Glaze Prosthetics Brings 3D Printed Prosthetic Production In-House with HP MJF 580
A reprint from 3Dpritintingindustry.com Investing in the MJF 580 will enable Glaze to produce and deliver customized prosthetics within two weeks. Photo via Glaze Prosthetics. Glaze Prosthetics, a Polish manufacturer of personalized prosthetic arms, has brought its entire 3D printing production process in-house with the addition of an HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) 580 Color 3D printer. Investing in the machine has enabled Glaze to digitize its production processes and work directly with clinicians to speed up previously lengthy workflows. The MJF 580 will also allow Glaze to produce and deliver customized prosthetics within a seven to 14 days turnaround. “Everyone wants to be part of the digital revolution, yet the prosthesis industry is one which is not traditionally born into digital,” said Franek Kosch, Co-founder of Glaze Prosthetics. “With the help of HP’s 3D technology, Glaze is democratizing digital workflows and giving everyone a chance to be a part of this new revolution.” Glaze Prosthetics was founded in Krakow, Poland, in 2017 after one of its founders 3D printed a customized prosthetic arm for a friend. Having identified a gap in the market for amputees wanting a light and durable prosthetic arm that could be customized, the company has since [...]
How Functional Color is Changing the Game in Additive Manufacturing
By Arianna Coger, a reprint from www.fabbaloo.com. “How Functional Color is Changing the Game in Additive Manufacturing,” was one a presentation given by HP Inc., at the recent Cimquest Xpand3D Design and Maufacturing Event that focused on the advancement of 3D printing methods to develop functional colored parts. The addition of color can help improve the clarity and accuracy of models as well as enable the easy production of parts that are ready for consumer usage. Common methods of adding color to prints often involve paint or filament changes, which are labor-intensive solutions, binder jetting, which cannot produce strong parts, or multiple extruders, which can have reduced precision. The HP Multi Jet Fusion printers can be used to print colored parts with fully fused nylon as the material, providing high durability. This method of printing lets companies produce functional prototypes due to the enhanced mechanical properties of nylon, which can be used to accurately model intricate and small details for parts without breakage. HP MJF color printing can be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from developing color-coded fixtures to anatomical models to customizable consumer goods. HP’s color 3D printing technology can help companies expand the capabilities of their prototyping, manufacturing, and [...]
New Nylon 11 3D Printing Material
Formlabs has released a new 3D printing material for the Fuse 1 platform - Nylon 11. For ductile, robust parts, Nylon 11 Powder is their higher performance, bio-based nylon material for functional prototyping and small batch production. Nylon 11 Powder is suitable for printing parts that need to bend or take impact. Why Choose Nylon 11 Powder? Nylon 11 Powder is a ductile, strong, flexible material for when durability and performance are key. High Ductility: Print end-use parts that can handle wear and tear over time. Thin Walls: Print enclosures, ducts, and other geometries with ease using Nylon 11 Powder. No Nitrogen Needed: 3D print in Nylon 11 in-house without a nitrogen supply resulting in less upfront costs and operating costs compared to most other SLS systems. Environmental Stability: Nylon 11 prints absorb very little moisture and are resistant to light, heat, and chemicals. Download the brochure for more details. Brochure Download
The Future of CAD
by Randall Rothbort. A reprint from www.fabbaloo.com written as a follow-up to our recent xpand3D event. The Future of CAD discussion was a great view into the future technologies being used and incorporated into CAD software. Jon Hirschtick (founder of SOLIDWORKS and Onshape), Blake Courter (CTO of nTopology) and Rob Hassold (CEO of Cimquest) spoke regarding current developments in CAD, future goals, and how the industry will be shaped by current technological advancements. Two main focuses of the discussion were the impact of AI/Machine Learning on CAD, as well as the implementation of cloud computing into the systems. All three universally saw the potential of AI in improving the capabilities of CAD systems, allowing more menial and rule-based parts to be created automatically. However, while Blake and Rob saw this as reducing the role of the designer, Jon saw this as just a progression of the tool, amplifying the engineering rather than reducing it. This connects to a later discussion on parametric design, especially regarding producing alternative parts based on one master part. Rob brought up specifically how machine learning will be adapted to create these parts, reducing the time spent by engineers designing repetitive components. This functionality is just beginning to be [...]
Mastercam Drill Operations for Tapping
This blog post will discuss creating Mastercam drill operations for tapping. The order of operations for the tapping cycle will typically share common parameters from part to part. By creating custom drill operations, you can increase the efficiency of programming for these common features. Our example fixture plate has multiple drilled and tapped one half 13 holes. Starting with the chamfer drill toolpath, we took advantage of the solid feature defining the tapped hole. Remember that you can use the ctrl key to select all the matching diameters. Reset the whole sorting as needed and with the hole location selected, you can associate the spot drill to the toolpath. In the Cut Parameters, the depth for the transfer can be set to zero due to the chamfer being defined in the solid feature. The Linking Parameters were all set to incremental. By backplotting the toolpath we saw the spot drill was feeding to the proper depth matching the chamfer. Next, we opened a drill toolpath for the tap drill operation. Just close the whole selection utility and select yes to keep the drill toolpath. Use the left mouse button to select and drag the geometry from the chamfer tool path and release it [...]
xWASH Smart Affordable and Sustainable Washer from Nexa3D
Nexa3D, the maker of ultra-fast polymer 3D printers, recently announced the immediate commercial availability of xWASH, a new automated washer that works exclusively with its sustainable xCLEAN washing detergent to help manufacturers streamline, optimize, and scale their 3D printing and post-processing operations. The new xWash is a fully automated, smart cleaning washer that is designed to readily accept a full build plate from the company’s flagship NXE400 3D printer at volumes of up to 16 liters per print job. Customers using xWASH can experience significant post-processing cost reductions of as much as 75% compared with other post processing units and realize orders of magnitude throughput gains by producing consistent high-quality parts. “As demand for additively manufactured parts in volume production applications increases, the consistency of mechanical properties and finishing details is more important than ever, meaning there is greater need for automated, controlled, validated and sustainable post-processing solutions,” explained Kevin McAlea, COO at Nexa3D. “Our new xWASH matches the build volumes and process requirements of our ultrafast NXE400 3D printer, giving manufacturers repeatable and consistent control of their washing cycles. It also represents the final step in our end-to-end validated workflow, completing our suite of ultrafast photoplastic production system." Accessing an end-to-end post-processing [...]