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3D Printing News Briefs: October 10, 2018

It’s business news as usual to kick things off in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, and then we’re moving on to a little medical and metal 3D printing news, followed by a 3D printing experiment and a superhero-sized 3D printed statue. The LEHVOSS Group is expanding the production capacities for its LUVOCOM material, DyeMansion has announced that its new RAL colors are now available, and the Million Waves Project receives a large grant from Shell Oil. A medical technology company is using HP’s Multi Jet Fusion to 3D print dental aligners, a YouTube video shows the depowdering process for a metal 3D printed turbine, and an experiment shows if it’s possible to use a DLP 3D printer for PCB etching. Finally, WhiteClouds designed and 3D printed a huge statue of She-Ra for a special event.

LEHVOSS Group Expanding LUVOCOM Production Capacity

Not long ago, the LEHVOSS Group, which operates under the management of parent company Lehmann&Voss&Co., revealed that that it would be showcasing its high-performance, thermoplastic LUVOCOM 3F 3D printing compounds at upcoming trade shows. Now, in order to keep meeting the ever increasing demand for these materials, the company has taken important steps, such as constructing a new laboratory and innovation center in Hamburg and commissioning an additional compounding line, to expand the worldwide production capacities for LUVOCOM.

“At the same time, these investments are just another consistent step within the framework of our long-term growth strategy,” said Dr. Thomas Oehmichen, a shareholder of Lehmann&Voss&Co. with personal liability. “Additional extensive investments in the expansion of our plastics business are currently the subject of detailed planning and are set to follow shortly.”

DyeMansion’s New RAL Colors Available

While attending the TCT Show in Birmingham recently, DyeMansion launched three machines that work together to depowder, surface treat, and dye 3D printed parts. The DM60 is the fully automated dyeing part of the system, and the company added a brand new palette of 170 standard RAL colors for PA2200 to its portfolio to let people expand the color range of the system significantly.

DyeMansion has now announced that its new RAL colors for the PolyShot Surfacing (PSS) finish are now available for DM60 color cartridges, and can be ordered via the DyeMansion On-Demand Service. To check if your favorite colors are available, type in the RAL color code on the website. To learn more about the RAL palette and the Print-to-Product workflow, visit DyeMansion’s booth 3.1-G61 at formnext in Germany next month.

Shell Oil Gives Million Waves Project a $5,000 Grant

About 40 million people in the developing world don’t have access to the prosthetic limbs they desperately need, while an estimated 28 billion pounds of plastic trash is dumped into our oceans each year. 501c(3) non-profit organization the Million Waves Project is working to fix both of these problems by using recycled ocean plastic to make inexpensive, 3D printed prosthetic limbs for children. The organization is pleased to announce that it will be now be able to make even more 3D printed prosthetics for kids thanks to a $5,000 grant that Shell Oil is providing.

“We are so excited to partner with this incredible nonprofit that aims to help serve the millions of people in need of prosthetic limbs,” said Brenna Clairr, an external relations advisor at Shell. “Our vision at the refinery is to proudly fuel life in the Pacific Northwest for our employees, contractors and our community, and we help bring that vision to life by collaborating with organizations like a Million Waves Project.”

HP’s MJF Technology Used to 3D Print Dental Aligners

Swiss medical technology company nivellmedical AG is focused on developing, manufacturing, and distributing nivellipso, a novel clear aligner system for correcting misaligned teeth. The system, a more aesthetically pleasing alternative to the conventional fixed braces, uses biocompatible, invisible plastic splints that gently move teeth to the desired position. The company is using HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology to make its  dental aligners, which has helped improve its digital workflow.

“We are putting our focus on precision and quality work,” said Dr. Milan Stojanovic, the head of the nivellmedical board. “3D printing technology has simplified a lot of the production of aligners.

The patient’s mouth is scanned, and the scan is then sent to the laboratory, where a model is 3D printed and used to properly fit the aligners before they are shipped out to the patient. Learn more about the process in the video below:

Depowdering a Metal 3D Print Build

Have you ever seen those videos on the internet that are supposed to be ‘oddly satisfying’ and stress-reliving in a way you can’t quite figure out? The ones that show a ton of matches lighting up in a pattern, or someone slowly squishing their hands in a beautifully decorated pile of slime or some other weird material? Nick Drobchenko, a YouTube user from Saint Petersburg, has now introduced the 3D printing equivalent with his video of using a brush to slowly remove the metal powder from a 3D printed part.

“Hollow stainless steel turbine, 90mm diameter. Printing time 4.5 hours,” Drobchenko wrote in the video description. “Printing cost $140, about 30 cm3.”

If the video below does not soothe and/or satisfy you, then I’m not sure what will:

Can a DLP 3D Printer Be Used for PCB Etching?

A maker named Andrei who goes by Electronoobs online recently acquired a couple of DLP 3D printers. After reviewing them, he wanted to see if it was possible to use DLP 3D printers to build the mask for PCB etching. So he created an experiment – with surprising results – and published a video about his experience on YouTube.

“I would only use the UV light of the printer to create the mask for the PCB, and then etch it using acid for copper PCBs just as always,” he explained in the video.

In addition to the DLP 3D printers, other things required for this experiment included copper boards, dry photosensitive film, sodium carbonate, latex gloves, and an iron. Spoiler alert – Electronoobs succeeds in using DLP technology to 3D print a mask for PCB etching. To see the rest of his impressive experiment, check out the video below:

3D Printed She-Ra Statue for New York Comic-Con

[Image: Darinda Ropelato via Facebook]

Utah-based 3D printing services company Whiteclouds has plenty of experience with the technology in many applications, from aerospace, gaming, and mapping to medical for both animals and humans. But recently, the employees got to participate in a project that was, as Whiteclouds CEO Jerry Ropelato told 3DPrint.com, “one of the coolest (and funnest) 3D prints” they’ve ever worked on. The company was asked to design and 3D print the statue of She-Ra at the recent New York Comic-Con.

“It was our tallest at 11 foot tall,” Ropelato told us.

DreamWorks and Netflix are bringing She-Ra and the Princesses of Power back to life with an animated series that will begin next month. According to a Facebook post by Ropelato, Whiteclouds enjoyed every bit of the Comic-Con project, which included designing and 3D printing She-Ra’s throne and sword. The team used touch-sensitivity electronics for activating the sound and lighting for the statue, and were proud to have a small part in the She-Ra reboot.

Discuss these stories and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the comments below. 

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3D Printing News Briefs: August 10, 2018

We’ve got some business news to start things off with in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, followed by a little research and a really cool 3D printed costume. The Department of Defense has awarded a contract to Contour Crafting, and Sutrue is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Facebook has made the decision to ban blueprints for 3D printed guns, and a Siggraph paper takes an in-depth look into near-eye displays. Finally, several companies helped the non-profit organization Magic Wheelchair make a really cool 3D printed wheelchair costume for a big Star Wars fan.

Contour Crafting Receives Department of Defense Contract

One of the first methods of large-scale 3D printing, Contour Crafting, uses large but lightweight robotic 3D printers, which can quickly put down layers of building material to rapidly create entire buildings onsite in just days. The California-based corporation itself is on a mission to commercialize disruptive construction technologies, and we recently learned that the US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded Contour Crafting a $3 million research and development contract to build a concrete 3D printer for the purposes of building construction for disaster relief.

According to the company’s website , “Effective 25 JUL 2018, the Department of Defense has awarded Contour Crafting Corporation with a Rapid Innovation Fund contract in the domain of large and construction scale 3D printing. The outcome of this funded R&D program is expected to be a technology which, among other applications, will effectively respond to disaster relief situations with expedient, safe and sustainable structures and buildings.”

This information confirms that the DoD is not putting all of its eggs into one basket, so to speak, and is seeking outside help for its construction 3D printing goals.

Sutrue Celebrates Ten Years

Medical device startup Sutrue first started working on a 3D printed suture stitching device to help prevent needle stick injuries back in 2014, and became the first company to successfully 3D print a suture device. But Sutrue’s story actually began back in August of 2008, when its founder Alex Berry was stuck at home with a broken ankle and watched a documentary that provided some insight into robotic suturing. In an effort to keep busy during his recovery, Berry, who had some basic CAD knowledge, got to work.

After moving to the UK, Berry officially started Sutrue in 2012, meeting some influential people along the way who helped him get closer to achieving his goal of creating a 3D printed suture device. The startup completed a £30,000 crowdfunding campaign in 2014, submitted another patent, developed a few mutually beneficial relationships with other companies, and secured further funding for continued device development. Now, Sutrue is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Berry’s initial idea.

The startup wrote in a post, “It’s been ten years of ups and downs, filled with much uncertainty particularly in the first five years in which Berry didn’t even know for sure that the device would work. He has maintained the progression of the device through having a healthy dose of insanity, extreme resourcefulness, and an inquiring and problem-solving mind. He’s gone against many societal norms to have created two working prototypes of his automated suturing device – the robotic and the handheld, but as the route to market becomes closer and closer, he’s glad to have fought against the odds to see the project through to completion.”

Facebook Bans 3D Printed Gun Blueprints

Gun with 3D printed parts. [Image: CNET]

There’s been an increased amount of conversation on the topic of 3D printed guns recently, after news broke of a settlement between the US State Department and Texas open source 3D printed gun designer Defense Distributed, run by Cody Wilson. The settlement states that Wilson and his non-profit organization can publish files, plans, and 3D drawings of guns in any form, and are also exempted from export restrictions; additionally, the government will be paying nearly $40,000 of Wilson’s legal fees. This means that people who weren’t legally able to purchase firearms before, such as felons and domestic abusers, can 3D print their own guns without serial numbers. As you can imagine, many are not happy with this decision. This week, Facebook, the world’s largest social network, said that it will ban any websites that host and share blueprints of 3D printed guns, though the designs have already been available online for years.

According to BuzzFeed News, a Facebook spokesperson said, “Sharing instructions on how to print firearms using 3D printers is not allowed under our Community Standards. In line with our policies, we are removing this content from Facebook.”

MSN reports that Facebook did not “immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the Ghost Gunner” 3D printed gun.

Siggraph Paper on Optical Design for Augmented Reality Near Eye Displays

This year’s annual conference on computer graphics, SIGGRAPH 2018, starts this Sunday, August 12th, in Vancouver. One of the papers published for the conference, titled “Steerable application-adaptive near eye displays,” discusses see-through near eye displays (NED), which are currently being used in the Hololens, among other things. According to the Stanford Computational Imaging Lab, most NEDs work by using a stereoscopic image pair to optically drive the visual system’s vergence state to “arbitrary distances,” but drives the focus (accommodation) state towards a fixed distance.

The technology is a bit of a long shot, due to people getting motion sickness or their eyes getting tired, but if we can get it to work, I bet every movie theatre in the world will employ it.

The abstract of the paper reads, “The design challenges of see-through near-eye displays can be mitigated by specializing an augmented reality device for a particular application. We present a novel optical design for augmented reality near-eye displays exploiting 3D stereolithography printing techniques to achieve similar characteristics to progressive prescription binoculars. We propose to manufacture inter-changeable optical components using 3D printing, leading to arbitrary shaped static projection screen surfaces that are adaptive to the targeted applications. We identify a computational optical design methodology to generate various optical components accordingly, leading to small compute and power demands. To this end, we introduce our augmented reality prototype with a moderate form-factor, large field of view. We have also presented that our prototype is promising high resolutions for a foveation technique using a moving lens in front of a projection system. We believe our display technique provides a gate-way to application-adaptive, easily replicable, customizable, and cost-effective near-eye display designs.”

Co-authors of the paper are NVIDIA Corporation‘s Kishore Rathinavel, Praneeth Chakravarthula, Kaan Akşit, Josef Spjut, Ben Boudaoud, Turner Whitted, David Luebke, and Henry Fuchs from UNC Chapel Hill.

3D Printed Star Wars Wheelchair Costume

Here’s something fun and heartwarming to kick off your weekend – non-profit organization Magic Wheelchair, which makes free, bespoke wheelchair costumes for kids, created a 3D printed Poe Dameron X-Wing Fighter wheelchair costume for a 13-year-old, wheelchair-bound Star Wars fan named Vedant Singhania to wear at last month’s Comic-Con International. Project partners included Pixologic, which used its ZBrush digital sculpting software to provide the design and modeling work, and Dangling Carrot Creative, which used the high print speeds of the Massivit 1800 3D printer to make 50 separate costume pieces in a little over two weeks. Massivit also donated 3D printing materials, and Monster City Studios assembled the large wheelchair costume.

“We connected with Magic Wheelchair because we knew our technology and modelling expertise could assist them with the fantastic work they are doing for children in wheelchairs,” said Pixologic’s 3D Product Development Manager Paul Gaboury. “After we designed the costume, Dangling Carrot Creative was the final piece to the puzzle. The company allowed us to 3D print life-size to help remove the need for molds or casting which saves substantial time and money.”

Discuss these stories, and other 3D printing topics, at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.