3D Printing

February 28, 2022 Leave a Comment AM-giant 3D Systems has announced the future acquisition of pellet extruding machine company Titan Robotics LLC. Titan Robotics, who are based in Colorado, manufacture a series of industrial printers outfitted with a variety of toolhead options for extruding plastic pellets. Pellet/granule extruding is basically just FDM/FFF with pellets/granules, and is referred to as FGF sometimes. Their range of industrial grade FGF printers is named “Atlas” and the Atlas comes in three standard sizes with a choice of extruder. According to the website, custom sizes are available on request if you want to go larger. You can see an Atlas in the image below. Print and mill (Image credit: Titan Robotics) The toolhead options include the Atlas (with single pellet extruder) Atlas-H (can take dual pellet extruder), or the Atlas HS, which is a hybrid machine featuring additive and subtractive machining, bridging the gap between…    read more 

February 18, 2022 Leave a Comment Companies offering additive manufacturing files of their wares for customers to print is nothing new. Most of these digital items do however tend to be very niche products, designed for certain tastes, or for very specific products. In order to enable a little more creativity and freedom (with fewer headaches) as far as these files are concerned, automaker Ford has recently announced that they are releasing CAD models, not of functional parts, but of part interfaces. The interfaces can be printed and mounted to something like a “hardpoint” (a slot) on the Ford Maverick, and customers can print whatever they want and mount it to the interface. But why? Because designing things to fit onto other things that you haven’t designed yourself is a chore at the best of times, even with the right meteorological tools. Add the complicated curved surfaces of a modern…    read more 

DigiFabster DigiFabster is an AM service provider based out of Pasedena, California, and this week they are launching their new eCommerce platform that promises to reduce the time for quotations on AM and CNC manufactured parts. Model viewer (Image credit: DigiFabster) The goal of the platform is to enable manufacturing companies of all sizes to switch to an online platform, to capitalize on the innovations offered by the growing digital manufacturing front. The plug-and-play, white label, software-as-a-service (SaaS) allows customers to upload models and place orders super quick, and it helps manufacturing shops of all sizes to increase their revenue in the rapidly changing industry that is AM. Online Shopping for AM The pandemic has certainly seen engineers turn to an online approach in terms of getting things manufactured and delivered without the hassle of human interaction, and this new platform promises to optimize things further. According to the press…    read more 

February 14, 2022 Leave a Comment We see a lot of metal and concrete printing in the construction industry (mostly concrete), and rarely get to read about use of plastics in construction, except for the occasional story on using plastics as fillers in concrete. Well, if you are an architect with an appreciation of thermoplastics and the forms permitted by 3D printing, then there is good news for you, as German company UNIKAT.railings has launched their line of 3D printed plastic railings. The startup has teamed up with Hans Weber Maschinenfabrik GmbH and University of Applied Sciences in Münster to become one of the first startups in Germany to employ large scale plastic printing in construction within the country. Each printed piece is at least 1 x 1 meter in size and is adapted to the installation situation together with the client using a 3D web configurator. The configurator is…    read more 

February 8, 2022 Leave a Comment A Seattle-based engineering company with a reassuring name has announced that they will be manufacturing 3D printed components for a new generation of low-cost modular nuclear reactors. Low cost nuclear? We know what you are thinking, and don’t worry, because the Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp (USNC) wants you to know that reduced cost doesn’t equal reduced safety. Using a binder-jetting method developed by (and licenced from) Oak Ridge National Laboratories, USNC plans to utilize printed silicon carbide in the fabrication of their modular fission reactors which will help reduce the costs associated with commissioning reactors from billions down to mere tens of millions. Their main product is the Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) which is ostensibly some kind of fission battery, which can also be linked up to other MMRs to produce more power produced, just like super-chonky AA batteries. Render of an underground MMR…    read more