Hasta La Ideas

If there ever was a major leap in the evolution of the 3D printer, the voxeljet Concept is the benchmark machine to follow. In the explosive arena of start-ups that produce innovative 3D-printers, voxeljet has decided to challenge and change the direction of how 3D printers work. Taking a look at three specific factors that set this process apart from others on the market, it becomes quite clear just how revolutionary this concept is.

• The ability to have a continuous supply of consumables delivered to the machines as it is making a model. This is made possible because the bed of consumables sits above where the models are actually made.
• The printhead sits in an area that it tilted at about a 35 degree angle with a printhead resolution of 600 DPI.
• The build size 800mm x 500mm x Infinity. As the model is being printed it sits on a conveyor belt that delivers the model out at the other end.

At a layer thickness of 150 to 400 microns, the resolution is decent when compared to others 3D printers but it is worth noting that this is still in the concept phase so there is the possibility to improve the layer thickness.

Continuous 3D-Printing Technology represents a new dimension in the manufacturing of moulds and models without tools. With its big advantages compared to conventional standard-3D-printers VX concept is a pioneer for a whole new generation of machines. The length of the moulds is virtually unlimited with this type of system as there is no restriction to the length of the belt conveyor. The usable build length is only limited by the manageability of the moulds. Furthermore, the tilt of the print level enables the print head to take far less time for positioning movements, which improves the print speed. Apart from the technological highlights, users will be pleased with the investment and operating costs because they are lower than those of conventional systems. With the continuous printing system, there is no need for a build container or separate unpacking station, which has a positive effect on the purchase costs. The printer also scores points with its high re-use rate for the unprinted particle material, which is returned straight to the build zone from the unpacking area. Consequently, the machine requires smaller filling quantities and incurs lower set-up costs.

Check the promo vid after the jump…

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To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Boston’s Fenway Park, Objet used one of their Connex 3D printers to crank out a replica of the stadium, created from blueprints and photographs:

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Our friends at Brooklyn-based consultancy Pensa have worked with the likes of Johnson & Johnson and McDonald’s—not to mention ID idols OXO—but their multidisciplinary team has still found time to come up with independent projects such as the “DIWire Bender.”

The DIWire Bender is a rapid prototype machine that bends metal wire to produce 2D or 3D shapes.

Simply draw curves in the computer, import the file into our software and press print. Our software can read vector files (e.g., Adobe Illustrator files), Rhino or Wavefront OBJ 3D files, text files of commands (e.g., feed 50 mm, bend 90° to right…) or pure coordinates (from 0,0,0 to 0,10,10 to….). All inputs are automatically translated into DIWire motor commands. During the print, the wire unwinds from a spool, passes through a series of wheels that straighten it, and then feeds through the bending head, which moves around in 3 dimensions to create the desired bends and curves.

What could you use a DIWire for? Wire models are often needed in design, whether they are for furniture (chair leg scale models) or housewares projects (wire baskets) or even engineering parts (custom springs). But why stop at prototypes? The machine can read any data, why not output artwork from a random number algorithm, or internet data like stock prices and weather stats. You can create mass customized products, like eyeglass frames that fit, or be a street vendor printing jewelry from a person’s silhouette, on demand. And it doesn’t have to be aluminum wire; in principal the machine could bend other materials, including colored electrical wires, some plastics, memory metals, even light pipes to create small light forms. And if you don’t like the output, it could be configured to pass the bent wire through the straightener to start again.

The DIWire Bender is Pensa’s answer to the rapid proliferation of other rapid prototyping technologies, such as 3D printers and CNC machines; indeed, the tabletop device is a variation on the latter.

In recent years, 3D rapid prototyping machines have gone mainstream. And we’ve been excited to see 3D printers spreading beyond businesses to individuals, with the aid of a little DIY ingenuity (e.g., Makerbots, RepRap, etc.). All these machines work on the same principal—to create a form, they split a volume into thin slices, and build up the form by printing a layer of material and bonding it to the next. The main difference between the build technologies (SLA, SLS, FDM and others) is the material and the bonding methods.

But there are times when we need to output lines in space rather than volumes. Most 3D printing technologies are not well suited for printing thin lines because the materials are weak, the machine uses a lot of 3D-print support material, and the process is slow. The closest thing to a machine that can output lines is a CNC wire bender, but these machines are used almost exclusively for mass production in factories. They are not used for rapid prototyping because the equipment is large, expensive and takes trained personnel to run. So, we decided to make the DIWire Bender.

The concept, then, is fairly straightfoward, but it still makes more sense when you see the video. The first clip shows the machine producing a simple ‘pound’ sign, as well as a fairly complex distended helix:

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It’s frustrating when something’s clever but you don’t know exactly how it’s clever. The ceramic Vortex Salt & Pepper Shakers, designed by
a Frankfurt-based team of ID’ers using digital manufacturing by Shapeways, fit that bill perfectly: Each has only one opening in the top, which is how you load them. But when you invert them to dispense, only a measured pinch of salt or pepper escapes.

So how did they do it? Presumably there are some tricky, possible-with-digital-manufacturing-only channels inside the container that we’ll never get to see, unless we buy one of these just to break ’em open.

Says the design team, who collectively go by the handle Moloko,

[Looks] simple—but getting it right was tricky. Because designing a salt and pepper shaker for Shapeways has two big constraints: the design rules for hollowed ceramics demand an opening with a diameter of at least 10mm—but there is no food safe material available on Shapeways to make a plug for this hole.

So we had to come up wih a one-piece plugless solution: This shaker is conveniently filled from the top, through it’s big funnel-shaped opening. Obviously nobody wants all of the stuff to fall out again when using the shaker. We created a really simple but effective retaining system that lets the shaker be filled easily but keeps the condiment inside when you turn the shaker upside down. Only a pinch of condiment will leave the shaker when shaking it slightly, just like it should be.

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If only there was a way to combine my love of metalworking with my laser proficiency

Here’s something we don’t see often: A “How it’s made” video showing how they make something that makes other things. Specifically, a laser cutting machine.

The coolest thing we didn’t know before seeing the video is that a laser beam must be the appropriate shape in order to cut optimally, just like a router bit or a kitchen knife designed for a specific task. But the laser used here is invisible, and you can’t shape what you can’t see. So check out 2:10 in the video where they use clear blocks of sacrificial plastic that actually reveal the laser’s shape.

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