Day 1: Formlabs | Unlocking the Power of Carbon Fiber 3D Printing
Day 1: Formlabs | Unlocking the Power of Carbon Fiber 3D Printing Replayed from a live webinar held on November 1, 2023 Watch the replay of Cimquest's exclusive webinar series where four industry giants, Formlabs, UltiMaker, Nexa3D and 3DGence, come together to explore the world of carbon fiber 3D printing with their respective technologies. This webinar series is your gateway to understanding the immense potential and possibilities of carbon-fiber-infused materials with different machines and applications. First, delve into Formlabs' carbon-fiber-compatible 3D printing system, The Fuse 1+. Formlabs was started in 2011, when three MIT graduate students built the first 3D printer that could achieve industrial, professional part quality at an affordable price. Through continuous commitment to innovation, Formlabs has become the largest supplier of professional stereolithography (SLA) and selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printers in the world. The Fuse 1+ prints Nylon 11 CF Powder that will enable manufacturers to create strong, lightweight, and heat-resistant parts, without relying on traditional overlay or machining methods. Carbon fiber reinforced parts are used in high-performance industries for applications that require strength, heat-resistance, and stiffness, while remaining lightweight.
Formlabs Fuse Blast – Upgrade Your SLS
Upgrade your SLS Fuse system with the brand new Fuse Blast from Formlabs The brand NEW Fuse Blast seamlessly integrates into the Fuse Series ecosystem and streamlines your post-processing workflow, empowering you to fully clean a whole build chamber of printed parts within 30 minutes and drastically reducing labor time and cost. With the optional Polishing System, Fuse Blast takes your parts to another level by polishing them to a smooth, semi-gloss, and dye-ready surface finish, to deliver consistent, professional-grade results every time. Learn More
Xact Metal 3D Printing Distillery Event – Metal & Mash
Please Join Us for a Special Xact Metal 3D Printing Distillery Event We are thrilled to extend an exclusive invitation to you for an extraordinary Xact Metal 3D printing distillery event that promises to blend the worlds of innovation, craftsmanship, and the art of distillation like never before. Event Details: Event Name: Metal & Mash: Xact Distillery Affair Date: November 16th, 2023 Time: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM Location: Virago Spirits Distillery, Richmond, VA At "Metal & Mash," we are set to unlock the secrets behind precision metal fabrication while savoring the delights of the Virago Spirits Distillery. What to Expect: Distillery Delights: Immerse your senses in Virago Spirits' artisanal cocktails and discover the craftsmanship that goes into every bottle. Xact Metal Presentation: Dive into the world of cutting-edge technology and explore the limitless possibilities of precision in metal fabrication. Special Guest - Matt White: Join us for an exclusive discussion with Matt White, a distinguished figure in the military and precision engineering field. Matt will share his insights on the invaluable applications of Xact Metal machines in military contexts and beyond. Networking and Interaction: Connect with fellow technology enthusiasts, engineers, innovators, and aficionados in a relaxed and inviting atmosphere. A Flavorful Affair: [...]
Metrology Minute – Pairing Manager in Control X
When objects are scanned for inspection, Control X needs to be able to review the scan and extract analytic features from the scan. For instance, when measuring a radius, the software needs to be able to distinguish where one radius CAD feature ends and a new feature starts in order to perform an accurate measurement. Using the CAD model below as it example, it is comprised of many analytic features, such as cylinders, planes, tori, etc. The scan of the manufactured part to measure looks like the image below. When the scan of a specific feature “overlaps” the edges of the feature, it can sometimes bleed into an adjacent feature and then the software can have difficulties distinguishing where one feature ends and the adjacent feature begins. Let’s consider this machined feature shown below. If we open the Pairing Manager and select that feature from the CAD model, we notice that the edges of the scan somewhat ‘bleed’ into the adjacent fillets all around the feature. The overextended mesh can sometimes cause challenges for the GD&T dimensioning system. We can use the Pairing Manager to shrink the edges of the mesh back, to ensure that there is no ambiguity, and that Control X [...]
An Overview of 3D Scanners
As a good rule of thumb, there are three areas of highest concern when selecting the right 3D scanner for your needs. 3D Scanners should be selected based on their accuracy, their resolution, and in cases of metrology, for their repeatability. Accuracy is perhaps the most intuitive as it is simply the distance that the scan points will be from the surface being captured. Resolution (aka “Point Spacing”) is a scanner’s ability to capture fine detail. It is essentially the density of the point cloud. So when scanning something with a lot of small detail, such as a coin, a very high resolution is required. In considering resolution, the lower the number (i.e. the more dense the point cloud is) the greater the resolution. Repeatability is simply a test we would typically run where one person scans a part several times and colleagues do the same and we want to ensure that the differences between any of the collected scans is within an acceptable deviation tolerance. In this post, we are going to give you an overview of the Shining 3D scanners and we will explain what the best applications are for each scanner. All have excellent repeatability. The Autoscan Inspec Excellent for [...]
3D Printing in Eyewear Manufacturing
Since 1976, Plastinax has been manufacturing eyewear for some of the world’s biggest brands. They work with global customers to design sunglasses, optical frames, and safety frames, then move into high-volume production, injection molding as many as 80,000 to 100,000 frames each month. Lead time and responsiveness are of utmost importance — in order to remain competitive in a global market, Plastinax has to expedite design and manufacturing so that their frames can travel from their base in Mauritius to their customers on every continent. Plastinax, owned by the ENL Group, uses Formlabs stereolithography (SLA) and selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printers to produce functional prototypes of frames in low volumes for their customers to evaluate and give feedback on before moving to tooling. They also have expanded into 3D printed tooling for low volume runs and bridge production of eyewear components, using the Fuse 1 SLS 3D printer and Nylon 12 Powder. The 3D printing workflow has also increased their responsiveness and expanded the range of designs they can produce. Plastinax Design Engineer Steeven Devasagayaum spoke with us about integrating the Form 2 and Fuse 1 into his workflow, and how 3D printing has changed the company’s approach to design and manufacturing. [...]