The object is then drawn from the resin.

It has been an 18 month wait for this new technology to arrive at our doorstep and we are excited by the print results.

5 good things about SLA printing

SLA printed products have advantages over prints using standard filament;

High resolution

SLA printing achieves higher resolution than FDM printing because each layer is solidified by a beam of light on a solid surface. The new layer of resin is hardened against the last layer. In contrast to FDM printing, there is no chance of the new layer melting the fine structures of the previous layer.

Vastly improved accuracy

The resolution and accuracy of SLA printing is much higher than FDM.

There are many reasons for this.

1. The Z resolution can be as small as a few microns. This gives an instant boost to resolution.
2. The X/Y resolution is also smaller.
3. Light beams solidify the resin, so there is no head moving across the print causing distortion to the edges and fine structure.

Harder materials

The cured plastic is harder because of the chemistry. SLA resins are designed to cross-link. This means that the finished object will  retain it’s shape. Depending on the chemistry used, this can mean harder surfaces …. or even rubbers that will resist compression set.

Smooth surfaces

We finish the parts by curing under a UV light and an oxygen free blanket of gas.
The prints are highly detailed, watertight, hard, smooth and ready to go.

Production runs of small to medium sized parts

SLA printing is setting new standards for print quality and accuracy.  When you feel the parts, they feel like they came from a production line, not from a 3d printer.

We keep the support material to a minimum to make the surface smooth. The attachment points to the part are also smaller and easier to remove.

This is a fantastic new addition to our printing equipment that will offer makers, students and professionals a huge increase in accuracy for small to medium sized prints.

The post SLA 3D Printing. High resolution at it’s best. appeared first on Print 3D.

Sound too good to be true? It might be. But if you want to give it a go, you can go to your dentist to have him or her take an impression of your teeth; you know, like one of those casts you had made to mold your retainer once upon a time? Then you send the cast off to a dental lab to have it made into a 3D file. On the very off chance that you don’t have a dental lab in your Rolodex, Blizzident will refer you. Once you have the file in the proper format, you load it onto Blizzident’s servers, and you can order your very own teeth-brushing machine for $300.

Sure, it seems like a crazy idea, and it would be risky to stop brushing your teeth altogether, but it’s an intriguing proposition. For example, have you ever tried to brush a toddler’s teeth? It’s not so easy. And while $300 is expensive for a product that’s unproven, the more people who give it a shot the better it might get. And if it works, it’ll save you a mint in dentist fees.

The post 3D Printed Express Toothbrush appeared first on Print 3D.

The post 3D Printed Jumbo Jet by Airbus appeared first on Print 3D.

Evill, a recent graduate of Victoria University in New Zealand, wants to update the process of healing of broken limbs with something a little more modern: 3D printing.

Evill created the Cortex cast, a breathable, lightweight, recyclable and washable exoskeleton that mimics the body’s trabecular, the small honeycomb-like structure that makes up your inner bone structure.

The cast lets in plenty of air, which prevents that stuffy, itchy feeling.

The Cortex cast employs a similar fitting system as other casts, with X-rays to determine bone fractures. Evill’s prototype used a hacked Kinect for Xbox for the 3D scanning, but a more sophisticated and precise scanning process is in the works.

The post 3D-Printed Casts appeared first on Print 3D.

1. What is 3D Printing

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes. 3D printing is considered distinct from traditional machining techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting or drilling.

The 3D printing technology is used for both prototyping and distributed manufacturing with applications in architecture, construction, industrial design, automotive, aerospace, military, engineering, civil engineering, dental and medical industries, biotech (human tissue replacement), fashion, footwear, jewellery, geographic information systems, food, and many other fields.

2. 3D Modelling Software

A range of software can be utilised to design a 3D model.

• FormZ – Offers a form generating environment – very powerful, dynamic, intelligent, yet easy to use.
• Blender – is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License. Blender was developed as an in-house application by the Dutch animation studio NeoGeo and Not a Number Technologies (NaN). It is a powerful program contains features that are characteristic of high-end 3D software
• 123 Design – Professional software from Autodesk – offers many features, PC and Mac support as well as iPhone and iPad.
• 3Dtin – The simplest 3D software. You can draw directly from your browser.
• SketchUp – Google SketchUp bucks the trend of expensive 3D modeling software such as 3DSMax and Cinema4D and presents a free, easy to use alternative with which you can even post your creations onto Google Earth for the world to see.

Whether you are Mac or PC user this table can help you to choose the most suitable 3D modelling software.
Commonly supported formats by 3D printers: Pro/engineer, Solidworks, Unigraphics, Auto CAD, (IGS, STP, STL and X-T).

3. Technology

3D Printers Printers for domestic use
Several projects and companies are making efforts to develop affordable 3D printers for home desktop use.
Much of this work has been driven by and targeted at DIY/enthusiast/early adopter communities, with additional ties to the academic and hacker communities.
Maker-Bot Replicator is one of the well established brands of home 3D printers.

Industrial uses
Unlike consumer printers, industrial machines can use a wide range of materials. From multicolour PVC to metals, glass, stone and even food.
The precision and speed of print is much greater and so is the price. While home 3D printers can be purchased for less than $1000, industrial machines start at $25,000.

4. 3D Printing Materials

A number of additive processes are now available. They differ in the way layers are deposited to create parts and in the materials that can be used. Some methods melt or soften material to produce the layers – selective laser melting (SLM) or direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modeling (FDM), while others cure liquid materials using different sophisticated technologies, such as stereolithography (SLA). With laminated object manufacturing (LOM), thin layers are cut to shape and joined together (paper, polymer, metal).

FDM Thermoplastics
FDM Technology builds parts in the same strong, stable plastics used in injection molding, CNC machining and other traditional manufacturing processes. Harness the power of 3D printing while relying on tested, established thermoplastics.

• ABSplus – Opaque standard plastic in 9 colors
• ABSi – Translucent standard plastic in 3 colors
• ABS-M30 – Opaque standard plastic in 6 colors
• ABS-M30i – Biocompatible, sterilizable engineering plastic
• ABS-ESD7 – Static dissipative standard plastic
• PC – Strong engineering plastic in white
• PC-ABS – High-impact engineering plastic in black
• PC-ISO – Stronger biocompatible, sterilizable engineering plastic
• PPSF/PPSU – Sterilizable, strong high-performance plastic
• ULTEM 9085 FST – rated high-performance plastic

PolyJet Materials
PolyJet technology 3D prints in the widest variety of materials, so you can create realistic prototypes that closely resemble finished products.

• PolyJet Digital Materials – With versatile PolyJet dual material jetting you can construct more than 100 composite Digital Materials with a wide range of physical properties, colors and tones.
• Digital ABS – simulate high-strength and temperature-resistant plastics
• High-temperature – combine thermal functionality with dimensional stability
• Transparent – 3D print clear models and prototypes
• Rigid Opaque – 3D print in white, gray, blue and black
• Polypropylene-like – 3D print polypropylene-like models and prototypes
• Rubber-like – 3D print flexible materials with a variety of properties
• Bio-compatible – 3D print for medical and dental applications
• Dental Material – 3D print for dental and orthodontic applications

5. Post-Processing

Your 3D Printer Objects Desktop 3D printing has yet to spawn third-party finishing services like commercial 3D printing did a decade ago.
So, without access to acetone cloud chambers, multi-axis enamel jet robots, agitating chemical baths, and industrial tumblers and polishers, makers have rolled up their sleeves and discovered a host of finishing solutions using inexpensive tools and materials.

Using a solvent – Acetone (for ABS)
Acetone is a much safer way to bring brilliance to an object made with ABS and to remove small imperfections. A liter of Acetone costs about $10 and you can find it in any do-it-yourself shop.

Bending
Using a blow torch – with a blow torch you can heat objects that are not too thick and then bend them. Keep the heat source fairly far away and heat ABS plastic to maybe about 60 degrees. You then you can adjust somewhat its shape.
Using a hot air gun – hot air pistols are the best bet. Even cheap models allow to regulate temperatures fairly precisely (from 30 to 600 degrees). For bending ABS for example, you could try to heat it around 210 degrees. Use some gardening leather gloves for manipulating the hot object.

The post What is 3D Printing and How Does it Work? appeared first on Print 3D.

It’s Expensive. Today you can buy small plastic objects at the store for practically nothing. This is not the case when producing a similar object on a consumer-grade 3D printer. The plastic can be relatively expensive and this means your coat hook could cost a lot more than one you can buy. Oh, and did we mention that you have to buy the 3D printer first?

It’s Frustrating. When you print a page on your 2D paper printer, it generally works quite well. You might occasionally get a paper jam or require refreshing the ink cartridges, but your print rarely fails. Not so with personal 3D printers, and even commercial 3D printers; failures are common. Prints fall off the bed, a glitch in the feed, heat discoloration or simply a power failure during a very long print can all happen – and do.

It’s Rough. Store-bought items are typically smooth and glossy. 3D printed objects generally are not. They usually exhibit “layering” where you can directly examine the resolution of the 3D printer. There are ways to post-process 3D printed objects to clean them up, but you probably won’t do so.

It’s Limited. Most personal 3D printers can produce plastic objects, some in several kinds of plastic. It is possible to print in many other substances, including metal, food, ceramic, glass and more, but you either have to buy an expensive commercial 3D printer or build your own machine to print alternate materials.

It’s Changing. 3D printing’s rate of technological change is very rapid. Today’s personal 3D printers are astronomically better than those offered two years ago – and we can expect the same (or more) rapid progress to occur. If you are not satisfied with current offerings, just wait.

It’s Amazing. While the facts above may detract from personal 3D printing, it is still amazing. There is magic in watching an item simply appear in front of your eyes right out of thin air. This is why most personal 3D printers are open air or have windows – so you can see it happen, and be amazed.

The post 7 Things You Must Know About 3D Printing appeared first on Print 3D.