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Typ4 Powder-Blaster: Low-Cost, High-Volume Depowdering for 3D Printing https://ift.tt/3mKNS7p The Powder-Blaster is a modular system, in which additional modules can be integrated into your workflow. So, you can add a sand blaster, a mixing unit, or a different blasting material module to your automation solution. This allows users to get into automation for little up-front cost, but means that the tools are extensible if you expand or upgrade. The additional modules will be available in 2022, while the base unit is available now. Because powder is conveyed in a vacuum, contamination is minimized. This could optimize refresh rates and increases operator safety, as there is less loose powder around. There is no brushing or vacuum cleaner fun involved in this process. Several conveyancing steps are also skipped, which means that this is easier on operators and operator time. With fewer lifting and transport operations for each batch, it’s safer and better on your back, too. The company has safety features such as an automatic stop when the machine is opened. The machine also switches off automatically if the vacuum is interrupted. The Typ3 is meant to be built tough so that it can last a very long time, while allowing for reliable service. The machine’s drum rotates, can be inclined at different angles, which can be adjusted, as can processing time. The company claims to give users control in their depowdering process of “adhesive strength of the powder, like its decomposition (or degradation), is linked to the cause of heat absorption in the build process. The more heat the powder absorbs at a particular point, the more it will adhere to the adjacent contact surface and the less likely it is usable for refreshing (degradation). By fine-tuning the 4 parameters mentioned above, it is possible to control how much powder is detached and-thus reused, and in what quality.” If you can optimize your settings like this, then you can always aim for what is the most efficient and maximize powder reuse, for example. This can have a huge financial impact. The average service throws away half the powder used. The company says that for one P110 build, the machine can depowder and resurface in 30 minutes. The company estimates that, in two days including cooling, one machine can perform 32 P110 builds. I really like Pulvermeister’s offering. Up and until now, the firm had a highly productive solution that was expensive, but most people don’t get started with the whole hog. Even very large firms tend to buy one, maybe two machines when they get into additive. In their research labs, businesses are often looking for a depowdering solution because they have far employees (and interns) whose time is too valuable to perform the depowdering at expensive office locations. A Typ3 would be much too costly and large for a corporate R&D lab. Due to this, these types of customers often resort to blasting cabinets, which do some automation and have some safety gains. However, the Typ4 automates much more while removing a lot of powder floating around for the Nilfisk or your blood brain barrier to catch. The added safety benefits and automation with the incredibly low price will prompt these kinds of users to adopt it. And, if Pulvermeister makes a good impression, their customers could grow up together to higher volumes. Universities and single P110 operators could also quite quickly earn this tool back in a few months, if not weeks. I really think that this is an important addition to the market. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 31, 2021 at 08:03AM
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In Tufts Medical 3D Printing Course, Students Navigate Bioprinting and More https://ift.tt/3eCGp5A There is a huge demand for trained experts in additive manufacturing (AM), especially as more cutting-edge 3D printing technologies begin to transition into mainstream production brands. As a result, any career-connected experiences that build students’ knowledge of the skills required to thrive in the field are becoming very popular, with top universities worldwide offering AM courses and programs, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Additive Manufacturing for Innovative Design and Production class, or Penn State University’s Master of Engineering in Additive Manufacturing and Design. In 2021, Tufts University’s biomedical engineering department joined the ranks with its new 3D Printing the Human Body course. And as the name suggests, students learn about 3D printing and bioprinting technologies currently used to create customized medical applications. Chartered by Vincent Fitzpatrick, a postdoctoral biomedical researcher at Tufts, the class was initially designed for 15 to 20 students but ended up with over 30. According to The Tufts Daily journalist Avery Hanna, who first reported the news of the course, Fitzpatrick decided to teach 3D printing after noticing the lack of classes available for students interested in the field. ![]() A working 3D printer, 3D-printed tweezers and several skeletal models are pictured. Image courtesy of Michelle Ma/Will Flamm / The Tufts Daily. Hoping to cover as wide a range as possible of new technologies and applications of 3D printing in the medical field, Fitzpatrick gives students the chance to use a variety of bioprinters and 3D printers on-site to create medical applications. For example, students can experiment with a Bio X platform from Cellink (now a subsidiary company of the BICO group). In fact, the French biomedical engineer has been using 3D printing technologies in his research for years; throughout his 18 published papers, there is a clear tendency to leverage bioprinting and 3D printing. The expert is also part of Tufts’ Kaplan Lab, which focuses on biomaterials derived from biopolymer engineering and on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Bioprinting undergraduate researcher at the Kaplan lab, Riley Patten, is also a teaching assistant for the class and said the value of the course comes primarily from the 3D printing experience.
If anyone should know about getting comfortable around 3D printing is Patten. A senior student, Patten has been heavily involved with the Kaplan lab since 2019, designing and building two 3D bioprinters, a high-resolution digital light processing (DLP) 3D printer capable of creating various photosensitive silk-fibroin-based biomaterials with live mammalian cells, and a dual-extruder syringe pump bioprinter. Additionally, he is working as an intern at Adam Feinberg’s regenerative medicine startup Fluidform, where he uses the brand’s proprietary FRESH (short for Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels) technology to generate various collagen asset prints. Quote request Are you looking to buy a 3D printer or 3D scanner? We're here to help. Get free expert advice and quotes from trusted suppliers in your area. Powered by Aniwaa As part of Boston’s prestigious education community, Tufts University has opened many opportunities for Fitzpatrick in the field of 3D printing and bioprinting. The expert pointed out that he has built a network of Boston area 3D printing experts who have lectured at Tufts’ 3D Printing the Human Body course. So far, the class has heard from seven guest lecturers, including CEOs, researchers, and other professionals in the field. Indeed, the Massachusetts 3D printing community has expanded significantly in recent years, leading the charge with a wide range of startups, classes, and programs. For example, the city of Burlington is home to several prominent 3D printing businesses, like Desktop Metal, LightForce Orthodontics, and VulcanForms. At the same time, companies like Fluidform are leading the bioprinting market in Boston. Moreover, the proximity of these businesses to the Northeast’s most prestigious technical educational institutions and 3D printing programs and facilities make recruiting and hiring talented workforce easy and affordable. Fitzpatrick said he is glad to have a class where he can share so many exciting possibilities with students: “It’s been a nice class with great students. It’s been a pleasure. I hope they’re enjoying it. It’s been nice sharing this. I keep being surprised how few classes at Tufts — but it’s the same at all the universities — are actually teaching students bioprinting and 3D printing in general. Because, from where I stand from a research perspective, there’s a lot of activity going that way.” Undergraduate biomedical engineering student Deepti Srinivasan described in her university project website that “ever since Vincent (Fitzpatrick)’s lecture for our class, I have been really fascinated by the applications of 3D printing.” Currently a pre-med student, Srinivasan said she was very interested in how 3D printing can build customized preoperative anatomical models for surgical patients. Other course takers have also praised the class as an excellent way 3D printing can revolutionize modern medicine. Like senior Michelle Ma, majoring in mechanical and biomedical engineering, found that learning about the intricacies of applying 3D printing has been one of the most valuable aspects of the class. Ma and other students emphasized the importance of offering opportunities to learn 3D printing. Still, the class’s future is uncertain, explains Hanna, since Fitzpatrick plans to return to France in a year. Patten hopes someone will step up to continue the course in future years and believes Tufts needs more 3D printing-based classes. But, for now, students are very excited about the new workload, and 3D printing is opening up new opportunities in medicine, healthcare, and beyond for the next-generation workforce. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 31, 2021 at 07:33AM
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UnionTech Takes $31M to Grow SLA 3D Printing https://ift.tt/3mMdH70 Shanghai-based 3D printer manufacturer UnionTech has announced a significant funding round worth 200 million Yuan (USD$31 million). The series D financing was led by Dening Capital, with participation from Money Capital, Yingke Private Equity, Dragonrise Capital, Evonik Equity Capital GmbH and more. This substantial influx of cash will likely see the firm grow rapidly alongside other major Chinese manufacturers like Farsoon and INTAMSYS. Founded in 2000, UnionTech is primarily focused on stereolithography (SLA), claiming to maintain the largest market share for SLA in China. This includes standard laser-based SLA machines and digital light processing (DLP) UV projector-based 3D printers, from small medical and dental systems like the S110 to large-scale production printers like the D800. Additionally, UnionTech has developed its own software suite, which includes pre-print software Polydevs, print management tool RSCON/DSCON, and cloud-based fleet control software UnionFab—in other words, a complete software ecosystem. ![]() Image courtesy of UnionTech. Among other things, the company suggests it has over 2,000 customers globally, 137 patents, some 5,500 pieces of equipment installed around the world, and a 52 percent revenue growth rate from 2012 to 2021. UnionTech also says that it spent more than 100 million Yuan (USD$16 million) on research and development over the past three years. Interestingly, UnionTech sells resins made formerly by DSM, now Covestro, for its machines, but Evonik, previously focused on polymer sintering powders, has been investing in the Chinese firm since at least 2020 when it acquired a minority stake. Evonik, which developed the first synthetic powder for selective laser sintering (SLS) in 1996, began breaking into other polymer formats in 2020 with a poly ether ether ketone (PEEK) filament for extrusion. ![]() UnionTech’s various lines of 3D printers. Image courtesy of UnionTech. Backing UnionTech not only gets the materials firm into photopolymers, but also the rapidly growing Chinese market, where Farsoon dominates in SLS and metal powder bed fusion and INTAMSYS is the current leader in industrial material extrusion. Both of those companies are expanding quickly, as Farsoon reported record sales in Q3 and INTAMSYS received an investment from Porsche. Meanwhile, desktop systems from China now dominate the low-cost sector. This includes Creality, Elegoo, and nearly countless others. Perhaps UnionTech will use this funding to broaden into SLS and extrusion with the support of Evonik. Otherwise, we can imagine it continuing to add to its already robust portfolio of SLA and DLP machines, maybe venturing into large-scale continuous DLP similar to Azul 3D in the U.S. Or maybe it will simply add to its international teams. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 31, 2021 at 07:03AM U.S. Postal Service Sustains Strong Service Performance for First-Class and Marketing Mail through Christmas https://ift.tt/3Hp6jWU WASHINGTON, DC — The United States Postal Service reported new service delivery performance metrics showing ongoing strong service for First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail, with a slight decline for Periodicals through the first 12 weeks of the fiscal first quarter. Since Thanksgiving, the Postal Service has accepted 11.1 billion pieces of mail and packages for delivery and anticipates it will deliver more than 12 billion pieces of mail and packages by New Year’s Day. Printing via USPS News https://ift.tt/2hH9aDC December 30, 2021 at 10:33AM 3Doodler Used to Improve Indirect Orthodontic Bracket Transfer Trays https://ift.tt/3sLff54 3D printing pens are often used when making fun and beautiful works of art, as well as for educational purposes, but they have also proved useful for medical applications as... The post 3Doodler... View the entire article via our website. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 30, 2021 at 07:03AM
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2022 Predictions: 3D Printing Software Experts Weigh in https://ift.tt/32wediG
Integration here is a super important point. For a large firm, we have to play well with whatever they have and people often see 3D printing as an island but we’re an asteroid cruising past a star system of legacy software and processes. The key air break on binder jet is indeed on the ability to accurately account for and ameliorate part shrinkage, which is different at different geometry sizes, shapes, and wall thickness. Solving this key challenge can instantly transform our market. Albert Falck is owner and founder of reseller Lay3rs 3dprintingand AMPC Solutions BV, a company that makes automated print farm solutions, as well as cabinets for reducing printer emissions.
I really like that Albert is focused on using desktop 3D printers to manufacture. A lot of the industrial folks forget about the desktop and a lot of desktop people forget about industrial printers, but the two will meet somewhere and compete head on in the years to come. Stefaan Motte heads Materialise‘s software business, the Belgian company that has completely dominated the workflows of 3D printing for 30 years.
As a complete but tight vision, I love Stefaan’s approach. By focusing on learning within the entire process, I think a lot of value can be unlocked by firms. ![]() The final model, compensated for displacement during printing. Image courtesy of Autodesk. Alexander Oster almost singlehandedly coded Netfabb before moving to head Additive Manufacturing software at Autodesk. Oster told 3DPrint.com:
I would love for industrial firms to consider open source modalities! But the forces at work here are interesting to note. Diversity in outputs and inputs will bring more openness or sharing on the side of OEMs. This topic and more will be discussed at the Additive Manufacturing Strategies 2022 summit this coming March 1-3, where GE Additive is the vertical sponsor for our “Automation, Rapid Manufacturing and Software”. All in all, I think that 2022 will be a breakthrough year for software as we will see consolidation, interoperability and increased competition. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 30, 2021 at 06:33AM
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Silicone 3D Printing Service Shut Down by Wacker Chemie https://ift.tt/3EzZobD Making flexible 3D printed parts has been a problem for all of the players in our market. Most flexible 3D printed materials have low heat deflection temperatures, low strength, and are generally limited in their lifespans. Even with some claimed advantageous, the shear forces, long-term, real-world performance and repeated load stresses of flexible photopolymers are a huge problem. Most flexible 3D printed parts either don’t work or don’t work for long. And this is an extreme limitation in applications like liners, helmets, braces, orthopedics, sports gear, handles and many more applications. There are some solutions that may work well, such as polypropylene (PP) for Multi Jet Fusion or some thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filaments. However, generally, a lot more markets and applications would be accessible with more flexible materials. Given its excellent characteristics and widespread usage, field silicone has been one of the most sought after materials out there. In business since 2016, Wacker Chemie’s ACEO silicone 3D printing service closed at the end of 2021. The company provided the following comment on its website:
There was widespread awareness that ACEO had not gotten the market traction that it deserved. Wacker is one of the largest companies in silicone. It has over 70 years of experience with $5.6 billion in revenues. Whats more, Wacker has a lot of technical expertise and respect in the market. It was widely assumed that they would crush silicone 3D printing when it debuted its drop-on-demand process in 2016. Why didn’t it? And why did ACEO close?
![]() ACEO Produktmuster, 2-Komponenten-3D-Druck mit Siliconen Wacker never really stepped on the gas with this opportunity. The company never seemed to use its heft or prowess to completely push this as hard as it could. I met people working in silicones that didn’t know that Wacker was 3D printing them, for example. The business could have leveraged industry contacts, clients, and partners much more. They had a lot of exciting parts and ideas, but didn’t have a stream of applications or components made with customers. There were no BMW custom steering wheels, Johnson & Johnson mouth guards, Philips custom brushes, etc. The company is a bit reserved, but it could have gotten more traction with a long stream of partner parts made with silicone 3D printing. The company could have done a hell of a lot more to generate PR, marketing and sales. It was quiet as a mouse on the PR and marketing front. Instead of being chased by Wacker, I’d often check out the ACEO site looking for news because I was so bullish about silicone. Wacker also didn’t market its silicone 3D printing more broadly, nationally in Germany or elsewhere. Contrast this with PPG, for example, which is touting its new 3D printing technology far and wide. It seemed that there were often changes of the guard at the ACEO unit, making for little in the way of continuity. Plus, ACEO was expensive. Another developer of silicone 3D printing technology, Spectroplast, is, as well, but offers application development support. ACEO seemed to not have enough application development support from internal resources to make client parts a reality. There also seemed not to be enough business development resources build a market over the horizon. Other issues included the fact that it was difficult to get parts printed. I’ve heard that it was difficult to get a response from customer service. Overall, Wacker never made ACEO live in the hearts of people in our industry and never ignited the minds of people outside our industry enough to make this viable. I think it’s a shame, but do think that with the right resources Wacker could come back to make this possible.
![]() Seal ring with silicone on the outside (blue) and epoxy on the inside (L-structure). (Picture: WACKER) So, what are the alternatives? We hear of Elkem Silicones joining our market or of ECCO making insoles. In these cases and many more, a Viscotec nozzle is used on fused deposition modeling (FDM) motion stage. I think that this type of silicone material will really break open the market. Potentially, this can be relatively low cost and scaled. Part quality and geometric freedom is limited, however. So, I do eventually think that, for mass consumer applications like custom diving masks and insoles, Viscotec will win out. Using their hardware gives you plurality of supply in materials and machine vendors, although you will have to depend on Viscotec for the nozzle. Also, I love the idea of using silicone on an FDM machine in combination with other materials, such as TPU, PP and harder polymers like ASA. In the future with FDM, you could switch mid-build and pick and place other elements in the build easily, such as a cork insole or a sensor. To me, this is a strong scenario for an industrialized setting, not only due to cost but also because, with FDM, you can customize every single voxel and develop a truly variable density insole. That to me would give 3D printing an unbeatable advantage against other technologies since a unique insole for every foot at every single point cannot be replicated by conventional technologies or other 3D printing processes. Also, with FDM, it is easy to encapsulate air pockets of differing sizes with different wall thicknesses and infill geometries. This will let yo alter quite easily how far the foot moves forward or the movement at every layer of the sole. So, to me, the insole 3D printing race has already been won. Although others will continue to try with thin blade to produce insoles with powder bed technologies or using thermoset insoles that cannot be recycled. With close to 300,000 3D prints per day, direct 3D printed dental aligners are the biggest prize in the market currently. That may belong to Graphy or its competitors or people could stick to thermoforming. With that thinking in mind, the most obvious markets remaining in silicone are medical, near-medical and technical use. To me, Spectroplast has the performance, the looks, and the scrappy business acumen to make a lot of these cases work. Spectroplast parts look incredible and have very quickly been used in a lot of business areas to replace silicone components that can not be made any other way. I really think that Spectroplast is poised to dominate a lot of the 3D printing silicone market. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 29, 2021 at 02:45PM
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2022 Predictions: 3D Printing for Series Production of Metal Parts https://ift.tt/3qATbHo It’s time to gaze into the tea leaves and imagine a bright future for 3D printing. In this article, we will be looking specifically at predictions, trends, and developments in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), electron beam melting (EBM), bound metal extrusion (BME), binder jetting and other metal printing technologies. In particular, we’ll consider the evolution of additive manufacturing for the series production of metal parts, a vertical that will be a topic at Additive Manufacturing Strategies 2022 this coming March 1 – 3. On the whole, the series production segment has been growing very quickly in recent years. We’ve seen an entry of low-cost solutions from the likes of BASF and Markforged, where BME parts can replace some traditional components in industrial settings. Though they may be low-cost, these machines and their post-processing equipment could be implemented by tens of thousands of small workshops, as well. Companies such as Laser Melting Innovations and One Click Metal have also meant that value-engineered LBPF printers could be had for closer to $100K than $1 million, which will also make the market larger. Most of the hype has been around the arrival of binder jet on the scene, which could bring economies of scale. Larger and more expensive LPBF machines have gone gargantuan and multi-laser is going from four to 12 beams. On the whole I’d expect more Chinese entrants into Western markets, more consolidation, and more focus on the entire process chain. I’d expect strong market growth in the coming year, as well. Software will play an ever larger part in the QA and simulation game and new materials will come into the stream. New technologies will also be commercialized to compete with existing ones. Firms and machines will be more vertical-focused and solution-oriented. Hopefully ,we’ll get some systems integrators that can help build true end-to-end 3D printing factories. We’ll be able to see the capabilities of diode laser systems and some novel technologies for the first time. I’d also expect imminent market entry from some large companies new to the space. But, what do the experts think? What do they believe the trends will be? Consultant John Barnes, who has been instrumental in getting certified metal parts on commercial aircraft, told 3DPrint.com:
It’s interesting to note John’s strong focus here on software and training to unlock the true potential of the technology. Another person who is optimistic about the opening up of EBM (E-PBF, as he referred to it) is Freemelt’s principal scientist, Ulf Alckelid. ![]() The Freemelt ONE open source E-PBF 3D printer. Image courtesy of Freemelt.
If EBM would become more commonplace, it could really mean great leaps forward in copper and other difficult materials, as well as more industrial adoption. Whereas John is still all about DfAM, another individual is less optimistic: VELO3D CEO Benny Buller.
![]() The VELO3D management team during the ringing of the bell at the NYSE on October 7, 2021. Image courtesy of VELO3D. Notice the different points of view here: John sees DfAM as an enabling step to be overcome, while Benny sees it as an obstacle, retarding the growth of AM. I’m more on Benny’s side here and have said before that DfAM is a bit like if we made people learn Italian before letting them eat pizza. APWorks Jonathan Meyer, is hopeful about our future. “I see a potential for strong growth for LPBF as OEM’s emerge from the pandemic and find their supply chains fragile and in some areas broken. As they seek to ramp up faster than the remaining suppliers can keep up, prices will rise due to short term supply shortages and opportunities will naturally arise for LPBF to displace traditional technologies in the many niches where it already makes sense on a level playing field basis, but where conservatism has held up adoption so far.” I really do believe that for a lot of cautious people 3D printing can now have a defining moment. Valeria Tirelli, CEO of Aidro, a hydraulics 3D printing firm acquired by Desktop Metal this year, has another hopeful message that seems like the perfect way to end this article and begin 2022.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 29, 2021 at 08:03AM
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Bioprinting BICO Endorses FDA Modernization Act of 2021 https://ift.tt/3qvrAHL The Swedish firm BICO, formerly CELLINK, has endorsed the FDA Modernization Act of 2021. Formally known as H.R. 2565/ S. 2952, the bill would replace major portions of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, specifically those which mandate that all new products be subject to animal-testing for safety and efficacy prior to hitting the market. BICO encompasses 13 companies, whose activities include bioprinting, drug screening and toxicity assessment, and complex 3D modeling of cells and human biological systems, which serve as replacements in pre-clinical testing for research done on animals.
![]() Ending medical and cosmetic testing on animals has been a priority for BICO since the company’s inception. Earlier this year, one of BICO’s subsidiary companies, MatTek Life Sciences, announced the acceptance of its patented EpiDerm Photoxicity Test by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as part of the OECD’s latest testing guidelines for in vitro assays. Essentially, in vitro assays use a combination of CAD software and bioprinting to quickly fabricate human tissue samples, which can be used for any number of lab-testing purposes that are still currently being accomplished utilizing animals. For instance, three previous OECD test guideline validations for other MatTek in vitro tissue models involve testing for skin irritation, skin corrosion, and eye irritation. In the same press release quoted from above, Alex Armento, MatTek’s president, noted, “Human tissue replacement models are undoubtably a better indicator of toxicity and efficacy than dogs or mice, which share very little physiology to humans.” According to researchers, the proposed legislation in the United States would potentially save the lives of millions of animals every year. ![]() Activists, companies in the relevant industries, and researchers have argued for the replacement of animal testing with computer imaging models for decades. However, it’s perhaps only in recent years that these models have become both advanced enough and sufficiently commonplace, industry-wide, for the movement to drastically limit animal testing to succeed. Earlier this year, similar resolutions to the one currently being considered by the U.S. Congress were adopted by both Mexico and the European Union. Of course, as much of an ethical improvement as the legislation might be over the status quo, it’s important to remember that corporations are concerned with market-share, not altruism, so passing this legislation is in BICO’s interest more from a revenue standpoint than from any concerns it might have with benevolence. This isn’t to say that there’s anything untoward or disingenuous about BICO’s support of the legislation. It’s merely meant to highlight how much of an effort companies driving Industrial Revolution 4.0 will have to make — if they want to be successful in the long-term — in setting up new regulatory regimes to overthrow the old ones. This is not a novel concept, of course: Gabriel Kolko’s classic 1964 history of the Progressive Era, The Triumph of Conservatism, argued that the original federal regulatory regime in the United States was more or less entirely a movement initiated by Big Business for its own benefit. Images courtesy of BICO and MatTek Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 29, 2021 at 07:33AM
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Mimaki’s Mark Sollman Dives into Full Color 3D Printing https://ift.tt/3Hf0ifo Mimaki’s color 3D printing technology definitely has the wow factor, but how will the company grow in 3D printing? And how will it try to grow its market? Product Manager EMEA at Mimaki Mark Sollman is one of the people looking deeply into that. We interviewed him to find out more about the company and its future. Mark has spent 15 years at Mimaki, with 14 of those in its application team. He’s now going to be performing Product Management for Mimaki in Europe, beginning with the development of sales materials and guides. The company has also worked hard to train its global partner network on its 3D printing technology. Mimaki itself got its start in 1975 with cutting plotters using vinyl and other materials. It then went over to ultraviolet (UV) printing, becoming a leader in wide-format UV printers. A number of years ago the company developed a 2D technology to print depth on substrates, inspiring a Mimaki engineer to develop the company’s 3D technology. Mimaki’s 3D printers are used for inkjet printing on clothing, signage, stickers, and labels. Mimakis‘s process is able to 3D print CMYK, white, as well as a varnish and support material. In addition to its massive 3DGD-1800 machine, with a build volume of 57” x 43.7” x 70.8”, it has a 3DUJ-553 machine, with a build volume of 500 by 500 by 300 mm and a price of around $230,000. Recently, the firm introduced a smaller format machine with a significantly lower price and a build volume of 200 by 200 by 70mm. At about $35,000, this one really makes color 3D printing within reach for many. Mimaki’s parts are used as decorative items and are not meant for direct contact on the skin, but you can finish them in a coating for end-use applications. Customers rely on Mimaki printers to make mass-customized parts for labels, figurines and other uses. ![]() The incredible Olaf Diegel, with his replica 3D printed using Mimaki’s inkjet technology.
Quote request Are you looking to buy a 3D printer or 3D scanner? We're here to help. Get free expert advice and quotes from trusted suppliers in your area. Powered by Aniwaa I was curious to see where Mimaki was now and where it wants to go. Mark told me:
Not a lot of people are familiar with Mimaki’s technology, parts, and printers. I wondered, if I wanted to get started how would I be able to see if there was a business case in it for me?
I’m generally excited about full-color 3D printing. I really like what Marketiger is doing in figurines and as a service. I also really like Mixed Dimension’s figurines for the games industry. That alone could be a huge application. I really want to see more people come up with exciting new applications for these machines in the future. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 29, 2021 at 07:03AM |
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