Ultimate 3D now Finishing 3D Printed Parts
Finishing 3D Printed Parts
We have teamed up with a world class Painter/Finisher to help bring your prototype and production parts to life. Finishing 3D printed price.
We offer a full spectrum of colors, once the color is decided you can chose a finish from Flat to Full Gloss finishes.
Your parts are sanded smooth, then filler primer is applied. At this point the parts are wet sanded. Then the color of choice is sprayed on. Once the color is on, a clear coat is applied in the desired finish (Flat to Full Gloss).
If you have a proof-of-concept project that you need in a hurry, we can print the parts in a week. They painted in a matter of days and shipped to you overnight!
The project below was printed in our SLS machines using Nylon 12 material. The parts also received 2mm heat staked threaded inserts for assembly purposes.
Our mission is to provide 3D printing customers with extraordinary products and services from a team that loves doing their job. We want people to be excited about 3D printing with us.
WHAT WE DO
It is called “rapid prototyping” for a good reason. Once your CAD file ready, we will usually print your parts within three to four days – faster if necessary.
(Higher volume orders may require extra time).
We specialize in high quantity production parts and are very competitive with injection molding on lower volumes. It is possible to make thousands of one part faster and lower priced than injection molding when you amortize the cost of tooling into the part cost in many cases.
We can print parts that cannot be injection molded, due to under-cuts, hollows, holes on an angle and complex geometries.
We gladly review all models for printability and cost effectiveness and give constructive feedback for your benefit.
Ultimate 3D Has Expanded
Our New Prodways P4000X printer has arrived and is up and running!
What does this mean for you? It means we can print twice as many parts keeping
our outstanding lead-time to 1 week or less.
From the beginning we have situated ourselves to be your number one supplier of 3D Printed parts, this is our way of staying at the top of your supplier list.
Our mission is to provide 3D printing customers with extraordinary products and services from a team that loves doing their job. We want people to be excited about 3D printing with us.
It is called “rapid prototyping” for a good reason. If you have your Cad file ready, we will usually print your parts within three to four days – faster if necessary.
(Higher volume orders may require extra time).
We specialize in high quantity production parts and are very competitive with injection molding on lower volumes. We can make thousands of one part and are faster and lower priced than injection molding when you amortize the cost of tooling into the part cost in many cases.
We can print parts that cannot be injection molded, due to under cuts, hollows, holes on an angle, complex geometries.
We gladly review all models for printability and cost effectiveness and give constructive feedback for your benefit.
Do you create CAD models?
While we have extensive experience and understand CAD, it is not the focus of our business. However, if you have the need for design work, several of our customers are also designers that we recommend for such services. If you have a model you need someone to look over to make sure it’s fit for printing, we can definitely do that and make suggestions when needed.
Can you print in color?
We don’t print with colored materials, but we can dye the finished products a variety of colors. We can also paint parts and apply hydrographic patterns.
What materials do you use?
Our standard material is Nylon 12, with composite variations.
Nylon 12 (durable white plastic)
Glass-filled nylon
Carbon fiber-filled nylon
Fire retardant nylon
Alumide (Aluminum filled Nylon)
* For more detailed information about our materials, check out the data sheets on our website – ult3d.hookdm.net
If you have a project that requires 3D Printing give us a call at 503-848-8227 we will gladly discuss the options for your project. Pricing will be determined after evaluation of each project. Prior to calling, email your models to quotes@ult3d.hookdm.net so we can look at them while we talk!
We are a friendly bunch and genuinely want to help!
Address: 5575 SE Alexander St, Hillsboro, OR 97123 (click to map it)
Ultimate 3D now printing with ALUMIDE
Alumide is a material used in 3D printing consisting of nylon filled with aluminum particles, its name being a combination of the words aluminum and polymide.
The aluminum in the plastic creates a unique feel and look. Your part will have a slight "sparkle" to it in a grey metallic tint. The aluminum makes it easier to "polish" the part, not a shiny polish, but a very smooth polish. We have wet sanded the material with 800 grit paper to get an almost glass feel.
The surfaces of Alumide parts can be refined very easily by grinding, polishing or coating. The machining of Alumide laser-sintered parts is simplified through the cut breaking effect of the aluminium filling.
- excellent dimensional accuracy
- well-balanced ratio of density and stiffness
- increased thermal conductivity good machinability
Applications
- Manufacture of stiff parts of metallic appearance for applications in automotive manufacture (e.g. wind tunnel tests or parts that are not safety-relevant)
- Tool inserts for injecting and moulding small production runs
- Illustrative models (metallic appearance)
- Education and jig manufacture
Alumide can also be dyed different colors. The Polymide takes on the color, while the Aluminum adds contrast.
Alumide is finding it's way into many segments of the industry for 3D printed parts, it is very strong and has a higher heat deflection than most other Nylons and filled Nylons.
If you have a part that you believe would benefit from the characteristics of Alumide, email your file(s) to quotes@ult3d.hookdm.net and we will work up a quote within an hour.
We specialize in high quantity production parts and are very competitive with injection molding on lower volumes. We can make thousands of one part and are faster and lower priced than injection molding when you amortize the cost of tooling into the part cost in many cases.
We can print parts that cannot be injection molded, due to under cuts, hollows, holes on an angle, complex geometries.
We gladly review all models for printability and cost effectiveness and give constructive feedback for your benefit.
Office Phone
503-848-8227
Quotes: quotes@ult3d.hookdm.net
Questions: info@ult3d.hookdm.net
Ultimate 3D Open House
A little over a year ago we became Ultimate 3D LLC, in celebration we want to throw a party and you are invited!
Please RSVP at info@ult3d.hookdm.net so we know how many to plan for.
Many have already committed, but we don"t want anyone left out! We will have locally grown grass fed hamburger and all the fixin"s and a tour of the facility!
Meet the crew: Robin and Patty, Tom and Tammy, Mike and Julie.
Our Mascot online casino will be here too!
Here are the details!
Everyone is welcome to show up anytime after 11:30 with lunch provided at noon. You will see where and how your parts are created, we may even have a build scheduled to change out during that time so you can see what a fun mess this process is.
For those that ride and want to explore some really cool and obscure roads west of Portland, Robin, Mike & Tom will lead a 2-3 hour ride. We will leave the shop at 8:30 am returning between 11:00 - 11:30. So be here at by 8:00 or soon after so we can go over some of the particulars of the ride.
What to bring: your appetite and questions and if you ride, bring your motorcycle.
Please RSVP info@ult3d.hookdm.net so we know how many to prepare for and let us know if you plan to be here for the ride.
Address: 5575 SE Alexander St, Hillsboro, OR 97123 (click to map it)
If you have a project that requires 3D Printing or if you are not sure if your project can be 3D printed, give us a call 503-848-8227 we will gladly discuss your project and help point you in the right direction. Prior to calling email your models to quote@ult3d.hookdm.net so we can look at them while we talk!
We are friendly and genuinely want to help!
Reaching New Heights: 3D Printing in Aerospace & Why it's Catching On
Today, 3D printing is streamlining processes in companies of all sizes, with particular prominence in the automotive, aerospace, medical, and defense sectors. In this post we will focus on 3D printing in aerospace, including how and why the technology has gained so much traction in the sector.
Why doesn’t aerospace just stick to traditional manufacturing of its components? For one, 3D printing reduces material waste and fuel emissions, so that’s a big plus especially in an age when everyone wants to build smarter. In addition, additive manufacturing reduces lead times and streamlines production cycles.
3D Printed Replacement Parts
Let’s dive into some examples. During the lifetime of an aircraft, it’s likely that parts will need to be replaced. Traditionally, aircraft manufacturers keep an inventory of parts to meet demand for replacements. However, companies in need of replacement parts may not want to wait as long as it typically takes for them to arrive, so they keep an inventory in-house, solving one problem but sometimes creating a new challenge in the form of storing and managing all of those parts—before they even need them. In this scenario, 3D printing can reduce the time it takes to get replacement parts, without having to keep extra inventory on hand.
As of March 2015, Boeing has already installed more than 20,000 plastic 3D printed parts in its airplanes. To give just one example, selective laser sintering has been used to create about 150 separate parts for the forward fuselage of Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Boeing proactively incorporates 3D printed parts into many of its vehicles, so much that the company is now trying to patent a whole system for 3D printed replacement aircraft parts, including everything from a parts library and management system to 3D printing itself. The proposed system is simply titled, “Three Dimensional Printing of Parts.”
Original aerospace components made with additive manufacturing
Over the years, we’ve seen numerous examples of 3D printed aerospace parts, and some major aerospace companies have taken the technology into their own hands and implemented in-house 3D printing facilities. GE has built an additive manufacturing facility to make 3D printed nozzles for advanced LEAP jet engines.
Another big hitter, Rolls-Royce plans to flight test the largest 3D printed aircraft engine component (for the Trent XWB-97 engine). This titanium component, 1.5 meters in diameter and half a meter thick, is 3D printed using Arcam’s electron beam melting technology, which makes dense components from metal powder.
Rocket engines & the first flight-qualified ALM component
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a Sacramento, California-based manufacturer, has recently announced test firings of 3D printed rocket engine parts. Its goal is to have a certified AR1 engine (an American-made thrust-class liquid oxygen/kerosene booster engine) in production by 2019.
Meanwhile, UK defense manufacturer AirBus Defence and Space spent two years on R&D for space-qualified satellite components. 3D printing with an aluminum alloy, AirBus created a structural bracket for Eurostar E3000 telecommunications satellites. The bracket mounts telemetry and telecommand antennas on the satellites. Made with traditional manufacturing, the original design is composed of four separate parts and 44 rivets, while the new 3D printed bracket, qualified to launch with the next E3000 satellite, is 40% stiffer and 35% lighter. AirBus is now considering 3D printing a variety of other aerospace parts and secondary structures.
While end-use 3D printing for aircraft is in full swing for some manufacturers, among other aerospace companies, additive manufacturing is simply being used to save time and money on prototyping before reaching the desired future scalability. By significantly reducing production time, additive manufacturing opens up a whole new range of possibilities for countless firms. According to Alan Newby, Rolls-Royce chief engineer for future programs and technology, “Shortening the manufacturing time by almost a third gives us more time to design, which is always a benefit. We are also able to produce designs that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.”
As the aerospace sector evolves to integrate with additive manufacturing technology, it seems that even the sky isn’t the limit. We look forward to seeing how manufacturers continue to adopt 3D printing in aerospace, in turn changing the way we approach design and explore the world.
Seven Reasons Businesses Prefer Using 3D Printing for Production
You've probably heard. Many companies have switched over from traditional manufacturing, thrilled about the way 3D printing has streamlined their production processes. But those who are still warming up to 3D printing may have their reservations about how it can be used for end-use parts. Are the materials strong enough to create a durable part? Will the parts look professional? Is it really cost-effective? These are good questions to ask since quality and price are central to purchasing decisions.
Today, additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is an excellent alternative to traditional manufacturing in a variety of situations. You can get durable, professionally finished parts, simplify the design process, gain better control of your inventory, and save a lot of money.
1. Rapid turnaround
Traditional manufacturing is a time-intensive process. Simple molds can often be completed in a few weeks, while more complex molds tend to take several months. On top of that, if you change your design, you have to wait out the tooling process again, which makes it hard to operate flexibly. In a sense, having 3D printing at your service makes you lighter on your feet and quicker to pivot, enabling you to respond to consumer demand, unforeseen market challenges, and technological developments.
2. Comparatively low costs
While 3D printing can absolutely cut costs compared to traditional manufacturing, it’s important to understand how 3D printing saves you money, and that it isn’t always more affordable. It really depends on your needs. The primary ways that you save money with 3D printing are through circumventing tooling costs—making product development significantly more affordable and low volume production a viable option. Depending on the functional use of your product, you may also save money on materials.
In addition, if you end up needing to adjust your product, traditional manufacturing requires that you pay expensive injection molding costs all over again. Using 3D printing for production, you don’t pay to change your product—except for any cost associated with creating a new CAD model of course. You pay for volume, not complexity or variety.
3. Production-grade materials
Obviously, 3D printing would be no good for end-use parts if the materials couldn't withstand normal use and even extreme conditions like high temperatures. That's what makes thermoplastics like nylon so great. Nylon is one of the most popular printing materials for production-level parts because it's strong, flexible, and highly tolerant to heat. You can also use different composites to achieve other product characteristics. For example, carbon-fiber and glass-filled nylon composites are popular among products built with SLS.
4. Highly controlled inventory
Predicting and managing inventory is a major task for any company. Excess inventory can absorb valuable space and capital, while lacking the proper inventory can cost sales and credibility. This is where 3D printing becomes extremely helpful, allowing businesses to control their inventory like never before. 3D printing allows suppliers in numerous industries to order additional parts very quickly, and in specific numbers. In addition to rapid manufacturing and custom order quantities, 3D printing enables companies to redesign or change their parts spontaneously, based on market needs.
5. Flexible volume
Most of the time, in order to have tooling done for your product, companies set specific volume requirements before they will make your molds. And it makes sense. Every business sector has to determine how to maintain their desired profitability based on their own technology and labor. The setback for designers and innovators is that they’re sometimes required to order a significantly higher volume of product than they need. They will certainly hope to sell all that product to make it worth the initial cost.
6. Simple or no assembly
Another reason business prefer to use 3D printing for production is that it often eliminates or reduces the need for assembly. Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a 3D printing method that prints objects in powder, creating a reliable support structure that enables parts to be built “inside of each other” without touching. You can imagine how this could eliminate the need for printing and assembling separate parts, instead allowing for the printing of functional products. Some fun and impressive examples include the 3D-printed cube with 28 working gears, and the fully assembled wind-up car, both printed using selective laser sintering and requiring no assembly at all. Whether you escape assembly altogether or simply create stronger designs with fewer pieces, designing for 3D printing is unique and opens up a world of experimentation and new possibilities in product development.
7. Domestic Production
People love to buy local products. If your product is affordable and made in the USA, this can help create brand loyalty and also give you better communication during the production process. Manufacturing is a totally different game when you can do it yourself or call up your manufacturer with questions and insights.
As you can see, 3D printing has created some amazing possibilities in the realm of manufacturing, making it an excellent alternative not only for prototypes but also for final production. If you have any questions about the technology or if 3D printing is right for your project, call us up and we’ll gladly give you a free consultation.
Happy printing,
3D Printing with Nylon: Why we love it, and you should too
As many of you may already know, nylon is a thermoplastic. If you're 3D printing with nylon materials, you're either using a powder that hardens into durable plastic when melted by a laser, or you're using a plastic filament that's extruded through a nozzle. Nylon has unique properties that make it a preferable material to print with in many cases.
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Why should you print with nylon?
Compared to other common 3D printing materials, nylon has quite a few advantages, which we will discuss in this post. Whether you’re considering printing your own products, or you want to order products from a third party, this should give you an introductory understanding of 3D printing with nylon.
Nylon is a thermoplastic, which allows it to be reused—whether printing via FDM or SLS. In an FDM context, the plastic can be melted and re-melted. However, the properties will change with heat and begin to break down. Most of the excess powder from SLS can be reused. Reusing nylon in the context of selective laser sintering means recycling the unaffected powder and mixing it proportionately with virgin powder to ensure that the materials continually perform their best during the build process.
We’ve made a basic list of the benefits of nylon in 3D printing. If you have any questions about these benefits or other properties of nylon, feel free to call or email us with your questions.
Benefits of 3D printing with nylon:
- 3D printing with nylon makes a much stronger part, if your other variables are correct.
- You’ll get better pliability with nylon, which can make for a more functional part.
- Typical nylon parts can be drilled, tapped, and tumbled without risking breaking or scratching the parts (unless they have incredibly thin details or appendages, in which case you want to handle parts carefully). This allows you to explore different finishing and assembly options with a low risk of breaking or damaging parts.
- Nylon is lightweight compared to many other traditional materials.
- Nylon is relatively absorbent, so dying parts printed with nylon works very well because a scratch won’t ruin the exterior. However, this also means if you print something like a coffee cup in nylon, it can end up stained unless you give it a protective finish.
- Nylon can be reused for 3D printing, which looks different depending on the type of 3D printing you’re doing.
Printing with nylon will be different depending on the method—be it selective laser sintering or fused deposition modeling. However, most of the benefits are the same, to different degrees. Keep in mind that different 3D printing technologies have different strengths and limitations, regardless of the printing material.
Pro tip! Nylon easily absorbs water from the air, so it needs to be kept in a dry storage environment.
Anything you love about printing with nylon that we didn't mention? Share in the comments below!
3D Printing Takes the Stage: How 3D printing is used today in theater & movies
Every day, it seems a new industry is experimenting with 3D printing, whether it’s to save time and money, or to simply have fun pushing the limits with a new technology. We’ve seen 3D printing in architecture, both in architectural models and in real world building applications. We’ve seen 3D printed prosthetics and medical innovations, and the technology has even entered the fashion world. Lately we’ve been studying the ways 3D printing is being used in movies and theater, and it’s awesome.
3D printing for theater has actually been happening for several years and has become more common as the technology advances, making it more affordable.
How is 3d printing being used in theater?
One of the most popular applications of 3D printing in theater is prototyping for sets. You can see the work of scenic designers like Kacie Hultgren who showcases her products on Pretty Small Things. Scenic designers will print their own miniature props to visualize how a finished set will look. After creating a scaled down model of a custom set, they then have something tangible to present to directors and set builders who make the final full-size furniture and props.
3D printing for movies
We got particularly excited when we learned about how special effects studio Legacy Effects uses 3D printing to create life-size prototypes of popular movie costumes and props for major films like Pacific Rim and Iron Man. Everything from monsters and aliens to superheroes and soldiers have been created digitally and 3D printed, saving weeks and even months of time that would otherwise be spent handcrafting props. Talk about a dream job!—to decide how to bring imagined characters into reality, and deciding how they will look and move.
A notable challenge with 3D printing props is knowing when it will save you time and when it will cost you. Complex 3D assemblies, if only created for a single prop, could end up taking more time than creating something out of clay or another standard material—although 3D printing might be more fun.
To outsource, or not to outsource?
As we consider the possibilities that 3D printing creates for different industries, time is a factor in deciding if the technology will be helpful or not. 3D printing in-house and outsourcing 3D printing services both have their advantages and disadvantages for a company using the service on a regular basis. While you have more direct control and supervision of in-house 3D printing, and you can probably come to understand the technology more intimately, it’s also time consuming to learn the technology and deal with the hiccups. You don’t simply buy a 3D printer, scan a model, and hit print. You must take your time learning the functionality to get the most out of the tech, and you can almost bet you’ll be dealing with some unexpected challenges.
If you hire an outside company to 3D print parts, you save a lot of time and gray hair on learning and troubleshooting the technology. You can trust a good 3D printing company to give you the professional parts you want, though you might also end up spending more money, and you don’t get to play with the machines.
A great time to hire an outside company is if you want a more professional part than a consumer-grade printer like the Makerbot will create. SLS, which we do at Ultimate 3D, is a sophisticated 3D printing technology that creates parts with a nicer finish and far more durable material than FDM, which uses filament. So for prototypes, you might be golden with a mid-level 3D printer, but for something that can withstand some more wear and tear, like a prop for final production, you might look to a company with a high-grade 3D printer.
Kickstarter Fuels 3D Printing Innovation
If you’re someone who keeps your eye on Kickstarter projects, you’ve probably noticed that people are constantly innovating in the 3D printing industry, especially on the consumer level. We’re excited to live in a world where people support each other’s ideas and help bring them to life, and one place this happens every day is Kickstarter.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen designers working to improve the home 3D printer on a variety of levels—on price, aesthetic, and material uses. Many people who work in design fields have found that common consumer-grade printers just don’t cut it when they want to make professional-looking 3D prototypes.
While even the nicest of the smaller extruder-style printers are rough compared to professional-grade 3D printers, there are noticeable aesthetic differences among consumer machines when it comes to precision and “resolution,” or how noticeable the layer lines are. As consumer technology evolves, designers are able to print better products at home and in their workspaces, which makes it a lot more fun.
People have been experimenting with some pretty cool features! Take the FLUX All-in-One 3D Printer, created in San Francisco, California. The unique printer was successfully funded last December, raising about 10 times more than its goal. This FDM printer makes a better finished part than most of its consumer predecessors and also does 3D scanning and laser engraving. Props for mixing it up, and with a sleek design to boot.
The Peachy Printer, funded in 2013, also received more than ten times its funding goal as the world’s first 3D printer for $100, small enough to hold in one hand. This little guy, designed by an innovator in Saskatchewan, Canada got a lot of press! While it’s capabilities are naturally limited by its caliber, it’s a great example of what innovators can do when they think outside the box to make 3D printing accessible to the masses, even if only for the sake of having fun with the technology.
Kickstarter is loaded with other innovations in the 3D printing sphere, not just 3D printers. Hopeful creators are seeking crowd funding for all sorts of 3D projects, including eco-friendly filament for FDM printers, electrically conductive PLA filament, online marketplaces for 3D files, and plug-and-play 3D printing devices that address many of the issues beginning designers face.
What about you? How would you change or improve the 3D printing industry? What are some of your favorite 3D printing innovations?
Feel free to let us know in the comments!
From our 3D Workshop: Motorbike inventions
As a 3D printing company, we’d be crazy not to bring some of our own designs into reality. As humans, we’re continually encountering challenges in the way we live, work, travel, everything. You might have noticed innovation is one of our core values, and we put it to work devising solutions for all sorts of applications.
A few us frequently ride motorcycles and dirt bikes, and Ultimate 3D co-owner Mike Larkin has designed a variety of products to improve the riding experience. He started with a cell phone holder that can be mounted to the handlebars of a motorcycle, allowing him to record video of the ride or easily snap a photo without digging around for his phone. This device was printed using SLS then dyed.
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Next, Mike created a solution for a dirt bike with a smaller gas tank. The original design is a simple reserve tank that mounts to the front of the bike and extends the fuel capacity by one gallon. Also printed using SLS, Mike mounted this tank to his two-stroke Yamaha YZ 250, which he often rides through the trails and backwoods of Oregon, including Bend, Newport, Pacific City, and beyond. Instead of running out of gas alongside riders who have larger fuel capacity on their bikes, Mike now rides as free as a bird, even ending his runs with extra fuel. A little innovation goes a long way.
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What would you make if you could create any product to make your life better? Let us know in the comments!
Want to know some of the best places to ride dirt bikes in Oregon? Try China Hat, Millikan Valley, and Christmas Valley in Bend, Sand Lake in Pacific City, Spin Reel in Newport, Washougal, Portland International Raceway, Browns Camp, and Rogers Camp.
How To Waste Your Money With 3D Printing
Nobody wants to waste their money. But it’s easy to get swept up in purchasing trends without asking why everyone wants in on them. One of 3D printing’s greatest benefits is the cost efficiency it creates by allowing the business or consumer to pay for exactly what they’re getting—the volume of a part and the labor associated with it—rather than a large upfront cost.
In short, 3D printing is awesome for the obvious reason that you can create whatever you want, quickly, and with a totally custom design. Another great reason to 3D print is if you need a low volume of custom product and you want to avoid the major upfront cost of tooling associated with traditional manufacturing. There are a lot of other reasons 3D printing is awesome, but those are the ones that drive most customers.
So here’s how could waste your money on 3D printing:
- Creating designs without any design knowledge.
Depending on what you’re making, you could totally get away with this. But there are many factors the average person could overlook, while a product designer would know which details to check. For example, you might want a product with a square hole for a square part, but you need to make the hole a little bigger than the part that will fit into it. It would be like a bunch of Legos that wouldn’t actually click together.
In addition to things like fit clearances, you can also think about the thickness and density of every product. When you’re paying for material, it’s wise to know the size and density that you really need in order to accomplish your goal, which most often is a durable part made as cost effectively as possible.
2. Hiring a company to print a very high volume of simple parts.
One advantage of 3D printing is that the technology can make what traditional manufacturing cannot, when it comes to the shape and complexity of a design. If you just need to manufacture simple products, like a bunch of plates and cups, or simple solid shapes, you’re not capitalizing on one of the technology’s most spectacular benefits. You end up paying for a lot of material.
If the parts are really small, you need them really fast, or they’re designed in such a way that traditional manufacturing couldn’t accomplish the task, 3D printing could be your best bet after all. But if cost is a factor--and it usually is--you want to make sure you don't cross the point at which the cost of 3D printing actually surpasses the cost of machining and traditional manufacturing.
- Hiring just any 3D printing company.
Some of us know what we’re doing, while others are making money on low quality products. There are several factors necessary to ensure that 3D printing technology is being used to get the best results. The same machines that make the best 3D printed products in the world can also make the worst. The person behind the technology will affect how the product comes out. Ask questions and do your research to find out which companies really know what they’re doing and have the experience to give you what you need the first time.
Happy printing!
5 of our Favorite Recent 3D Printing Projects
In recent years, 3D printing has been used to improve and even save lives around the world. It’s also been used to create some truly fascinating, though totally impractical products. The technology is just so versatile, and it’s amazing to see how designers and innovators in different industries are using it to change the world, whether they’re replacing limbs or just dropping jaws. Here are a few of our favorites from both sides of the coin:
- A Replacement Human Skull: Hands down, some of the coolest 3d printing feats have occurred in the realm of medical science. Last year, 3D printing was used to replicate a whole human skull in order to relieve a Dutch woman from pain and vision loss associated with a rare condition that caused her enlarged skull to press against her brain. Now with a plastic 3D printed cranium, her vision has returned and her symptoms are no more. Go science.
- A redesigned brace for scoliosis: It’s no secret that scoliosis, which affects an estimated 2-3 percent of the population, can make daily life very difficult for many people, starting at childhood. To our delight, 3D systems, headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has been working on a sleeker, more comfortable back brace called Bespoke, which young adults and children are actually excited to wear.
- Prosthetics for animals: There’s just something about helping our animal friends that has made even the most technophobic humans smile about 3D printing. Naturally, the numerous efforts to save the lives and lift the spirits of animals with 3D printed prosthetics make our list of favorites. From stories of Derby the dog who can finally run thanks to prosthetic front legs, to a penguin with a new beak at the Warsaw Zoo, we can’t help but feel warm and fuzzy.
- Mind-blowing fashion design: Many fashion designers have begun to shock and inspire the world by creating collections either partially or entirely from 3D printed materials. From Iris Van Herpen to Noa Raviv, one of our very favorites, designers are letting their imaginations run wild and taking new risks to explore the possibilities of 3D printing with clothing. Whether you’d ever see someone wearing some of these extravagant designs in public is a different story, but we’re just excited to see people having fun with it. Considering that 3D printed scoliosis braces exist, we can only imagine how else 3D printing technology will bring brilliant function into the wearable world.
- Working 3D printed cars: There’s no way we could leave the first working 3D printed car off the list. This electric car, called the Strati, took 44 hours to assemble, drives up to 40 miles per hour, and can travel more than 120 miles on a single charge. Quite impressively, the Strati has only 49 printed parts, while traditional cars typically have 5,000 to 6,000 parts.
Another noteworthy project came from the National Transportation Research Center at Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which created a 3D-printed Shelby Cobra on a six-week timeline to be presented at the Detroit Auto Show. It takes an incredible amount of energy to manufacture a car, and using additive manufacturing is one of the most efficient ways to accomplish the task. The lab’s goal was to make the car look sleek and beautiful like an original cobra, experimenting with surface finish, energy absorption, and manufacturing speed. The result is glorious.
Will cars be 3D printed in the future? We wouldn’t bet on large-scale 3D printed auto production any time soon, but considering the energy efficiency of 3D printing over traditional manufacturing methods, there’s certainly reason to continue innovating.
We hope these innovations from the last year or so have inspired you. So what do you think? What have been some of your favorite 3D printing feats? Let us know in the comments below!
How much does 3D printing cost?
Many people exploring advanced manufacturing options are curious about the cost of 3D printing. Determining the cost of a 3D printing project can be tricky because the technology is relatively new and many companies differ in the way they structure their pricing. By familiarizing yourself with the basic costs associated with 3D printing, you can get a general idea of how prices are determined and know what questions to ask when you request a quote.
While traditional manufacturing requires the high initial cost of tooling (creating the proper molds), and an additional cost for each product, 3D printing is much more affordable on the front end. A 3D printer can immediately begin printing virtually any part as soon as the machine has a digital 3D model on which to base the building process. The model’s complexity typically does not affect cost of manufacturing.
Instead, cost is generally based on two simple variables:
- The volume of materials used.
- Any labor associated with finishing parts after printing.
Because SLS technology uses powder-based materials, every part must be removed from the surrounding powder and cleaned of any excess material, which feels a lot like flour. Some parts will require in-depth cleaning to clear small tubes or cavities of the powder inside. Depending on their end use, some parts require additional finishing services like hand sanding or dying, which incurs an extra labor fee.
To clarify, different 3D printing methods have different costs due to the price of building materials, as well as total build time. For the purposes of this post, we will explore the pricing for selective laser sintering (SLS), which is Ultimate 3D’s current focus.
A cost metaphor
To get a picture of how costs are incurred in the printing process, let’s use a baking metaphor. First understand that SLS forms products from a powder that turns into a solid when it comes in contact with a laser. SLS building materials include different kinds of powder that vary in price, some more than others. The products are created layer by layer within a build chamber, so the flat surface area is fixed, while the height of the total build is the flexible variable.
If you were to print just one layer of plastic cookies, the build would be shallow—like the shape of a cookie tray, with powder filling the spaces between all the cookies so it’s a solid powder slab.
In another scenario, say you’re printing a birthday cake. The build size will be much larger because the flexible variable, height, has increased. The birthday cake sits on the same size of cookie sheet, completely surrounded in powder up to its very top so you have a big cube of loose powder with the solid cake safely inside. The powder costs money, and the taller the build, the longer it takes to make. Luckily, the surrounding powder can be recycled a few times when handled properly.
So, which is more expensive to print? Some companies will charge for the total volume of the build, whether the powder is loose or “baked,” making the cake much more expensive because it’s taller. Other companies will charge only for the amount of batter baked, so if the cookies altogether have more volume, the cookies could actually be more expensive. Still, other companies might charge for a combination of these variables or have an even more complex pricing system.
If you’re hungry now and still have no idea what to expect if you ever want to 3D print something, we’ll explain how Ultimate 3D charges for 3D printing:
How Ultimate 3D sets your price.
Pricing is based simply on the amount of powder “baked” into a solid. Regardless of height or other factors, the customer pays for the volume of their finished products, measured in cubic centimeters. Customers will also receive volume discounts for higher volume orders. Finally, finishing services such as sanding or dying factor into the final cost.
Pricing per cubic centimeter will differ between companies, starting at a few dollars per cubic centimeter and rising with more expensive materials or processes. The cost of materials (some of much more expensive than others), the volume of the project, the experience of the company, and the necessary post-printing services will all affect the final cost of 3D printing.
One fascinating aspect of the cost issue is that because commercial 3D printing is relatively new, we can expect certain costs to adjust as the technology becomes more common.
How to get a good price for 3D printing services.
If you’re going to pursue 3D printing services and you want to save on dollars and cents, call around for a few quotes to see where you can get a good product for a fair price. It’s good to keep in mind that while professional 3D printers can make parts with exceptional quality, the technician’s understanding of the proper techniques for printing with each material will affect the quality of the part, including its durability and appearance. You can’t go wrong by asking some questions to make sure you’re getting the best product.