Open Bionics & Konami Make Venom Snake 3D Printed Prosthetic Cover https://ift.tt/2HuNgRJ 29-year-old gamer Daniel Melville of Reading in the UK was born without his right hand, and has been wearing a 3D printed Hero Arm from Bristol-based Open Bionics. The company uses 3D printing to make more affordable bionic prosthetics for arm amputees, and Melville has been wearing one of its multi-grip Hero Arms for about three years now. But now the video game aficionado is sporting something even cooler: an official Metal Gear Solid “Venom Snake” 3D printed cover, which clips right onto his existing Hero Arm.
If you’re like me and don’t know anything about this video game, let me fill you in on what I’ve learned. Metal Gear Solid is a stealth game developed by publisher Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. and released for the PlayStation in 1998. The players control a character called Solid Snake, a solider who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility in order to neutralize the terrorist threat from a renegade special forces unit. But Venom Snake, or Punished Snake, who serves as the main protagonist in 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, heads up a mercenary unit, and returns to the battlefield after he wakes up from a nine-year coma. During the explosion that put him in the coma, he had a piece of shrapnel embedded in his forehead and, most notably for this article, lost his left arm. Venom Snake wears an iconic red and black bionic arm that has all kinds of nifty capabilities, such as gadgets which with to stun enemies and a detachable missile functionality. Konami and Open Bionics partnered to develop and release an official Metal Gear Solid “Venom Snake” bionic arm for below-elbow amputees, like Melville. The journey began in 2016, when Konami put out an ad stating that they were looking for a gamer amputee who would be interested in helping them create a new prosthetic limb being developed as a tie-in product for the launch of Metal Gear Solid 5. James Young, another UK-based Metal Gear Solid player, answered the ad and received a custom-built, 3D printed bionic arm created by alternative prosthetics artist Sophie De Oliveira Barata, who founded the Alternative Limb Project. Melville is the very first recipient of the new Metal Gear Solid design for below-elbow amputees, which was created by Open Bionics. His 3D printed Venom Snake arm looks a little different than Young’s version, though both are pretty cool.
Melville’s 3D printed bionic arm looks just like the real Venom Snake version, though it is obviously missing the weapon capabilities. The lightweight cover, printed out of tough nylon 12 material with SLS technology, uses magnets to clip onto the Open Bionics Hero Arm, and special sensors that detect muscle movements allow Melville to complete daily functions, such as playing Metal Gear Solid and other games. Open Bionics’ Hero Arm is the first medically approved 3D printed bionic arm, and is available through prosthetic clinics for people ages 8 and above who have below-elbow upper limb differences. The company has printed a lot of cool, pop culture-theme Hero Arms over the last few years, such as a Star Wars version with colored LED lights, a sparkling blue arm like Elsa’s from the Disney movie Frozen, an Alita: Battle Angel Arm, the metal arm Adam Jensen wears in the video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and more. If you’re interested in your own custom 3D printed Venom Snake bionic arm cover from Metal Gear Solid, you can purchase the official version for £599 on the Open Bionics website. (Source: CNET, Images: Konami/Open Bionics) Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 24, 2020 at 08:32AM
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How Sustainable is Metal 3D Printing? AMGTA’s First Report Says “It Depends” https://ift.tt/2V0n4kY Two months after commissioning the first research project on the environmental sustainability of metal 3D printing, the Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA), a global trade group created to foster and promote the environmental benefits of additive manufacturing (AM), published a literature-based systematic review. The paper, titled, “State of Knowledge on the Environmental Impacts of Metal Additive Manufacturing” synthesizes existing academic literature comparing the environmental impacts of metal AM with conventional manufacturing methods. According to the study’s co-authors Jeremy Faludi, Assistant Professor of Design for Sustainability at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands, and Corrie Van Sice, Manufacturing Sustainability Research Engineer also at TU Delft, metal AM would not be a more environmentally sustainable choice for many industrial applications, based on existing literature. But there are several applications where AM is a more sustainable choice, and these appear to be the industries where it is currently being used most, namely aerospace. Savings per kilogram of aircraft mass could, in turn, save between 134 and 200 gigajoules of fuel energy over a typical 30-year commercial aircraft lifespan. Based on researched literature, the study considered that replacing 9% to 17% of fleet-wide aircraft mass with lightweight AM parts made from aluminum-, nickel-, titanium-, and steel-alloys could offer cumulative emissions savings estimated at between 92 to 215 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through the year 2050 because of a 6.4% fuel reduction. The paper states that “it is an environmental benefit when resource-intensive materials such as titanium are greatly reduced, or when lightweight designs enabled by AM result in significant energy savings in the use phase. However, because it is unclear where these benefits will be strong enough to overcome the increased processing energy, much more research is required to enable modeling and prediction to support decision-making.” The AMGTA was launched in November 2019 as a non-commercial, unaffiliated organization open to any AM or industry stakeholder that meets certain criteria on production or process sustainability. Leaning upon founding members Sintavia, LLC, a metal AM service provider; Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation, supplier of stable industrial gases, and QC Laboratories, a material testing laboratory, AMGTA is trying to shed light on a sector that needs to learn more about its eco-footprint and what it will need to focus on in the future to become more sustainable. The importance of publishing sustainability reports for the industry is rising as 3D printing companies become increasingly more worried about assessing and quantifying their progress toward zero emissions, reducing carbon footprint, and other goals. The AMGTA’s objective is to serve as a key resource to educate the public and industry about the known positive environmental benefits of the technology, but also to help develop industry best practices, and to promote the adoption of AM as an alternative to traditional manufacturing. But for that to happen, it is focusing on consistent reporting methodologies about the true sustainable nature of 3D printing. The AMGTA’s inaugural sustainability report identified areas where information is sparse, unclear, and needed while summarizing current knowledge. According to the information presented, while AM generally has much higher carbon footprints per kilogram of material processed than conventional manufacturing, when considering the direct manufacturing process itself, impacts depend greatly on part geometry. For example, a solid cube will be a much lower impact to produce by machining, while a hollow shell or lattice can be a lower impact to produce by AM. Literature found by the authors corroborates this, especially that the electrical energy intensity of AM generally (not only metal) was between one and two orders of magnitude higher than conventional machining and injection molding, and processing speeds were three orders of magnitude smaller. Suggesting that AM is usually a less sustainable choice than casting, extrusion, rolling, forging, or wire drawing. To beneficially replace those processes, the report suggests that there should be situations where AM greatly reduces part mass, combines multiple conventional machining processes, or avoids tooling for short production runs. The report further recognizes the need for additional life cycle assessment (LCA) studies to quantify environmental impacts, especially direct comparisons of AM to machining, and especially for technologies such as binder jetting and directed energy deposition (DED). These LCAs should ideally also include more of the product life cycle, described the authors.
As for a possible solution to reducing the environmental impacts of metal AM, the authors found that replacing the metals that require melting with new materials that bond chemically at ambient temperature could help. However, “such replacements would require great advances in material development to match metal’s functionality.” For now, it is clear from the report that AM is environmentally beneficial where tooling is avoided for low part quantities, high-embodied-impact materials (like titanium) are saved, design optimization improves performance in the use phase and that use phase dominates lifetime impacts, and remanufacturing extends the life of high-value components Additionally, the AMGTA addressed the health hazard of using metal AM powders, as some of them pose serious toxicity risks. The authors found that most metal powders studied have the potential for causing allergic skin reactions, damage to organs after prolonged exposure, cancer, and are harmful to aquatic life. “Nanoscale particles can be generated, and while general dust inhalation hazard seems to be low given machine enclosures and ventilation, smaller particles may pose toxicity risks to workers because of their ability to pass biological barriers.” Here, The authors suggested that workers exposed to nanoscale metals should do regular biological monitoring, such as urine analysis, to watch for toxic exposure and that more research is still required on the workplace health hazard of metal AM powders. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 24, 2020 at 08:02AM Copper3D’s Antimicrobial Materials for 3D Printing Reduce Viral Load of Coronavirus https://ift.tt/3l0M1aL For the last two years, Chilean-North American startup Copper3D has been hacking 3D printing materials by giving them antimicrobial properties to help avoid infections and save lives on a global scale. Now, the innovative company has successfully tested the antiviral capacity of the additive present in all its Copper3D products against a human coronavirus strain. The world urgently needs this type of antimicrobial additives, materials, and solutions slated to save lives, especially as the ongoing global COVID-19 outbreak is nowhere near the end, and has already claimed over 1.3 million lives worldwide since it was first declared as a pandemic in early March 2020. After 10 years of research and development, Copper3D scientists in Santiago de Chile developed the company’s patented portfolio of additives, materials, and solutions called Cuprionix additives, which are based on the powerful antimicrobial properties of copper. The technology was recently validated by France’s Pasteur Institute after scientists there verified the powerful antiviral action of Cuprionix additives against human coronavirus strains. As it turns out, SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is inactivated faster using copper and the use of smaller particles can reduce inactivation time from hours to seconds. The pioneering company along with the renowned French institute decided to test the antiviral capacity of the additive present in all Copper3D products, that is, the Cuprionix additive brand, against a strain of the human coronavirus known as 229E, or HCoV-229E (identified as the second most frequent cause of common cold in healthy adults). The testing was done under the European standard EN14476 + A2 with proven success. Among what was observed, the additive shows a very high antiviral efficacy capable of reducing the viral load of the coronavirus by more than 99.9% in less than one hour. The process is very quick, in the first 30 seconds, there is already a rapid decrease in the viral load of 60.19%, followed by a 90% reduction after five minutes until reaching a plateau at 60 minutes with a 99.97% viral reduction. Additionally, this additive did not show any degree of cytotoxicity in the test, meaning it is also safe for use in applications for contact with patients or animals. The elements that finally eliminate this virus (and other microorganisms) effectively are the copper ions released in a controlled manner by the additive, which functions mainly through two mechanisms of action. First, it ruptures the envelope that covers and protects the virus from the external environment, after which, it denaturalizes the viral RNA, which completely inactivates the virus. According to the company, these analyses support the incorporation of copper alloys or embedded copper materials on sanitary dependences and mass consumption products as a complementary strategy that may help reduce bacterial and viral load, thereby, limiting hospital-acquired infections and reducing the transmission of the disease from touching surfaces (where COVID-19 can live up to 72 hours).
The Copper3D team sees a promising future ahead based on the excellent results from its Cuprionix antimicrobial additive technology. In fact, the company’s Director of Innovation Daniel Martínez described it as a “powerful tool” to deal both with human coronavirus threats, as well as a large number of other potentially lethal microorganisms for humans.
This year, Copper3D had its first experience with antimicrobial injection molding, after developing its new open-source 3D printed Nanohack Maverick mask, the first antimicrobial, reusable, biocompatible, washable, and N99 standard face mask ever designed, which has already been tested in the laboratory. Additionally, in the near term, the company expects to see even more interesting antimicrobial solutions in several industries, including automotive, public transport, even food packaging, office spaces, antimicrobial furniture and surfaces for hospitals, antimicrobial medical devices, products for newborn babies, as well as countless antimicrobial solutions in the world of mass consumer products (such as cell phone cases). Furthermore, as part of its expansion strategy, Copper3D began a collaboration months ago with Middle East petrochemical giant Petrochem, on a new joint venture to create a company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that will develop, manufacture and globally distribute Cuprionix antimicrobial additives, materials, and solutions. The brand new business, which will also bear the name Cuprionix, will scale the innovative technology to manufacture antimicrobial additives, materials, paintings, coatings, and applications scientifically validated as antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal. With its antimicrobial additive now successfully tested against coronavirus disease, Copper3D has been able to validate yet another material against harmful diseases. Having also demonstrated that its antimicrobial filament device inactivates HIV transmission from breastfeeding, in the first experience of this kind done in a laboratory setting. Copper has demonstrated antimicrobial and antiviral properties, and Chilean researchers have proven to be world-leading experts in this field, understanding copper’s potential to kill viruses. Copper3D has particularly managed to harness the material’s potential to kill threatening viruses in innovative novel ways, moving humanity one step closer to incorporating copper in clinical settings and potentially saving lives. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 24, 2020 at 07:32AM 2020’s Inside 3D Printing Seoul Online-Offline Conference: What Was it Like? https://ift.tt/3q0BCzI When the SARS-CoV-2 virus hit early this year, few of us could guess the scope and scale of the resulting pandemic, and how it would disrupt every aspect of daily life. While these disruptions have varied from nation to nation, they have affected all of us, and no one has been able to escape the virus’s effects. These disruptions are no more apparent than in international business, including the 3D printing community. Though Korea was very early to act against the virus, and has extensively brought the virus under control within its borders, no one has been spared its impact. This includes this year’s Inside 3D Printing Seoul show, which had to be conducted as a hybrid experience. Done out of necessity, the show was held partially in person and partially online, both to protect the Korean people and due to the incredible difficulty of travel for many of the speakers who had been scheduled to speak. Truth be told, it was pretty amazing that the show was able to be held at all, so hats off to the organizers. That said, I attended from Busan and was not able to make the trip up to Seoul to see the goings-on in person. So, I reached out to a few good friends who were able to be there in person. They gave a very good account of the action on the ground there, and, universally, they all noted the diminished size of the event. It seems that, while the pandemic played no small roll in this, the opinions (including my own) were that the zeal for the show has been gradually declining over the past few years. The general opinion seems to be that the Inside 3D Printing show is geared more to the desktop/services/maker market, which is not as prominent in Korea as in other areas of the world. From the beginning, most Koreans were just not interested in desktop printing. Where 3D printing is popular in Korea is in industry. This explains the rise of more industrial themed shows, such as the “3D Printing Gala” in Ulsan, the TCT Shows in Changwon, and the recent “Smart Factory” show in Busan—ironically held on the same days as the Inside 3D show this year. I was able to speak to William Joo, Chairman of the Korean Additive Manufacturing User’s Group (K-AMUG). He confirmed a lot of what I had been hearing and filled me in on a few of the latest developments in the exhibition world—especially the preference of industrial members for a more exclusive industrial manufacturing-only type of forum, which would have a broader topic base than just 3D printing. So, what did happen at Inside 3D Printing Seoul this year and how was it conducted? Well, the three-day event was broken into various parts with the first day reserved for the Korean industry leaders’ presentations to speak in person. People such as Hye Young Hwang of Applied Additive Manufacturing (AAM) a Korean partner of Stratasys; Kuk-Hyun Han of Samyoung Machinery Co., Ltd.; Heungkee Kim of Stratasys; Jackie Kim of Formlabs; Sang Joon Park of Medical IP; Seungkyun(Chris) Kim of EOS; Shinhu Cho of Hyundai Motor Group; and Simon Lee of AM Ventures. While I was not able to attend any of their presentations, I did review their power-points and they all spoke on, you guessed it, the industrialization of 3D printing. I did get a chance to chat with Simon Lee though, and he told me that, in his opinion, “the current AM industry demands more and more collaboration between the market players in order to offer rather ‘solution-oriented’ value chains per each respective verticals with different requirements.” He also said of his industry that, “as an investor in this particular field, (we) believe the roll of the startup is critical, and, to accelerate their potential to be realized and eventually grow the overall industry, the role of the AM investor will be also quite critical in this ecosystem.” The second day was an online conference reserved for the international speakers who could not attend in person. This was done by a series of prepared presentations, most of which were in English with Korean subtitles. This group consisted of fifteen speakers that covered a wide range of topics, from shipping supply chains to emergency medical applications. While all the speakers were very good, I did have a few favorites, notably Blake Teipel of Essentium; Julien Cohen of 3DEO; and Henrik Lund-Nielsen of COBOD. Essentium started as a materials company, but brought their new high speed FDM machines to the show. Mr. Teipel’s talk explained the details of their new machines and how they were designed to fit the gap of small-scale manufacturing—the gap between mass production on the one end and individual customization on the other. Essentium’s High Speed Extrusion (HSE) machines are best suited to low-scale manufacturing, say, between 100 and 1,000 units. And, while I was not able to see their machines in person, my most trusted engineer friend, Kang JiHuhn of Former’s Farm, was, and he was extremely impressed with its design. He said, “that printer is the best I have ever seen.” He also added that, in his personal opinion, it had, “better technics in the printer than the F series from Stratasys.” You can be sure I will be picking his brain on this topic more in the near future. COBOD is a printer manufacturing company based out of the EU that specializes in big printers—really big. Their BOD 2 is specifically designed to print buildings, houses, and other large objects. One recent project that. Lund-Nielsen, the company founder and the show’s presenter, highlighted was the fabrication of a wind power mast they have been working on. In his talk, he pointed out several of the misleading ideas in common circulation about construction printers, and spoke about actual solutions tot he problems associated with large-scale projects. His reality-based talk was very refreshing, considering the amount of hype the the construction sector has endured over the past few years. 3DEO is a different kind of firm, a service company rather than a hardware provider. Julien Cohen, one the company’s application engineers, explained that, through their business, a manufacturer can submit a design, and have that design printed in stainless steel, post processed, and then have the finished parts shipped to them for final assembly into that manufacturer’s finished product(s). And with 3DEO’s ‘intelligent layering system’ that combines binder jetting, and milling—prior to final sintering—3DEO is able to supply parts with the highest dimensional accuracy and surface finish in the industry. There are some restrictions though, in that the process is really only best for parts smaller than a tennis ball and they currently only offer a single stainless steel build material, though that could change soon. Though this year’s setup was far from ideal, it did still work and provided valuable opportunities to share knowledge and make connections with others in our industry—some of whom were new, and some we may not have been aware of. Life in this pandemic has net been easy for anyone, but it will surely end, and, when it does business, as well as our conventions and shows, and our entire industry can get back to what we all do best. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 24, 2020 at 07:13AM
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Beirut Editions https://ift.tt/3fuUuSk This year’s not been short of news, but one of the saddest and most brutally shocking things to hit the headlines over the summer was the massive explosion that hit Beirut on 4 August. The disaster in the Lebanese capital is said to have caused at least 204 deaths, 6,500 injuries and left an estimated 300,000 people homeless. In a bid to help the relief effort, the ever-excellent Tala Safié—a New York-based Lebanese designer and art director—has assembled a formidable team of creative industry veterans to create the Beirut Editions print-based fundraiser. Full disclosure, I’ve previously worked with Safié at Eye on Design where she helmed the superb design of the publication’s pilot print mag issue and created one of my personal fav EoD projects, the spoof gossip mag Spotted—but that doesn’t diminish the fact she’s superb at what she does, with other projects behind her including the design of a New York Times special print section in August this year celebrating 100 years of women’s right to vote in the US. For Beirut Editions, she teamed up with filmmaker and former Beirut resident, Noel Paul; worker-owned design studio Partner & Partners and writer and publisher, Perrin Drumm (again, disclosure-wise, my former boss at EoD). This fundraising project has seen the team gather together a number of limited-edition prints and originals from a beautifully diverse range of illustrators, artists, designers and printers, with 100% of sales funding emergency relief efforts to help communities in the aftermath of the explosion. Among the creatives who’ve contributed to the project are Amber Vittoria, Sarah Mazzetti, Derek Abella, Mohamad Abdouni, Michèle Aoun, Myriam Boulos, Erik Brandt, Erik Carter, Matt Willey, Studio Safar, Sally Thurer, Ping Zhu, Nichole Shinn, Thomas Colligan, Rose Wong, Cari Van Der Yacht, Astrid Terrazas, Julia Rothman, Mazen Kerbaj, Elana Schlenker, Najeebah Al-Ghadban, Tracy Ma, Mona Chalabi, Elaine Lopez, Julian Glander and a tonne more. Prints are available to buy until 30 November 2020; and the sale is hosted by Booklyn, an artist-run NGO specialising in publishing, distributing, and exhibiting print-based works that address urgent socially-driven topics. Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/2DhgcW7 November 24, 2020 at 06:16AM
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POP Member Showcase: 18 Block Printers https://ift.tt/2J6WHHH This month People of Print are proud to present a selection of block printing projects from the talented members of our community. From reinterpretations of the alphabet, to political artworks and lockdown diaries, our members have brought a variety of projects to life through the carving of wood and lino blocks. Dos Tres Press: Optical Migraine Optical Migraine was influenced by the process of arranging movable type and the vast amount of digital information we take in daily. The icons were sourced using patterns and halftones generated on a computer, pen and ink drawings, screenshots and commonly used graphic vectors. The designs were put through a CNC milling process to generate over sixty modular woodcuts. Each square section can be placed in any position on the space of the paper using a grid-like registration system not unlike a type tray. “As an auteur printer, I am at my best when not bound to making the same impression more than once. The infinite possibilities of this project result in exiting printing sessions, didactic colour studies and collaborative tools” says Alexis. Lemuette Prints: Reductive Three Green Crickets This 3 layer, reductive print by Lemuette is of three green crickets surrounded by little leaves. “I always loved trying to find these little critters hidden in the tall grasses of the fields behind my house when I was growing up” describes the printmaker. Reductive printing is a process that uses one woodblock for multiple layers of colour by carving, printing, carving, printing, carving printing until there isn’t much left on the woodblock. For this design, Lemuette started with the lightest shade of green, gradually getting darker. They comment; “The toughest part of reductive printing is thinking about two layers at a time. You really have to know what your plan is and basically think two layers at a time; carve away where you want the previous colour to stay on the print but also keep what you want the next colour to show”. Dave Lefner: Neon Alphabet Series Blockforest: Drawlloween 2020 Blockforest recently completed their third year of Drawlloween; an Instagram art challenge based around spooky and seasonal prompt lists given by other artists. Being a linocut artist, that meant 31 linocut prints in 31 days which was no mean feat! “I find it an excellent opportunity to push myself to react to a daily prompt, creating each linocut piece from concept to execution in a 24 hour period. The pressure of hitting a daily deadline has created some really interesting results, with some of the complication from overthinking a design removed resulting in pieces that can feel a little more freeform and powerful in my opinion.” Bronte Adam: Winter Wonderland Scene Printmaker Bronte Adam created this linocut print of a winter wonderland scene with animals travelling home for Christmas. “I wanted this print to give a sense of togetherness and hope for people when life feels so unsure at the moment” says Bronte. She often creates bold lino prints, so this was a rewarding challenge for the printmaker due to the fine details on each of the animals. “I particularly love how it looks like the light of the moon is reflecting on their hairs” states Bronte. Letterpress PLAY: Posters for a Cause Letterpress PLAY’s Posters for a Cause are composed from their hearts and printed by their hands. Each poster is 38 W” x 25 H” and made using found wood type on Japanese Mulberry paper. 100% of profits from the sale of the posters go towards a charity that supports children, such as The Movemeant Foundation, Raices Texas, and Out Youth. StfacatPrints: According to Maitre ES StfacatPrints’ latest linocut was made on DLW linoleum sheet with Pfiel tools. The piece is a reinterpretation of a burin engraving by Maitre ES, an anonymous late Gothic engraver from approx 1446. He produced an alphabet which includes 23 letters composed mainly of characters or animals, in postures espousing the outlines of the letters to form them. Stephanie’s engraving represents the letter Z and is printed in black Cranfield colour ink on a 120g cotton handmade paper that she dyed with tea. The tea tincture gives an aged appearance to the cotton paper, reinforcing the old side of the engraving, reminiscent of parchment. SPIEGELSAAL: Block PrintsSPIEGELSAAL is a design and illustration studio based in Hamburg and Duesseldorf, Germany, founded by Torsten Jahnke and Jochen Mönig. While Torsten in Hamburg takes care of all screen printing matters, Jochen in Duesseldorf has discovered relief printing to explore the graphic world beyond. “Beside the sheer fun of printmaking there is no such thing as a big master plan, even though the style is derived from the experiences we have made in screen printing. The restriction to clear, simple forms and a very limited colour palette becomes a design principle” says Torsten. In addition to printing experiments and monoprints, small editions (up to 20 pcs.) are also produced which are often released on their online store. Ridge + Roots: From the Ashes From the Ashes is an original linocut print depicting a phoenix by Ridge + Roots. Botanicals peek out from within the feathers of the phoenix, to represent symbols of strength, resilience, and growth. The phoenix was modelled from an eagle, a symbol of strength and freedom, as a reminder that though we may be faced with challenges throughout life, we are inherently stronger than we feel and there’s a sense of contentment on the other side of hardship. “2020 has been a year of uncertainty, fear, and struggle, and my hope is that this imagery embodies a symbol of hope and resilience as we travel through these unprecedented times” says the printmaker. Sabine van Rooij: Flower Girl Almere-based Sabine van Rooij’s Flower Girl block print includes both geometric and natural, more flowing forms, creating a striking juxtaposition that is characteristic of her style as a printmaker. “I really like to combine clean lines and round shapes to create a more playful whole” describes Sabine. (de)conceptualise: Giving Up Control This 4 block print marks the beginning of (de)conceptualise’s second series: SUR(REAL): When the surreal is more real than reality itself, a series exploring the behaviours/events/things that look surreal because of how real they are. “This print was based on the idea of the exponential evolution of technology and living in a technocratic society where technology is more valued that the people that use it” explains the printmaker. Giving up Control portrays the idea that we are actively giving up control but becoming more aware, as well as the idea of repetition and how it is used by advertising. Amy Rose Hey: Stonehenge Stonehenge is the first print Amy Rose Hey made in a series of artworks inspired by Britain’s stone circles. To illustrate the curves, cracks and mossy textures of the stones she created a visual language of lines, swirls, hatching and repeated patterns. “I intentionally drew textures which look subtly like eyes staring from the rocks, to evoke the strong spiritual presence of sacred sites and their mysterious history” states Amy. The piece is printed in Cranfield carbon black traditional relief ink on cream Fabriano paper, and was pressed on an antique etching press. Moatzart: A Terrestrial Paradise These linocut blocks by Moatzart form part of a series entitled A Terrestrial Paradise. The prints are modelled from a large collage which exclusively used the female form in order to investigate the strength that female characters can hold in art, which has historically not been the case. EneArtworks: Cosmic Horror Dead Guys Enea’s favorite theme is horror, and with this project he decided to challenge himself by paying homage to cosmic (or Lovecraftian) horror. “Afterall, fear of the unknown is a feeling as primordial as it is hard for artists and illustrators who have tried to depict it” says the printmaker. Literature and cinema have imagined all sorts of weird and fantastic worlds, which Enea tried to condense all into two subjects inspired by the depths of space and the abyss of the ocean. “The death’s of these unfortunate guys is a warning to anyone who dare challenges forces too eldritch and incomprehensible to deal with” states Enea. Céline Blanchard: Block Party Celine recently participated in the Instagram Block Party challenge that ran between September and October created by Ridge + Roots. The challenge prompted printmakers to carve five blocks of linoleum or wood in five weeks. Each week, an optional theme was given, with themes including; community/connection, Harvest, Renewal/resilience, warmth and spooky/mystical. “This has been a fun and instructive experience, pushing the limits, struggling to create, organising each week, testing my press, the new handmade paper received, playing with inks… I Loved it” states Celine. Blue Chisel Studio: Deep and Solemn Silence, Virginia Deep and Solemn Silence, Virginia is a reduction linoleum print by Canadian printmaker Kat Goetz of Blue Chisel Studio. The 9-colour piece was printed from a single block, and was inspired by the beautiful and silent fall landscape in Virginia, US. Amy Cundall: Octopus Amy Cundall’s latest linocut piece is entitled Octopus. The print is typical of her aesthetic which draws inspiration from Victorian engravings. Amy hand-printed the block onto Japanese Sumi-e paper using a mix of lovely green and blue hues with traditional oil based ink. Chrissy Emmerson: 51 Days of Lockdown This project is a result of the UK’s firsts Covid lockdown. 51 Days of Lockdown is a block print book and accompanying poster that documents Chrissy Emmerson’s daily experiences living alone for the strictest section of a national lockdown. A print representing each day has been bound by hand into this book, created out of lino offcuts and paper supplies found in her home studio. “Having now relocated to Cornwall with my partner this new lockdown the UK is now facing looks to provide some very different experiences, so I am intrigued to see what I produce during these new restricted times” states Chrissy.
Our membership community celebrates printmaking both industriously and creatively. Check out all of our members’ profiles and apply to become a Verified POP Member at www.members.peopleofprint.com. Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/2DhgcW7 November 24, 2020 at 03:19AM
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FREE! Posterzine Issue 63| FOKA WOLF https://ift.tt/2HqPaCS People of Print are excited to introduce the 63rd issue of our monthly publication, Posterzine, featuring the brutally funny artwork of FOKA WOLF. Often described as Birmingham’s answer to Banksy, at first glance his posters may appear as regular adverts, but upon second inspection you’ll discover his searing satire. FOKA WOLF’s works attack a number of social ills, from the Tories to big businesses.
We are offering this very special issue for FREE! To redeem this offer enter the code COVID-19 at checkout (excluding delivery). GRAB YOUR FREE COPY HERE. Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/2DhgcW7 November 23, 2020 at 10:44AM MELTIO ENGINE JUMPS OVER THE LIMITS OF METAL 3D PRINTING BY ENABLING HYBRID FABRICATION https://ift.tt/3lWVeSR MELTIO has officially presented today the new version of the MELTIO Engine, a fabrication module which enables 3D printing of full density metal parts when integrated with CNC machines, robots, and gantry systems, in a seamless, easy process which optimizes resources and saves production costs. The result is the first affordable hybrid manufacturing solution, catering to almost every tooling machine in the market. This revamped model is the result of several months of R&D development after the first public presentation of MELTIO’s products portfolio at Formnext 2019, with some interesting features. This new version stands out for its portability and compact dimensions (94x75x45 cm), which allow an easy integration with most of the CNC, robotic and gantry systems existing today, to convert them into hybrid manufacturing systems. The MELTIO Engine also includes a powerful on-board computer with integrated touchscreen and a feature rich GUI for an easy operation and monitoring of manufacturing jobs. The MELTIO Engine uses the same proprietary MELTIO LMD-Wire + Powder technology used in their compact metal 3D printer, the MELTIO M450. The head uses a high-power multi-laser configuration to manufacture directly by deposition of layers with metallic materials in wire format, with the added ability to work with powder for the creation of special alloys. All of this without the need to change the head, through an automated process. The MELTIO Engine can manufacture full density metal parts with tested materials such as Stainless Steel (all common grades), Inconel (718 and 625) and Ti-6Al-4V (grades 5 and 23). However, there are many other materials currently under development at MELTIO’s R&D centers in the USA and Spain, such as Copper, Aluminum, Molybdenum, Tungsten, X9, Gold and Invar. Expanding the limits of 3D printingMELTIO’s CEO, Ángel Llavero, highlights that the MELTIO Engine represents for MELTIO the continuation of its strategy of advanced manufacturing products for the industry. “After the launch of the M450, the MELTIO Engine moves the MELTIO LMD to a new format with which it will solve one of the great historical limitations that additive manufacturing had: the ability to manufacture large parts. Now the part size is limited only by the capacity of the robot, the gantry or the CNC in which the MELTIO Engine is integrated”. The MELTIO Engine is designed to manufacture at industrial mass production levels, optimize resources, and allow small, medium and large companies to use technology to manufacture metal parts in the most optimized way possible. “That was unthinkable until the arrival of MELTIO because of costs, difficulty, need for space… Is MELTIO additive manufacturing? Yes, but it offers a completely different metal additive manufacturing concept than the one conceived today by the world market”, Llavero points out. For his part, Brian Matthews, CTO of MELTIO, says: “Because it’s a one step process the production time from conceiving a part to manufacturing the final design is very fast, typically just a few hours. This can compare to weeks or months in a conventional process. The production cost is also very low because the entire manufacturing process is performed in one machine”. “MELTIO has removed this barrier unlocking the true potential of hybrid manufacturing for the first time”, he added. The MELTIO Engine is a flexible system that supports different configurations depending on the particular needs of each company. In its most basic configuration, the system has a starting price of € 90,000. On the other hand, to celebrate the launch of the Engine MELTIO has prepared a special promotion with a 5% early bird discount for all those orders that are received on or before December 15th, 2020. For more information about the MELTIO Engine you can visit MELTIO3d.com/MELTIO Engine-launch Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 23, 2020 at 10:02AM
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UFF Screen Printing https://ift.tt/3lXdECJ Mauro Dalla Costa is a self-taught artist who ventured into screen printing in 2004, after his interest in music led him to form a band for which he wanted to print t-shirts. Thus, Mauro founded his own clothing brand, UFF Serigrafia, in Santa Fe, Argentina. Over the years the studio has gained recognition printing for companies, clothing brands and workwear for the city’s government. His innovative approach has also led Mauro to explore the results of several inks on a variety of surfaces including wood, fabric, glass and paper, and offer screen printing courses from the studio. Textile printing was always the main income for the studio, however, Mauro also enjoys working with paper to create his own artworks inspired by nature, geometric shapes, and the use of the colours and halftones. “I am driven by looking deeper into the process of screen printing itself, as it offers new challenges to create with” says the printmaker. “I like combining photography, drawing, and photographs I have taken, alongside geometrical shapes in my pieces. Inspiration comes to me when I play music or I am in nature, then I sit and start creating shapes and thinking in layers and colours as I go. However, I am extremely meticulous and I need the design to work perfectly before I start printing.” While living in Santa Fe Mauro won prizes for his artwork, which brought more collaborative projects his way with artists from all over the world. After 12 years of printing in his home country, he moved to Vancouver Island, Canada, in 2017 under a working contract for a textile screen printing company (Top Drawer Graphics inc.) Here he is the operator of an 8 by 8 textile printing press, working mostly on contract jobs with plastisol and water based discharge inks. Having now mastered the technique, Mauro loves to play around with the industrial and the artisan side of screen printing. He states; “I work a full time job printing, then I go home and keep printing in my home studio for myself and my friends, I can’t stop printing”. Through participating in markets on the Island, he has had the opportunity to meet an amazing community of artists and graphic designers; great people to print and engage in collaborative jobs and exhibitions. Mauro hopes to soon open a studio and gallery dedicated to screen printing; teaching the technique by offering a more noble and environmentally friendly process, and a place to connect and share knowledge and experiences with artists and friends. www.uffscreenprinting.com Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/2DhgcW7 November 23, 2020 at 09:54AM Authentise Integrating nebuminds Digital Twin Visualization into AMES 3D Printing Software11/23/2020 Authentise Integrating nebumind’s Digital Twin Visualization into AMES 3D Printing Software https://ift.tt/339PRbs Authentise, which offers data-driven process automation software and workflow tools for AM, announced that it is partnering with German software startup nebumind for the purposes of integrating the digital twin into its software. nebumind was just founded last year, and provides visualization and analytics tools for manufacturing data, specializing in digital twin visualizations that combine sensor data and machine parameters with the geometry of the original part. The digital twin concept is the idea that by combining software with mass customization in the digital manufacturing world, all products in a company’s inventory will have a unique file containing all its specific settings and production information. nebumind’s tools will be integrated into the Authentise Manufacturing Execution System (AMES), a workflow management engine that automates using machine data.
By merging nebumind’s digital twin visualizations and data capture capabilities with the AMES software, users will get an informative look at part data so they can best make decisions on the process. This is a great feature: the nebumind system inside AMES will actually generate real-time alerts during printing, so the user knows if anything is going wrong and can address the problem quickly. Users will be able to more easily spot any problem areas in a part with this combined solution, which will really help save time because they can fix mistakes before it gets too far in the process; this can also reduce the amount of waste generated. This integration of digital twin visualizations should also enable shorter but more accurate inspections as well.
Because the AMES software captures machine data already and uses it to manage a part’s 3D printable geometry, the gathered information will be automatically passed to nebumind through the integration of the two. The data will be, according to the release, “appended to the existing AMES part report” for traceability from start to finish, and users won’t have to worry about finding and uploading the data themselves. (Source/Images: Authentise) Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 23, 2020 at 09:02AM |
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