At Key3d.com in Vancouver, the future of 3-D printing arrived six or seven years ago when the company bought a Z Corporation Z402 printer. Owner Adrian van Wijk, an industrial designer, even established a separate company, Key3D.com, to process 3-D printing and other rapid prototyping orders.

He said the machine is showing its age, and has paid for itself, but he is hesitant to upgrade to a more modern one because the technology is advancing so rapidly.

“And the market space has become so competitive because there are so many technologies and so many options,” he said.

Van Wijk also noted that he was a designer long before the era of rapid prototyping. Twenty years ago, he said, he would have to sculpt and cut materials painstakingly by hand to craft the prototypes used to make the injection moulds. “It used to take a month or six weeks to make a prototype, whereas today, yeah, it’s a day,” he said.

He still receives three or four requests a day for 3-D printing. That includes a spurt of orders from a customer who is designing a clip for holding a cable to charge an electric lawnmower or vacuum cleaner.

“He’s made four or five iterations of his prototype,” van Wijk said.

On the other hand, van Wijk recently put together a quote for someone who thanked him politely for his efforts but decided instead to use a 3-D printer at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

“They’re going to charge me $50,” the person informed him.

While van Wijk says 3-D printing has already reached its tipping point, but a future where people shop online and print their products at home is still a long way off.

“But, you know, if that gets critical mass and a lot of hobbyists start using them, and kids start printing out school projects, yeah that’s a catalyzing change.” •

By Keith Norbury for the full artical click here
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This article from Business in Vancouver March 6-12, 2012; issue 1167

Business in Vancouver (www.biv.com) has been publishing in-depth local business news, analysis and commentary since 1989. The newspaper also produces a weekly ranked list of the biggest companies and players in a wide range of B.C. industries and commercial sectors, monthly features and industry-focused sections that arm its subscribers with a complete package of local business intelligence each week.

When designing for prototyping, there are many variables to take into consideration to get the optimum part for your needs. Some of these variables are wall thickness, feature orientation, feature function, environment the parts will be used in, material, and process that will be used. Please refer to our Process Specification Chart for detailed information on your preferred process.

The minimum feature size varies across the different prototyping processes. Both our plaster Zcorp parts and standard resolution SLA parts are printed with 0.1mm (0.004″) layers. We recommend a minimum 2mm wall thickness for part strength and to reduce warping. Features less than 0.5mm (0.020″) can be lost or not properly bond to the rest of the part. With some High-Res-SLA and Polyjet parts, much finer detail can be achieved with layers down to 0.015mm (0.0006″).

Stair Stepping

Stair stepping happens on every additive prototyping process. This occurs because all 3D printed parts are grown in layers. The result is a wood-grain like effect, especially across curved surfaces. As mentioned above, the layer thickness can depend on the process used. The thicker the layer, the greater the visible effect.

Faceting is controlled by the surface output settings in your 3D CAD software. If you export a coarse (low-polygon) part, it will appear to have many triangles over the surface , however if you export a part with fine faceting (high-polygon) you won’t notice the triangles but the file may be too large and unmanageable. The trick is to find the balance that takes into consideration features and part size to give you the best possible surface finish and file size combination.

Hinges

3D printed parts tend not to work well with living hinges. A simple way around this problem would be to use tape on both parts to simulate a living hinge. Some processes offer the ability to simulate actual living hinges including polymer casting and some SLS materials.

Mechanical hinges should be well supported in 3D printed parts. Since the fine details tend to be brittle, a metal or plastic pin should be used as the axle and the parts should be handled with care. To prototype functional hinges, it is best to use a process such as CNC or SLS due to their mechanical stability.

Hollowing-out or shelling solid parts is a good technique to cut down the volume of your 3D printed parts. This is helpful because volume (which equates to machine time and amount of material used) is one of the main factors that drives up the price of 3D Printing. Don’t forget to leave a hole for the excess powder or resin to escape from. The inverse is true with CNC Machining, as in that case, you start with a block of solid material and the more material you remove the more time (therefore money) is required to make your part.

Points, Knife, Edge, and Thread Design

Many parts are designed with points or knife-edges in them. Typical 3D printing technology cannot produce these parts well. CNC Machining is generally used for this type of part and some high-resolution SLA/Polyjet parts can get within the tolerances required for Validation prototypes. 3D Printing will round-off sharp features and they may be brittle or look jagged. The most commonplace use for this type of feature is in thread design. If 3D printing is what you would like to use, we advise that you do not include threads in the design unless they are course and on large diameters. It is advisable to use taps or dies to create smaller thread features. Our prototype experts can help you make an appropriate decision for your specific needs.

Text & Logos

Text and logos follow the same rules as small features do. If your text and/or logo is a important part of the prototype please let our prototype experts know. The reason is that sometimes the best prototype process for the part is not the best for the logo. When possible keep spacing between letter around .020″ and try to use common fonts such as “arial” “tahoma” or “veranda” because these are designed to print clearly even at smaller sizes. ]]> http://www.key3d.com/design-tips/feed/ 0 http://www.key3d.com/create-cad/ http://www.key3d.com/create-cad/#comments Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:50:58 +0000 admin http://key3d.com/?p=2375 If you don’t have access to 3D CAD, you will need to get a 3D computer model to make a rapid prototype. If you are not a designer and are looking to develop a prototype, it would be best to contact an industrial design or product development consultant. Visit our links page to find the... [read more]]]>
If you don’t have access to 3D CAD, you will need to get a 3D computer model to make a rapid prototype. If you are not a designer and are looking to develop a prototype, it would be best to contact an industrial design or product development consultant. Visit our links page to find the names of affiliate companies and organizations that can help you. ]]> http://www.key3d.com/create-cad/feed/ 0 http://www.key3d.com/3d-printers-and-rapid-prototype-machines-what-is-the-difference/ http://www.key3d.com/3d-printers-and-rapid-prototype-machines-what-is-the-difference/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:15:46 +0000 admin http://key3d.com/?p=1930 ]]>

Article Source: ezinearticles.com

For people outside the fields of engineering and technology, there can be some confusion regarding the terms “3D printers” and “rapid prototype machines.” This conundrum is to be expected since there are even engineers who are not aware that these machines exist.

Nonetheless, both these machines are used in fabricating scale models used in engineering, automation, manufacturing and mechanics. In recent years, however, the use of these machines has expanded beyond the confines of engineering to medicine, education, and even the arts. But what makes these machines different from each other?

What Are Rapid Prototype Machines?

The term “rapid prototype machine” actually refers to a wide range of machines that use many different technologies to create scale models. These technologies have names such as stereolithography, where photosensitive resin is shaped and hardened by a laser beam; solid ground curing, where the resin is cured with ultraviolet rays; or fused deposition modeling, where melted polymer is built in layers around a support structure.

Regardless of the technology used in these machines, the procedure used in creating models is almost uniform. A model is generated using CAD software, and the model is then converted into a file with an STL extension. The rapid prototype machine then processes this STL file by slicing it layer by layer. These layers are then produced on a platform using resin, and once completed the model is finished and cured.

3D Printers Are Rapid Prototype Machines

As for 3D printers, they are actually a subclass of rapid prototype machines. What makes them distinct from the other rapid prototype machines is that they are faster. The word “rapid” in rapid prototype machines can be misleading because creating models with them can still take days, even weeks. With 3D printers, you can have your model within a matter of hours, even minutes.

Most machines that are classified as 3D printers make use of inkjet printing technology, which is why they are called “printers” in the first place. This does not mean that 3D printers use inkjet technologies exclusively. There are such machines that also use derivatives of the fused deposition modeling process or the ultraviolet curing process. In 3D printers that use inkjet technology, the resin is sprayed on the printing platform using inkjet nozzles. Adhesives are also sprayed with the resin so that the layers would bind together to create the 3D model.

Another characteristic of 3D printers is that the base materials they use are usually non-toxic and do not require curing or finishing. This is a big contrast with 3D models created with stereolithography, for instance. In stereolithography, the resins that operators work with can become toxic if left uncured.

In addition, 3D printers are a lot less expensive. A starter 3D printing machine can cost US$15,000. While that figure cannot be considered cheap, it is relatively inexpensive compared to high-end rapid prototyping machines that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are also 3D printing machines that you can make on your own using starter kits and open source software.

The slides below guide you through the entire process of turning your 3D CAD model into a physical model with Key3D. Click on the red arrows to take a tour of the process, from preparing your files, to creating the prototype, to receiving your finished model.

Why choose Key3D?
Real innovation always consists a risk of failure, but we believe in failing early and inexpensively. The way we can experience all the problems before it’s too late is to create prototypes early and frequently during the development process. With our expertise in prototyping, we can find the best prototype solution for a given budget, time, and use.

At Key3D, we have a team of prototype experts with local and overseas facilities, we offer the following key advantages:

Speed – With in-house 3D printing technology, our printer prints layers in seconds reducing the time it takes to complete a hand-held part to just hours.

Easy – Key3D makes the process of ordering prototypes easier than ever. When you decide to buy a prototype, just upload your file and our prototype experts will find you the best solution that will fit your requirements. You don’t need to do the research, we do it for you!

Accessible – with Key3D ordering prototypes is just a few clicks away, so as long as you have internet access, you can purchase a prototype.

Secure – Your security is important to us. Please Contact Us to request an N.D.A.. ]]> http://www.key3d.com/why-key3d/feed/ 0 http://www.key3d.com/cad-to-real/ http://www.key3d.com/cad-to-real/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:39:18 +0000 admin http://key3d.com/?p=76 ]]>
Rapid Prototypes can play a key role in your design process. At Key3D, we can help you to turn your ideas into reality easily, quickly and cost efficiently. We use our fast turnaround 3D Zcorp printing process to get a physical model in your hands within 48 hours, helping you complete your project on time and on budget. To learn how Key3D can help in your industry, click here. ]]> http://www.key3d.com/cad-to-real/feed/ 0 http://www.key3d.com/key3d-western-canadas-premier-3d-printing-provider/ http://www.key3d.com/key3d-western-canadas-premier-3d-printing-provider/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2003 20:34:45 +0000 admin http://key3d.com/?p=1937 ]]> Article Source: Vancouver Sun
By: Michael McCullough

It looks like a beat-up old photocopier. And if you think your printer is slow, don’t bother waiting around for this one to finish. Running off a single copy will take several hours.

Then there’s the price. Each copy costs from $50 to a couple of hundred dollars. Try stuffing that in a coin slot at Kinko’s.

But this computer printer, tucked away in the back of an architect’s office near Granville Island, is unique in Western Canada and one of only a hundred or so around the world.

It prints in three dimensions.

Load a three-dimensional architectural design into its computer, and it will make a model of a house out of plaster
and resin. Load a concept for an engine part, and it will make an engine part.

“The futurists’ vision is maybe having one of these printers on every desktop and you go shopping on the Internet and you print whatever you buy,” muses Vancouver industrial designer Adrian van Wijk, who has set up a company, Key 3D Rapid Prototyping, to market a three-dimensional printing service to local designers.

The applications for such a machine tickle the imagination. A sculptor could create artworks entirely on computer and never pick up a chisel. An angler could order a new fishing lure from an online catalogue and build it on his desktop, rather than waiting for delivery. Grandparents could literally e-mail a toy to a grandchild for Christmas.

Developed by Z Corp. of Burlington, Mass., this particular printer creates models one layer at a time. Each layer, just a 10th of a millimetre thick, starts as a coating of powder over an eight-by-10-inch surface. Using
technology very similar to an inkjet, the printer shoots a binding solution over areas to be built up according to 3D computer-aided design file. After several passes, it still does not look like much, but in time, surprisingly
durable forms of glued-together plaster emerge on the printing table.

on to develop such a “rapid prototyping” or “digital fabricating” device since the mid-1990s. At that time, a designer would have to spend thousands of dollars to get a human model builder to make a version of their design out of balsa wood or polyurethane foam to work out design flaws or show a client. It took days, even weeks, and still did not precisely match their three-dimensional CAD designs.

“Not having the machine you don’t go into 3D as soon as you should, and you make mistakes,” van Wijk says.
The first digital fabricators — or “fabbers” — used a subtractive process, whereby the machine carved models out of a block of material in the same way a carver fashions a totem pole out of a log. But the process wasted material and could only get at the model from the outside.

Using an additive process, 3-D printers can make much more complex objects. They can make a hollow ball, for example, or even place parts within parts, like the ball inside a baby’s rattle.

There are now several 3-D printers on the market. All of them work by slicing CAD files into layers and building the models layer by layer. Their differences lie in the materials they use and how they apply them. Some use stereolithography, whereby lasers burn resin in the pattern of each layer. Others use fuse deposition modelling, whereby a hot nozzle squeezes out molten plastic. A third process, selective laser sintering, uses lasers to melt powdered plastic into shape.

While Z Corp.’s machine cannot make models as large or smooth as some of its rivals, it is the fastest and cheapest 3-D printer on the market (about $35,000 US) and uses environmentally benign materials. It also
uses relatively simple technology adapted from a Hewlett Packard inkjet printer, meaning it could one day be mass produced and serviced when it breaks down.

Hewlett-Packard is reported to be developing a 3-D printer for the consumer market priced as low as $1,000 US. Contacted by The Vancouver Sun, HP Labs spokespeople would neither confirm nor deny the report.
Van Wijk doesn’t think it’s too far-fetched.

“If you look at, say, laser printers or photocopiers, at one stage they were very expensive machines and very few people could afford them,” he says.

Today combined printer-copier-fax machines can be had for as little as $200.

For now the main users of 3-D printers are industrial designers, engineers, architects, medical technicians and commercial artists. Key 3D has a Web site (www.key3d.com) where customers can e-mail their CAD
models and get an instant estimate of the cost of printing it.

Van Wijk recognized the need for such a service in Vancouver out of his own experience running JDI Design Inc., which mostly creates functional packages for pieces of new technology.

“We were sending a lot of our CAD models across the border to have people in the U.S. make them,” he says. It seldom took less than two days to get a real model back.

Having its own 3-D printer has already saved JDI time and money.Designing a battery-operated dog collar that lights up in the dark for a local engineering company, the firm turned conceptual drawings into a 3-
D CAD design, then grew the prototype on the printer. Having actual parts to work with, the two companies succeeded in cutting the number of mouldings to four from 14 — which meant that the “Amiglo” could be
manufactured cost-effectively in B.C. instead of in China.

“Often clients just need to see the shape in real life,” says JDI partner Greg Browne. A CAD model on a computer screen is a poor substitute. For example, JDI’s model of a hand-held pachymeter used to measure the thickness of an eye patient’s cornea helped Starfish Engineering, a Vancouver Island startup, firm up support from investors.

The printer also has uses in medicine, growing models of bones from which to cast stainless steel replacements.

“We can create the models from MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] scans,” van Wijk says.

So will desktop manufacturing become a part of our future?

“It’s a feasible fantasy,” he ventures.

mmccullough@png.canwest.com

© Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun