3D Printed Prosthetic Hands w. e-Nable
Let’s take a look at how 3D printing is being used to produce fully functional prosthetic hands for children in need. Brent Chanin from a company called Mediprint, reached out to Cimquest to let us know about a not for profit company who aims at equipping disabled children with 3D printed prosthetic hands. He asked if Cimquest would be interested in participating in their program and naturally, our answer was a resounding yes! You may have heard of E-Nable. It is an organization dedicated to matching children in need with the 3D printing community and its ability to produce almost anything. Using specially designed parts, anyone can download the necessary CAD files and print the components for a "robo hand.” From there E-Nable will match your hand up with a recipient. Through our participation, Cimquest offered to print hands for E-Nable using some of our Stratasys Dimension FDM 3D Printers. All of the hands were printed in Durable ABS plastic using a soluble support, which was subsequently removed in an automated procedure in a cleaning station. From there the parts were ready to go and looking great. When all is said and done, we were able to turn over a total of 25 [...]
Lead Time Reductions with Stratasys Additive Manufacturing
Germany-based, Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA), has significantly reduced the time and cost to produce bespoke prototype ship model components since introducing Stratasys additive manufacturing technology. Having previously outsourced its 3D printing requirements, HSVA realized that further time-savings and cost reductions could be achieved by bringing the technology in-house. Following the installation of the Objet Eden350V, the company has been able to quickly and cost-effectively produce strong, high performance plastic prototype parts while upholding its high standards of quality and precision. Meeting the challenge to produce 100% true-to-scale prototype models "A full-size ship is a complex geometric form with many complicated shapes that have to be re-produced true-to-scale," explains Michael Neumeier, Mechanical Design Engineer at HSVA. "To traditionally manufacture a prototype ship rudder in wood or plastic is a very skilled and labor-intensive job and typically takes up to three weeks to produce. With our Stratasys 3D Printer, we can produce parts within a day, which after cleaning, are ready for final assembly." This extraordinarily short production time combined with minimal set up grants HSVA far more flexibility in dealing with customer requests - including the implementation of last minute changes. According to Neumeier, HSVA is also reaping the benefits of 3D printing [...]
Top Factors that Affect 3D Printing Price
We often receive questions regarding 3D printing. Most often people want to know what determines the price of 3D printing services? Part size and geometry understandably affect price, but there are other details that can alter the price of your parts. The following factors will impact the price of printing your 3D part. Material We charge based on the amount of material that’s needed to build your part and what material you choose. Material cost is associated with the mechanical properties as well as ease and speed of manufacturing. If you’re looking for the most cost effective material, a simple prototyping photopolymer would probably be the best option; if you have more functional requirements, you may need a higher strength material which could be more expensive. The amount of support material on your design can also affect the price. Optimizing your design with self-supporting angles (usually around 45 degrees or more) uses less support material and can help reduce material expenses. Layer Height Layer height is the measure of each layer of a 3D printed part. Depending on the technology, a thinner layer height can reduce visible “stair-stepping” or the inherent ridges on the surface of 3D printed parts and improve the surface [...]
3D Printing End of Arm Tools
Robotic arms carry out a wide range of functions in this modern age of manufacturing. With FDM technology, companies can now produce custom end of arm tools tailored to sophisticated applications and processes, at a fraction of the cost. Robotic arms carry out a comprehensive range of tasks, including material handling, sorting, palletizing, transporting, and even inspecting or machining. The EAOT of a robot is the key piece, which interacts with an object, for example through gripping or welding. While some arms are generic in design, many processes require customized arms to engage unique objects with complex features. Custom EOATs tend to be machined from metal due to their low volume nature. However the extensive programming times and costs to machine custom arms can deter companies from investing in them. Companies may instead be compelled to settle for stock solutions, which are limited in their ability to manipulate complex objects. FDM technology can produce custom EOAT’s tailored to sophisticated applications and processes. Thermoplastic arms printed directly from 3D CAD files are lighter than metal, allowing for faster movement, increased motor efficiency and a reduction in component wear. They are also durable yet they won’t scratch the objects they grip. The FDM build process [...]
SolidWorks 2016 – Selection Breadcrumb
There is a new feature in the design interface of SolidWorks 2016 called “Selection Breadcrumbs” that will allow you to select a part or feature in the graphics area and then refine that selection through the context-based representation of the item, or the “trail of breadcrumbs” connected to the selection. Take this assembly made up of 4 mated parts. When you select a face, you can see all of the mates of the component that face belongs to in the breadcrumbs pop-out. In previous versions of SolidWorks, to view the mates you either had to right-click the component or find the component in the FeatureManager design tree and open the mates folder. Now, the Breadcrumbs feature provides access to the entire hierarchical chain of entities from the item you selected up through the top level document. You can display the context toolbar and a shortcut menu by right-clicking on a breadcrumb item. Also, you can move Breadcrumbs out of the top left corner and to your pointer location by pressing “D” on your keyboard. Breadcrumbs are available for both parts and assemblies and are enabled by default. You can remove the breadcrumbs from the screen by pressing “Escape” or clicking an open area [...]
New 3D Scanners from Creaform
We have expanded our metrology and reverse-engineering product line to include new 3D scanners from Creaform. The Go!SCAN 3D produces fast and reliable measurements in a portable and compact form. With the ability to capture 3D organic shapes in full color, this white light scanner can be used for a diverse range of applications, assisting engineers throughout each step of the product development process. We also offer the Handy Scan 3D, a handheld laser scanner of new generation. This flagship scanner matches portability with accuracy, providing high resolution scans of mechanical parts at a rate 25 times faster than the previous generation. Creaform Scanners come equipped with VXelements, a fully integrated 3D software which delivers real-time visualization, in a user friendly interface. Enhancements such as hole filling and surface optimization deliver exceptional control over the scanning experience. If you desire versatility, speed, and ease of use, then Creaform Scanners are the optimal solution for your metrology and reverse-engineering needs! In addition, both the Handy-SCAN and Go!SCAN handheld scanners fully integrate with our flagship reverse-engineering and metrology software products, thus allowing Cimquest to offer more diverse solutions for 3D Scanning coupled with complete compatibility to our existing software products. To learn more, call us [...]