Needed: 3D Printer Auto Ejection

Years ago the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic had a peculiar optional feature, the Automated Build Platform, which could automatically remove prints from the bed when complete. We need something like that today. 

But what was this amazing option? It was essentially a conveyor belt laid around the heated build platform. When the print was complete, it was possible to instruct the machine (via one line of GCODE) to engage the belt. When the belt rotated, the print would be carried to the edge of the platform, and as the belt curled underneath for a new circuit, the print would neatly peel off the belt and drop onto the floor. 

While MakerBot didn’t really leverage this feature much, it was very possible to set up an automated factory with the ABP. We did this in our lab by stringing together dozens of GCODE sequences, each separated by an “eject” command. The result was astonishing: our little Thing-O-Matic simply spit out completed models, one after the other endlessly. We had to install a bucket in front of the machine to catch the prints. And the bucket filled up with hundreds of pieces.

Everyone with a 3D printer should have the power to build many things, completely unattended. 

Why did the ABP disappear? While it worked reasonably well for a while, it quickly became unreliable as the belt wrapping the platform would eventually warp, particularly where prints had been stuck. The warp would present an unlevel surface for 3D printing, which we all know can be catastrophic for individual prints. The belt would also stretch, making the build surface “tippy”. Finally, the belt would actually break in mid-print. 

Thus the option was more or less discontinued. 

Today we really don’t have a good option for this functionality on any 3D printer we know of. The ABP turned out to be impractical, but perhaps there are new concepts that work better. We’re hoping someone will invent a reliable way to automatically remove 3D prints and enable home factories once again. 

We miss you, ABP. 

Via Thingiverse

The Amazing 3DMe Photo Booth

We got a close look at 3D Systems’ new “3DMe Photo Booth” at CES and found a lot more than we bargained for. The system is set up to transfer a 3D representation of a subject’s face onto any of several pre-made fun 3D character models. 

 

We’ve seen the functionality of this before; 3D Systems and others have offered this type of service for over a year. But the 3DMe Photo Booth puts it all in a physical device.

 

It’s definitely a “photo booth”; you climb inside and sit in front of these six digital cameras, which take a simultaneous image of your face from slightly different angles. The software within the booth converts the images into a 3D model of your face - color included. This happens within minutes. 

 

Then the interesting part happens. You get out of the booth and visit the back side where you’ll see a touch-screen control panel. You’ll see your 3D scan among others that have recently been completed. You can then select which figurine you’d like to paste your face on, with some ability to select poses, colors, hair style, etc. Then by entering your contact information, an order for a physical 3D print of the model is completed and the data is sent to 3D Systems’ cloud 3D printers for production. 

 

The 3DMe Photo Booth provides a controlled environment where lighting and image quality are predictable, yielding terrific results every time. Often when submitting one’s own images to such services, results are not always great due to bad photography. 

 

When discussing the market for the machine with 3D Systems’ CEO Avi Reichental, it became apparent that this is not intended for homes or industry. It’s really a device for shopping malls or events. It seemed that it would be offered for lease or purchase in the future. 

 

We imagine the booth being pre-loaded with 3D character models specific to a situation, then setting up the booth at that event. The models match the situation. 

 

Makeraser’s Smooth Launch

Finally Makeraser is available for purchase, having launched on Kickstarter this week. It’s not a 3D printer, but everyone who owns a 3D printer should certainly get one. 

 

It’s a multi-use accessory that leverages acetone’s peculiar property of dissolving ABS plastic. In the past we’ve seen various attempts to use acetone to smooth ABS prints, typically by immersing them in a glass chamber filled with highly flammable heated acetone vapor. 

 

The Makeraser is a far safer method of achieving similar results. The designers realized that instead of immersing a print in acetone, you merely needed to touch the surface with a very small amount of acetone, such as you may do with a dainty cotton ball. 

 

Through some experiments, they devised a type of “pen” that delivers acetone through a felt tip. You simply “paint” your object with the Makeraser tip to smooth out the surface. It may take a bit longer than the acetone vapor approach, but we’d prefer to be safe. 

 

But that’s not all. The Makeraser was discovered to have multiple other uses, including: 

 

• Gluing ABS parts together
• Prepping a print bed for guaranteed ABS sticking
• Sealing holes in a print
• Removing small protuberances

 

You can have one of these useful devices by purchasing from Kickstarter for only USD$99. But wait - you’ll also get a “razor sharp” scraper for removing ABS prints securely fastened to your print bed by the Makeraser. 

 

And there’s even more! They’re also including a bottle of Makelastic, a new liquid treatment that makes PLA prints flexible! Yep, print in solid, rigid PLA, soak it in Makelastic and it become very flexible. No need for purchasing flexible filament! 

 

Definitely a very good deal for some terrific tools.  

  

Via Kickstarter

Cubify’s Advanced Material Cartridges

Cubify’s new Cube 3 includes a fascinating new feature: extremely simplified material loading, made possible only through the development of a new way to handle plastic filament. 

 

The new cartridges are quite different from any generic spool you’ve seen before. They’re sealed to prevent dust and dirt from contaminating the filament (which eventually clogs up your extruder). They include a tube running from the spool housing to the attachment point, meaning your filament is enclosed during its entire journey from spool to extruder.  

 

The attachment point is much like an earphone jack. Just insert it into the Cube’s extruder and you’re done. No need for heating up to change them, either; they’re literally plug and play. 

 

But perhaps the most revolutionary feature is that the spool is powered from behind. Most extruders include a mechanism to pull the filament from a spool. The new Cube spool does the opposite: a motor turns the spool itself, pushing the filament into the extruder. This feature should result in far fewer incidents of broken filament. 

 

The cartridge is mounted on the side of the cube in a neatly shaped indentation. 

  

The plastic in the spool is chemically consistent, meaning that the Cube’s software can be pre-calibrated for excellent results. 

 

This all sounds good, but is there a catch? Yes, there is. The Cube can print ONLY from these proprietary cartridges, and they’re expensive when compared to generic filament. You can only use the colors and materials offered by Cubify, so you won’t be printing any wood filament soon, for example. 

 

This is a case of cost/benefit analysis. The new cartridge does offer significant advantages - if you’re willing to pay for it. For many consumers, the security of knowing there will be fewer troubles will be worth the extra cost. 

Matterform’s 3D Scanner in the Flesh

We managed to chat with Adam Brandejs of Matterform at CES, where he and colleagues demonstrated their powerful and inexpensive tabletop 3D scanner. 

 

We wondered how they felt about recent announcements by other companies of various kinds of 3D scanners. Matterform is not concerned and reports that “pre-sales have been going very well” for the USD$579 device. 

 

The Matterform 3D Scanner is designed to be portable, if you didn’t know. Here we see it folded up in transport mode. It is capable of capturing 2000 points per second from models up to 190 x 190 x 250mm tall and producing watertight STL or color PLY files for use on your 3D printer. 

 

Via Matterform

What Will 3D Systems Announce at CES 2014?

We knew 3D Systems was set to make significant announcements at CES 2014 in Las Vegas, but now we have a preview. In a press release they said they would make not one, but TWELVE announcements. This is startling, as they previously announced a dozen or so new items at last month’s EuroMold conference in Frankfurt. 

 

While 3D Systems did not reveal any deets on the new items, they did publish this tantalizing meta-list: 

  

Previews a dozen cutting-edge consumer products and experiences

Unveils B-2-B-2-C powerful merchandising and licensing platforms

Reveals 3 new product categories: edibles, ceramics and full-color models

Launches at home and in-store physical photography products and services   

Participates in CES SuperSession and keynotes ‘3D Printing Uncovered’

 

Ok, what does all this mean? Let’s take a look at some of these statements: 

 

• Ceramics: This is likely the fruit of their recent acquisition of Figulo, the leading ceramic 3D printing service. 
• Full-Color Models: This might be their new ProJet full color machine. 
• Physical Photography: 3D Systems has long delivered image-to-3D model services. We suspect they will announce a vastly improved system for doing so. 

 

And there’s that word, “edible”. 

 

We think chocolate. 

 

Via 3D Systems

3D Printed Underwear?

A UK firm has revealed plans to produce a line of apparently 3D printed underwear. Tamicare has developed a new process that is said to enable 3D printed fabric, which they intend to produce underwear with, at least at first. 

 

The fabric generated through this process is trademarked as “CosyFlex”. It’s not entirely clear to us how this process works, but they say: 

 

Patterns, perforations, embossing and decorations may be created by printing on a 3D structured base plate. Our innovations in equipment components, the production process and fabric characteristics are protected by patents.

 

They claim they can produce “instant” creation of fabric products with their “fully automated process”. They can produce fabric from “natural latex, silicon, polyurethane, teflon, cotton, viscose, polyamide” and more. 

 

 

A look through this video of their production process doesn’t reveal much. We can’t see a 3D printing-like activity, although the process seems to take place quite quickly, suggesting their mass production capability could be true. 

 

If this process is truly 3D printed, it could be the beginning of a new phase in 3D printed fashion, which up to now has been limited to more-or-less solid objects. 

 

Via Tamicare

Stratasys' Nylon Material

A few weeks ago we speculated that Stratasys might begin focusing on new materials to exploit their huge base of installed 3D printers as their FDM patents expire, and it appears they've done so with the announcement of their new Nylon-12 material. 

 

Fred Fisher, Director of Materials at the company explained to Fabbaloo that the company believes the "Factory of the future is tied to materials", and that Stratasys "wants to solve more high requirement applications through materials." 

 

Their first step in this direction is Nylon-12, which is a rather unique material. It's said to be twice as strong as any other nylon material, 5-6x higher impact resistance and 6x elongation to break. Fisher said Nylon-12 "delivers 80% of ULTEM properties for half the price." (ULTEM being Stratasys' premiere high-temperature/high-strength material to date.)

 

Where would you use this black material? It's ideal for snap-fit parts or those requiring vibration or shatter resistance. We've been testing it with the black iPhone case seen above, and trust us, that case has been on and off many times and the nylon material shows no signs of wearing out. We're hoping this material eventually makes its way to the MakerBot line. 

 

Via Stratasys

Formlabs Releases a New Resin

Formlabs, makers of the popular Form 1 personal 3D printer have released a new resin. Previously, the company offered only two resins: Grey and Clear. The new material is "White". 

 

For a rapid startup company such as Formlabs, it's totally understandable they may take some time before introducing new materials, but now they've done it. 

 

Different resin formulations can produce all manner of material outputs, exhibiting different colors, strengths, temperature endurances, surface textures and other characteristics. We've observed larger, commercial resin-based 3D printer companies spend considerable effort on resin formulations - even hiring their own teams of chemists. We're hoping the release of "White" means Formlabs now has significant chemical expertise on staff. 

 

As for "white", we are very excited because it's our belief that the color white is often the best color to print. Why? Because its light color easily shows off shadows, exhibiting the delicate printed shape in the best way possible. 

 

White resin is available at Formlabs' online store for USD$149 per liter. 

 

Via Formlabs

ColorFabb's Focus on 3D Printing

We had a chat about filament with Sander Strijbos of ColorFabb at the recent 3D Printshow in London. While there are quite a few vendors marketing filament, most of their innovations involve new colors of PLA and ABS plastic. Not so with ColorFabb, who explore the edge of the envelope in filament technology. 

 

Strijbos explained that their Dutch company, Helian Polymers, has been preparing plastics for the molding industry for many years - and has gained significant experience in the chemistry and mechanics of many plastics. 

 

Recently Helian opened a new brand focused on filament for the 3D print industry: ColorFabb. They're taking their significant plastic expertise and now applying it to filament production. 

 

What's so innovative? We found these examples in their product shelf: 

 

PLA/PHA Combo: ColorFabb's PLA filament offering isn't actually PLA. It's a blend of PLA and PHA, another biodegradable polymer. The presence of PHA in the mix permits their "PLA" filament to be "less brittle and tougher". If you've had experience with your PLA filament snapping (and, oh boy, have we ever had that problem) you might want to check out their precision quality PLA/PHA filament.

 

_XT: No one else seems to offer this type of filament, which is said to be a "special amorphous copolyester". It's a low-warp, stronger-than-PLA plastic that's mostly transparent and has a wonderfully soft feel with a shiny look. These very tall prints were made from _XT. Evidently you can carefully dip your _XT prints in acetone to significantly clear the transparency and even make it flexible. 

 

WoodFill: There have been other wood-based filament before, but ColorFabb offers two styles: "Coarse" and "Fine". We've seen examples of both and coarse prints look more like a true wood object than the fine. These can be drilled, sanded and painted just like wood. They even smell like wood! 

 

Does ColorFabb produce ABS plastic? They do not and apparently have no known plans to do so. It's just as well, since PLA is much easier to print with on personal 3D printers. 

 

Currently ColorFabb is developing a network of resellers to delivery their product worldwide. 

 

Via ColorFabb

Development is Underway for a Graphene 3D Printing Material

In a recent press release, Lomiko Metal, a Vancouver based firm, announced its intention to create a laboratory dedicated to the development of “graphene-enhanced” 3D printing materials.

 

Graphene, which recently proved to be the world’s strongest material, has been of keen interest to a wide range of industries since its first isolation in 2004. One reason for this interest, aside from its strength, is that graphene is both more conductive than copper and the thinnest material known to man.

 

As part of their announcement, Lomiko Metal outlined their plan to enter into a strategic alliance agreement with Graphene Labs. Together, the two organizations will create a joint venture named Graphene 3D Labs. As part of the agreement Lomiko will be the sole supplier of graphite to the new lab, which will immediately begin researching and engineering graphene-based 3D printing materials.

 

Read More at ENGINEERING.com

3D Systems' New Scanning Solution

3D Systems announced an inexpensive personal 3D scanner last week, but they also announced a professional 3D scanning solution, too. 

 

The new GeoMagic Capture bundle is a combination of a blue-LED 3D scanner and application-specific software to integrate the scan directly into several high-end 3D modeling solutions, including: SolidWorks, SpaceClaim, Design X, Design Direct, Control and Verify. 

 

The product is definitely not for home users, as it's priced from USD$15,000 and up. However, we expect that 3D Systems' increasing interest in professional scanning recently will have a trickle-down effect, where learnings and technologies will bolster their consumer offerings in the near future. 

 

Via 3D Systems

The FilaFab Filament Maker

We had a close look at the FilaFab, a "Desktop Filament Fabricator". It's pretty simple in concept: put in some plastic bits and usable 3D printer filament comes out the nozzle. 

 

But there's a lot more to it than that. The device has been carefully designed to ensure consistent melting temperature and flow rate to produce filament with reliable diameter and appropriate characteristics. 

 

You'll need a source of plastic that's broken down into small bits for deposition in the hopper on the top of the machine. You can obtain bulk plastic pellets at a far lower price than filament, perhaps as much as five times or more less. By the way, FilaFab handles both PLA and ABS plastic. We suspect that they could also handle other plastics with a bit of testing. 

  

Alternatively, you could somehow break up your existing models and failed prints into small enough pieces that would fit into the hopper. FilaFab might work on a "chopper" feature in the future, but for now you'd best get out a big hammer. We think this is pretty important, because, well, we happen to have a great many failed prints in a rather large pile at our lab. And so do you. 

 

One feature we'd like to see on the FilaFab is a spooling mechanism to capture the new filament. Hot, soft filament would wrap very neatly around an empty spool, but not so much after it cools down. Perhaps FilaFab will add a spooler to future models.  

 

The FilaFab is now on sale for  £699 (USD$1100), but we understand they are still seeking certification for sales in the USA. 

 

Via FilaFab