Autodesk Netfabb – Sending a Part to the Form 2 Printer
This blog post will show you how to use Autodesk Netfabb Standard to orient, lattice, add supports, and send a part to your Formlabs Form 2 3D printer. Autodesk Netfabb is Additive Manufacturing software that connects directly to many AM systems. There are three tiers of Netfabb: Standard, Premium, and Ultimate. In order to connect to the Formlabs Form 2 workspace Standard tier is required. When using the latest version, Netfabb 2019 you will be able to drag and drop a file into the program. Since Netfabb has a CAD importer built in, you do not need to purchase any specific file types in order to bring in a native CAD file. A dialogue box will appear with information on the file and, most important, the green check mark that states the file does not have any errors and can be sent to the workspace. When you open the Form 2 workspace you will see the build platform for the Form 2 and the outline of the build volume. After bringing in my part you can orient the part by selecting through the recommendations. Upon accepting the orientation and choosing the Lattice Assistant, it will hollow out the part and add a lattice [...]
New Hudson Facades Saves $50K per Quarter with Rize One 3D Printer
Architectural glass specialist New Hudson Facades (NHF) is reportedly saving up to $50 thousand per quarter with a new, round-the-clock 3D printing facility. The company has installed a Rize One 3D printer at its office in Pennsylvania to produce custom tooling and fixtures for its large-scale projects. According to Andrew Black, Engineering Manager at NHF, “I put Rize One right next to my desk, so I can use it all the time. It’s so easy, anyone can use it.” Miscellaneous Rize 3D printed project tooling at NHF. Photos via Rize Sky’s the limit Founded in 2014, NHF undertakes the installation of custom aluminum and glass façades for skyscrapers. Its most recent projects include the front of three towers in Hudson Yards, New York, including the striking 35 Hudson Yards with a concave feature wall. Facade of 35 Hudson Yards, a project by NHF. Photo via New Hudson Façades On average, each project at NHF relies on the production of between one hundred and two hundred unique fixtures used to help hold aluminum profiles in place, and ensure the perfect fit of the windows. Typically, this tooling would be made using the site’s CNC machines, costing around $200 per part. [...]
CMM Master – Portable Inspection System
Today we are going to talk about a portable CMM called the CMM Master. The CMM Master is based on the Renishaw Equator, and powered by Verisurf’s AUTOMATE software. The working volume is approximately 12” X 12” X 6” up from the plate. It has been volumetrically error mapped with the Verisurf software to an accuracy of +/- .0005î, making it more accurate than the standard Equator. Its single point repeatability is within a couple of tenths! Verisurf's AUTOMATE software, allows you to create complete automated inspection plans. Once this plan is created, you click on the Play button and AUTOMATE takes over. It runs the full inspection plan, collects data for each feature, and at the end of the routine automatically generates a date and time stamped report. The CMM Master is very fast. It has a maximum movement speed of 500 mm/s, or 19.7î in/sec. If you choose to use the probe as a scanner, you input the scan parameters in Verisurf, and the probe scans at a maximum speed of 100 mm/s, almost 4î per sec. At the same time, it can collect up to 1000 points/sec. The CMM Master has built in, user-friendly Calibration Routines that allow you to [...]
HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing Streamlines Machinery and Production Lines
The rules of the game are changing Machinery and production line component production have typically been served with traditional processes such as CNC machining and injection molding. However, as industries strive to find greater efficiencies and add more value for their customers, machinery and production line manufacturers and runners are looking for ways to enhance and optimize how they produce components–in order to offer unique/customized solutions at low cost to their internal or external customers, drive greater production line efficiencies with lightweight, high performance parts, and maximize equipment uptime. Why consider 3D printing for machinery parts? 3D printing opens up a world of new opportunities for machinery and production line component production–both for original and spare parts. HP Multi Jet Fusion is a relatively new 3D printing technology that powers HP’s Jet Fusion 3D printers, which can offer disruptive cost, speed, and quality benefits compared to other 3D printing technologies: Speed HP Multi Jet Fusion can help minimize machinery and production line downtime and associated costs thanks to the production of customized original and spare parts in-house, reducing lead times from weeks or days to a matter of hours versus existing production methods. In-house, on-demand production of multiple new part designs in parallel [...]
RIZE 3D Printer Peel-Away Support
It is very fast and easy to remove supports with Rize 3D printing. This gets you to a functional part two times faster and for a fraction of the cost of other technologies. Watch the video below to see for yourself just how easy industrial 3D printing can be using Rize. For more information on Rize 3D printers, please click the button below. More Info
3D Printing Accuracy, Precision, and Tolerance
This post will cover some of the fundamental concepts in 3D printing: accuracy, precision, and tolerance. Understanding these key concepts and the differences between them is necessary for achieving the level of performance you desire when evaluating any 3D printing technology. First and foremost, you need to understand that just because a printer lists a high-resolution in a spec-sheet, it does not mean that your parts will be accurate or precise. This is a common misconception and will be covered in a future blog post. Let’s begin by defining the three terms (accuracy, precision, and tolerance) and then we will use common examples to help you understand each. Accuracy is how close a measurement is to true-value. A common example is a target where the true-value is the bullseye. The closer you are to the bullseye, the more accurate you are. In 3D printing, the true-value equals the dimensions of your CAD model and how close the 3D print lines up with those dimensions. Precision measures the repeatability or consistency. For example, your shots on a target could be hitting near the same spot every time but not necessarily on the bullseye. In 3D printing, this translates into reliability, i.e. will your printer [...]