of us here at 3DPI there is no manufacturing other than additive manufacturing (after all, this is 3Dprintingindustry.com, not Industry.com). So, sometimes, reality hits and I have to face the fact that there are quite a few other fascinating manufacturing technologies out there. Even though they hardly compare, in my opinion, to 3D printing.
So the fact that the new 3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping Materials, Tools and Services category was just added to the Materials & Assembly section of the prestigious Golden Mousetrap Awards — a yearly celebration of the people, companies and technologies driving progress in the US — comes as a relative surprise in the sense of: “How come it was not there before?”.
The event is organized by UBM Canon, a global company with a huge portfolio of brand and events in the world of advanced manufacturing, and by Design News, which makes the selections on finalists for each category to battle it out for the Awards. The finalist for the new 3D Printing section is RedEye, a professional rapid prototyping service, and its RedEye Tumbling Service.
The tumbling process is a potential revolution in FDM 3D printing because it rapidly removes the natural lines formed during extrusion, giving fused deposition parts an end-use quality finish. It does it through a vibratory deburring machine for mass finishing of up to 1000 parts at the same time, giving manufacturers an available solution for large numbers of end use parts.
The fact that Stratasys, RedEye’s parent company, is a one of the main sponsors for this year’s event may have increased RedEye’s chances to get to the final round. However RedEye is not new to receiving awards that recognize its potential. In 2012 it was voted Emerging Manufacturer of the Year at the Minnesota Manufacturing Award. As far as I – and probably most FDM adopters – are concerned, it is already a winner: silver nano wires, glass encapsulations, and medical grade PET’s just cannot compare in my eyes. Next February 11th, at the Anaheim Marriott Ballroom, take that Mousetrap home for the entire 3D Printing Industry, RedEye.
