Hometown Pittsburgh's High-Tech Make Over...

Growing up in Pittsburgh, if you weren't directly connected to the Steel industry, you complained about the rotten egg smell and pollution.  But when the industrial giants went silent in the 70s and 80s, the complaints shifted dramatically to the economic tragedy that was unfolding - the flight of life-long residents and well-paying jobs.   Rhetoric from the recent election aside, Pittsburgh's manufacturing base is both alive and well...

“The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA) recently reported that in 2016 the manufacturing sector accounted for the most investment dollars ($6.1 billion), the most deals (50 companies expanding or relocating), and the most new and retained jobs (3,667).”

But as we've continued to see, the type and number of jobs that have been created don't resemble those of the steel-era in any way.

“Manufacturing is the most active sector in southwestern Pennsylvania,” explains PRA President David Ruppersberger. “But as technology and automation continue to transform this legacy sector, the reality is that manufacturing facilities will be smaller-footprint, high-efficiency environments where fewer workers, with advanced skills including STEM proficiency, will produce more goods. This is a trend that won’t reverse at any time in the foreseeable future.”

Hearing of Pittsburgh's adoption of additive manufacturing and other advanced technologies is encouraging if the resulting economic turnaround benefits the greater community.

Rapid Thermoformed Trays – Applying 3D and 2D Printing Technology to Create Unique Solutions

Rapid Thermoformed Trays – Applying 3D and 2D Printing Technology to Create Unique Solutions

A RapidMade White Paper

By: Marriah Pilcher

The cost advantages and creative applications of thermoforming, or vacuum forming as it is also known, are accelerating its use in multiple industries including manufacturing and medicine.  Recently, in a new study on medical trays, they found that thermoforming customized trays for procedures cut prep and operation times by 59% and lowered expenses. Having these customized trays better organizes procedures and improves medical staff utilization.

These unique trays are being adopted by various industries including manufacturing, medical, aerospace and other fields. Thermoforming customizable trays to fit tools, parts and equipment better organizes production runs, maintenance activities, and operational procedures thereby significantly:

• cutting work times
• reducing space requirements
• improving inventory control and tool transportation
• improving safety and sanitation conditions

Conveniently keeping all the tools and parts needed, organized, compact and ready to go, enables employees to quickly check items in and out and ensure they have everything they need before reporting to the work site.

When this occurs the 5S in a LEAN workplace - sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain, can be met with ease.

A new breed of additive manufacturer is combining 3D printing technology with vacuum or thermoforming to create solutions for these 5S challenges in a cost-effective way. RapidMade will offer these custom trays in quantities up to 5,000 with MOQ (minimum order quantities) of 50, turnaround times from quote to 1st article of less than 10 days and the option to provide recurring small quantity batches with no additional set up fees. Design Guidelines for the types of trays being offered are broad:

• Forming Area Bed size of 20" x 18" with a deep draw of 11.5"
• A wide plastic variety of plastics can be used including PETG, HIPS, ABS, PC, Acrylic, TPO as well as food-safe materials.
• A range of plastic gauges from 0.020" to 0.250" thick are available

And custom forming for special components within the tray is achieved by following some simple rules:

• Forming windows are 12" x 12" and 6" x 6" to reduce material consumption for smaller parts. 
• Draft for Female molds is preferred to be 5 degrees or greater and for Male molds are preferred to be 8 degrees or greater.

This is a fast and low-cost way of creating these trays. The step-by-step process combines engineering, forming and additive manufacturing knowledge to create the solution. The dimensions of the tool are determined by 3D software modeling. Using additive manufacturing the tool can be produced directly from the 3D model at a fraction of the price and time compared to traditional steel or aluminum machining processes. This allows the entire process of selecting, designing and producing these trays to be completed in days rather than weeks without sacrificing customization.

 The 3D Printed tool on the left with the thermoformed tray using a heat resistant Stretch-able ink is on the right.

Similarly, we found a company who is uniquely combining 2D pre-printed images and 3D printed tooling technology to create eye catching effects, highlight details or spot color text and components on trays and vacuum formed parts. In the above photo the thermoformed tray mirrors a wood-grain finish. This is achieved by using a stretch-able ink that is printed onto the plastic before it is formed. With this capability, the end customer can print colors, effects, text, and images. Printing before forming reverses the order of a traditional manufacturing process which helps lower cost and time to produce. This application has many potential uses in the manufacture of thermoformed trays and parts.

These examples show how a new breed of manufacturing companies are using additive, digital and traditional technologies to create unique, customized, on demand, small batch run solutions. If you have dismissed vacuum thermoforming trays and parts as too expensive in the past, it might be time to take another look.

Now Get Nylon Parts Faster

FASTER NYLON PARTS – A New Age for 3D Printing

A RAPIDMADE WHITE PAPER

By Mark Eaton

Getting parts on demand has been a manufacturer’s dream for many years. Since 2005, see M. Park, UNSW article, there have been cries from the 3D printing industry that additive technology would replace the need for injection mold tooling, that it would eliminate the need for machining, that casting would become obsolete. Finally, that dream is becoming a reality.

While there have been success stories such as the use of Stratasys Ultem for aerospace parts and selective laser sintering (SLS) nylon for automotive parts, until today, these components have all had restrictions on where and how they could be used. One of the biggest drivers for this has been the speed and the part cost.  Siemens, according to a recent article in Plastics Today, is using 3D printed fire, smoke and toxicity-compliant polymers to replace parts in trams, and they cite part availability as being the primary driver. The US Marines have recently experimented with printing replacement Humvee parts in the field. What all these examples have in common is they are limited in scope by the 3D printing technology restrictions. While the FDM process eliminates tooling, it is still 100x slower than injection molding or machining, and while SLS material prices have been reduced, they are still 10x more expensive than injection molding or nylon bar stock prices. So, the extent to which these older 3D processes can be deployed is still limited by cost and speed.

                                                                 Photo Credit: HP

This is beginning to change. A new breed of additive manufacturers is arriving on the market who are focused on truly using 3D printing to create production parts at costs comparable to injection molding and machining prices. These “new age” additive manufacturing companies combine faster printing technology with engineering resources to convert and certify part performance. They have integrated quality systems to ensure material, process and part conformity. And they offer parts at competitive prices compared to injection molding or machining costs without the need for tooling, set-up costs or inventory carrying costs. An example of one company taking advantage of this new age in additive manufacturing is Daimler, cited in a recent Reuters report, who has announced it will start offering plastic replacement parts printed at local service centers from a library of 3D files.

Driver’s armrest is 3D-printed from FST-compliant thermoplastic resin.Picture credit: PlasticsToday.com

As an executive board member in the additive manufacturing community, I recently got to profile one such Portland-based 3D printing company, RapidMade. After 6 years developing prototyping, tooling and engineering services to support 3D printing, this company is reinventing itself to use the new breed of additive technology being offered by companies such as Hewlett Packard and Carbon 3D. These companies have developed much faster 3D printing technologies that use faster curing, less expensive materials with all the properties of traditional polymers. The new HP MJF is being showcased by RapidMade as part of its expansion in 2017. With speeds that are 10x faster than current SLS technology and material prices equivalent to injection molded nylon or machined bar stock, RapidMade can now offer its customers a wide range of new and replacement part solutions. Where precision tolerances are required, the company uses automated machining centers linked with the printers to provide finishing operations.

                                                                Photo Credit: HP

Without the need for tooling, customers can now order parts to print using their 3D library or one provided by the service provider. The shorter printing cycle times mean that it is no longer necessary to hold more than 1-2 days’ inventory for quick use parts, and less frequently used parts can be ordered as needed with zero inventory requirements. For very low order quantities (less than 10 parts), it has always generally been cheaper to 3D print versus using traditional manufacturing. With the lower cost breakeven point of these new age 3D printing technologies, minimum order quantities (MOQ) of 500 or 1,000 will be converted to printing versus injection molding or machining. For customers already using SLS technology, they will see an immediate cost and turnaround benefit from switching to this new breed of 3D printing technologies.

The benefit of these “new age” additive manufacturing companies like RapidMade is being immediately felt by the machinery manufacturers and end users of such equipment. There is a significant cost benefit in current supply chains, PWC Strategy& estimates there will be a 20% gain in TCO (total cost of ownership) from 3D printing replacement parts. It is estimated 70-80% of that can be delivered to the end users when they engage with a “new age” additive manufacturing company. Lower prices for spare and replacement parts are possible with piece of mind that the part has been certified for use. No longer are machinery manufacturers tied to traditional injection molders who retain tooling that cannot be easily moved. Parts produced offshore can now be re-shored without needing to recreate tooling. PWC Strategy& predicts German spare parts manufacturers will derive $3Bn in benefit from adopting 3D printing. Additive manufacturing by its nature is a non-labor intensive process, and the new breed of technologies produces 10x the number of parts in the same time lowering the overhead cost per part and making larger MOQ more attractive. Companies like RapidMade retain digital libraries and ship direct, on demand parts in quantities of 1 to 1,000 in less than 24 hours. They do this by not only having faster 3D printing technologies but also using automated transaction systems, integrated engineering and lean techniques to optimize printing uptime.

                                                                Photo Credit: PwC

Whether it is Daimler, deciding to print plastic parts locally to save warehouse, shipping and logistics costs or Siemens citing the increased ability to service multiple customers with parts on demand, times are changing for the benefit of producers and end users. And to support the changing demands, these companies are turning to the ‘new age’ additive manufacturers who, in turn, are enabling US companies to re-shore production, improve turnaround time and lower part costs. If you have dismissed 3D printing in the past, it might be time to take another look.

Patients May Get Lucky "Break" with 3D Printed Plates Thanks to FDA Approval

My standard-issue wrist plate may soon be a thing of the past...

When I shattered my wrist in 2014, the surgeon pieced together the fragments using a standard-issue, low-tech wrist plate and permanently screwed it into place.  Now, with the recent FDA approval of Additive Orthoapedics' 3D printed Locking Lattice Plating System, patients may soon have access to customized plates for "stabilization and fusion of fractures, osteotomies and arthrodesis of small bones."

“‘We are excited to be one of the first companies to leverage the geometric flexibility, clinical advantages and manufacturing cost benefits of additive manufacturing in the orthopaedic plating market.  These plates can be implanted either alone with locking or non-locking screws, or in conjunction with our 3D printed bone segments through the use of a connection screw. This allows the surgeon to mix and match any wedge and plate combination for various deformities, complex revisions, or other limb salvage procedures,’ president Greg Kowalczyk said in a press release.”

Since I have subsequently broken a foot and my other wrist, I will be sure to keep this company in mind, just in case.

3D Printed Shoes - A Great Fit for Adidas

Adidas' Futurecraft 4D (Reuters/Joe Penney)

It seems that 3D printed shoes are one step closer to reality.  This is a timely story for me as I just went shoe shopping this week...  Every time I need new tennis shoes, I go through the same routine:  choose from the limited selection of wide sizes and then, through process of elimination, find a pair that I can tolerate.  I speed walk, so the shoes have to be large enough to fit my feet but be snug enough to stay in place while I put them through their paces.  Based on this week's workout, the pair I just selected are not working out.  So I'm always interested in hearing about 3D printed shoes.

Adidas is apparently leading the pack pursuing a technology to allow mass produced custom shoes.  They announced a 

“new partnership with Silicon Valley start-up Carbon (which) allows it to overcome many of those difficulties to produce a sole that can rival one made by an injection mould, and at a speed and price that allow for mass production.”

The Futurecraft 4D shoe's introduction is planned for 2018 with the intention of offering shoe soles for individual fittings and limited editions.

The partnership with Carbon should allow Adidas to reduce the time it takes to produce shoes by additive manufacturing.  Its 3D printer design is reportedly 10 times faster than traditional 3D printer designs, printing soles in as little as 20 minutes.

Engineering Design Transforms Ideas into Products and Makes Good Products Great

To create or improve products, engineers rely on a number of proven approaches which include CAD Work, 3D Design, Industrial Design, Technical Analysis, Reverse Engineering, and Technical Documentation.  Learn more about how RapidMade can help.

CAD Work

• 3D print preparation
• 2D to 3D conversions
• Design for manufacturing conversions

3D Design

• Contract design work
• Custom design
• Product design
• Conceptual design
• Proof-of-concept design
• Design for manufacturing

Industrial Design

• Aesthetics
• Use-ability
• Ergonomics
• Anthropometrics
• Research

Technical Analysis

• Stress analysis
• Motor/actuator sizing and selection

Reverse Engineering

• File Conversions
• Existing part to 3D CAD
• 3D scan to parametric CAD model

Technical Documentation

• Manufacturing drawings
• Machine layouts

Training

• User manuals
• On-site installation

Congratulations to Paper Packaging on Retirement After 53 Years in Business

Paper Packaging, Pittsburgh landmark, closes this week

This week, Paper Packaging closes after 53 years in business.  Why would RapidMade be marking this occasion you may ask?  Its founder, Dan Unico, who worked every day in 2D printing and box making, is the father/grandfather of three of RapidMade's owners.  

Dan, who also turned 90 this month, will continue to work along with his wife Joan, 85,  and two sons Ken and Mark to dismantle, crate and ship equipment to new owners.  In the spring, they anticipate - finally - retiring.  Maybe...  

Dan and Joan taught us that starting a business was - and is - a path to a better life. And we learned that lesson at an early age. As children, we would play in the factory, sometimes doing odd jobs until age and experience allowed us to "graduate" to working on the various print and die-cutting machines.  This was NOT additive manufacturing.  The work could be hard, dirty, and monotonous.

 It is a testament to Dan that his wife, three of his four children, one son-in-law and one of his grandchildren (so far) has chosen manufacturing as a career.  That is a legacy one can be proud of.  Happy Birthday and Happy Retirement!

congratulations!

Industrial Design Debuts at RapidMade

Stag Concept Sketch

The popularity of Industrial Design, also known as Product Design, has accelerated due, in part, to a new wave of designers and advances in technology, materials, processes, and capabilities which has dramatically improved the design options available to clients. Working closely with Engineers, Industrial Designers are trained on function, aesthetics, ergonomics, anthropometrics, and manufacturing processes to provide you with the best “working” concepts from sketches, to renderings, to CAD models that create your final product.

RapidMade recently expanded its capabilities by including Industrial Design into our Product Design Process. In doing so, this lets us help our clients move from product conceptualization to launch much faster and more efficiently with better end results.

3D CAD Model of Stag

When clients first come to RapidMade, sometimes they have a complete design ready to be made, but often they only have an idea of what they want. Introducing our new Industrial Design capabilities is a critical step toward helping the customers make their vision a reality. 
Once a client completes a Quick Quote, we will arrange a meeting with our team of engineers and designers to discuss your concept. Our Industrial Designer then works with you to create multiple rough 2D sketches for the conceptual form that evolves into a final realistic 2D rendering (that you may keep). When you choose a final form, we add additional aesthetics. These can be anything from color, to contour lines, or personal brands and logos to get your finalized look. Our engineers then take this design you and our Industrial Designer created and make a CAD model with your specific dimensions, which is used to 3D print a prototype. We work with you on any additional iterations and source the final manufacturing for you. 
 

Final Stag 3D Print

When to Choose Injection Molding or 3D Printing

RapidMade Accelerates Pace and Elevates Quality of Product Launch

Injection Molding Case Study

3D Printing, or Rapid Prototyping as it is also known, is a much faster and cost effective solution for testing and perfecting digital designs. Its ability to fabricate parts overnight without any direct labor, programming or tooling means 3D printing technologies carry many advantages over traditional technologies like injection molding for short turns and small-batch production.

 Sometimes 3D printing only goes so far when developing and manufacturing products in their early stages. In those instances, Rapid Injection Molding can take products to the finish line.

An American-made LED light bulb manufacturer engineered a version that was bigger and brighter than its competition.  The company quickly learned that RapidMade's injection molding expertise could test, validate and even manufacture its light bulbs in ways that 3D Printing simply could not match.

RapidMade accelerates the typical injection molding process by providing a short cut between prototyping and production tooling. After the rapid prototyping client finalizes its product for injection molding, RapidMade creates a cheaper and better solution by making pre-final tooling out of aluminum. This option allows customers get to market sooner than other injection mold processes and helps gain customer feedback to improve products. Getting a product to market sooner generates more revenue to invest in further product development and long-term tooling. 

 Material

Since the customer didn't know what the final material of the bulb should be, cutting the mold and testing multiple materials, including different grades of ABS and Polycarbonate, helped pinpoint the final material and even helped estimate eventual mass manufacturing costs. Additionally, electronics products must go through rigorous UL testing to ensure consumer safety before the product can be sold in stores.

Color and clarity are other traits vital to the lighting industry.  Because 3D printers must run manufacturing-grade material that is unadulterated, optimizing these characteristics can be difficult. With injection molding, however, one can custom blend different clear and opaque pigments with clear plastic to prototype different levels of clarity and color. So the company could test very specific color profiles to perfect its formula in the final product.

 Finish

Finish is extremely important when working with lighting, as well as other consumer products. A matte finish diffuses light at a very different rate than a polished one. Due to the layered nature, inherent in the 3D printing process, even the highest detail machines will have some level of surface striation. Additionally, most filament or powder technologies will have a very rough finish beyond the layer lines. Achieving custom finishes requires polishing, sanding, and painting of each individual unit, making it is extremely labor intensive and expensive.

Alternatively, injection molding shoots molten plastic into a cavity which picks up the texture of that cavity. That means one only needs to finish a mold once to get repetitive shots of that finish. And molds can be polished and textured to prototype a variety of finishes before settling on the desired one.

Volume

A light bulb is a relatively low-cost consumer good. These goods are meant to be sold in large volume at low cost. Tooling to produce those volumes inexpensively enough can take months to make and require high upfront investment. Many businesses are interested in small and medium-batch options that are more cost effective and higher quality than 3D printing to excite investors, test markets and stoke demand. 

 The company secured a prototyping option with relatively little upfront investment that served as a bridge tool to get actual product out into the marketplace. Aside from the aforementioned quality concerns, this could not have been cost effectively achieved with 3D printing; one cannot sell a light bulb where the housings cost $38 to the manufacturer. Creating large volumes of parts on a 3D Printer can also take much longer than injection molding, making it harder to fill orders. Injection Molding can really provide exceptional value to early-stage manufacturers when producing runs of hundreds or thousands of parts for low cost very quickly.

Intel & Fashion Designer Chalayan Collaborations Let "You Wear It Well"

Intel Chalayan belt is adjusted (photo credit Intel)

We've written before about the exciting progress in wearable technology - that not only lets you look good but helps you feel good too.  Portland neighbor Intel's latest project accomplishes this objective in grand style.  A collaboration with fashion designer Hussein Chalayan produced 3D printed belts - in both white and black - that gathered bio metric data to measure and track the stress levels of the models who wore them.  The information

“was then communicated to a belt via a Bluetooth LE connection. Powered by the Intel Compute Stick, which is a computing device the size of a stick of gum, that data was then translated into the visualizations displayed on the wall as the models moved down the runway; made possible by small Pico projectors housed within the belts.”

The logic is that providing biofeedback allows the wearer to take proactive steps to reduce his or her stress levels.

White version of Intel Chalayan belt with feedback captured on projection (Photo credit:  Intel)

Pittsburgh Bridge 3D Scanned to Produce Replicas - a Home Run in the Making

Our friends at Direct Dimensions in Owings Mills, Maryland, will be "creating a 3D CAD model" of the Roberto Clemente Bridge in our hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The resulting files will then be used to create 3D prints of the bridge for an upcoming RAPID + TCT show being held in Pittsburgh in May.

Pittsburgh, long recognized for its sports accomplishments, is becoming well known as a Center of Excellence in Additive Manufacturing as well.

3D Printing (Additive Manufacturing) is a Family of Technologies

When we talk about 3D printing, it is a catch-all phrase that encompasses several distinct technologies, each with its own strengths.  Here are some comparisons of additive manufacturing options in plastic, metal and composites:

3D Printed Plastics

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)

Learn more about FDM

Standard Materials: ABS

Relative Cost: ★★☆☆☆

Machine Finish: ★★☆☆☆

ABS Prime Finish: ★★★★★

Typical Lead Time:  2-5 Business Days

Specialty Materials: PC, nylon, ULTEM and many more (See FDM page)

Relative Cost: ★★★★☆

Machine Finish: ★★☆☆☆

Typical Lead Time: 3-7 Business Days

FDM Pros: Very high accuracy on large parts, diverse materials, rigid and tough, fast turnaround, sparse fill for light weight with high part volumes

FDM Cons: Striated machine finish, low resolution on features under 0.030"

Polyjet (Objet) Printing

Learn more about Polyjet

Standard Materials: Acrylic and polypropylene-like

Relative Cost: ★★★☆☆

Machine Finish: ★★★★★

Typical Lead Time:  2-5 Business Days

Specialty Materials: ABS-like, various elastomers and digital materials (See Polyjet Page)

Relative Cost: ★★★★☆

Machine Finish: ★★★★★

Typical Lead Time: 3-7 Business Days

Polyjet Pros: Top quality detail, best surface finish, clear material option, embedded textures, fine features, single piece mechanical assemblies

Polyjet Cons: Resins - not industrial thermoplastics, lower heat resistance, better for smaller parts

Selective Laser SIntering (SLS)

Learn more about SLS

Standard Materials: Nylon and glass filled nylon

Relative Cost*: ★★★☆☆

Machine Finish: ★★★☆☆

Typical Lead Time:  5-10 Business Days

Specialty Materials: Rubber (TPU), carbon filled nylon and other composites (See SLS page)

Relative Cost: ★★★★☆

Machine Finish: ★★★☆☆

Typical Lead Time: 5-10 Business Days

SLS Pros: Real thermoplastic and thermoplastic composites, uniform matte finish, great thermal and mechanical properties

SLS Cons: Large and thick parts can warp, longer production lead times, porous material, low resolution on features under 0.030"

*In volume SLS can become one of the least expensive printing processes.

Large Format 3D Printing

Learn More about Large Format 3D Printing

Standard Materials: Epoxy infused Acrylic

Relative Cost*: ★★★☆☆

Machine Finish: ★★★☆☆

Typical Lead Time:  5-10 Business Days

Specialty Materials: Sand (Sand Casting), Low Ash Burnout Resin (Investment Casting)

Relative Cost: ★★★☆☆

Machine Finish: ★★★☆☆

Typical Lead Time: 5-10 Business Days

Large Format Pros: Largest build size of any 3D printers, cost effective for large parts, casting patterns and molds without any additional tooling

Large Format Cons: Not as durable as SLS or FDM, not intended for small objects, longer production lead times compared to smaller printers

3D Printed Metals

Note: 3D printed metals tend to be 5 to 10 times the cost of 3D printed plastics and are often more expensive than machined metals.

Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)

Learn more about DMLS

Standard Materials: Aluminum, stainless steel, tool steel and titanium

Relative Cost: ★★★★★

Machine Finish: ★★☆☆☆

Typical Lead Time:  5-15 Business Days

Specialty Materials: Cobalt chrome, inconel, (nickel alloy) and more (See DMLS page)

Relative Cost: ★★★★★

Machine Finish: ★★★☆☆

Typical Lead Time: 5-15 Business Days

DMLS Pros: Stronger than cast parts, works with exotic and expensive to machine metals, can make parts that are otherwise not manufacturable

DMLS Cons: Limited part size (generally under 10"), rough finish, lower tolerance than machining, generally more expensive than machining

Printed Metal

Learn more about Printed Metal

Standard Materials: Stainless steel bronze alloy

Relative Cost: ★★★★☆

Machine Finish: ★★☆☆☆

Typical Lead Time:  10-20 Business Days

Specialty Materials: None

Relative Cost: N/A

Machine Finish: N/A

Typical Lead Time: N/A

Printed Metal Pros: Half to a third the cost of typical DMLS parts, beautiful bronze polish look, easily plated, larger bed than DMLS

Printed Metal Cons: Single available material, low strength to weight ratio for metal, long lead time relative to other 3D technologies

3D Printed Composites

Colorjet Full Color Composite

Learn more about Colorjet

Standard Materials: Full color composite

Relative Cost: ★☆☆☆☆

Machine Finish: ★★★☆☆

Typical Lead Time:  2-5 Business Days

Specialty Materials: None

Relative Cost: N/A

Machine Finish: N/A

Typical Lead Time: N/A

Full Color Composite Pros: Full gradient of 390,000 colors, generally least expensive material, fastest way to make large models, very rigid

Full Color Composite Cons: Features thinner than 0.100" can be brittle, does not have the flex of real plastic

RapidMade Helps SweetSense Make Life Sweeter for Residents in Kenya

RapidMade especially enjoys working on projects designed to improve the lives of others.  And we are thrilled when we get to see them "in action."  Recently SweetSense asked us to 3D print SLS parts that were used to produce remote sensors in Kenya that allow residents to better maintain water supplies and sanitary latrines.  

According to Taylor Sharpe, SweetSense is a "social enterprise" that is a spin-off of the Portland State SWEET Lab and partners with other agencies to provide high-tech solutions to problems faced by residents in developing countries.  

“...in one case monitoring boreholes (deep water pumps that service 100s to 1000s of people) in Isiolo and Turkana counties in Kenya; and in the other case helping manage collection routines and operator issues of Sanergy Fresh Life latrines in the Mukuru informal settlements outside of Nairobi, Kenya.”

For one of its initiatives, it has partnered with Sanergy to produce a

“rugged enclosure that contains an occupancy sensor and am RFID reader, to respectively estimate the fill level of latrines before conversion to fertilizer and to give Fresh Life Operators a direct line of contact with Sanergy HQ in the case of emergencies.”

In another, the Sat Spacer, SweetSense worked with Kenya RAPID...

“RapidMade parts were used to allow SweetSense to provide satellite-based monitoring in areas with no cellular coverage.”

Sieving Station Promotes "Cleaner" Metal Powder for 3D Printing

SIEVGEN 400-US:  Photo Credit - Farleygreene

When I worked for Nabisco, we had large robust sieves that would prepare flour being drawn from our 7-story flour towers prior to discharging into the weigh scales and mixers - several hundred pounds each batch.  The contraptions looked like very large metal boxes that shook and rotated violently to sieve the flour.  So it makes sense to me that a similar process would be recommended to pre-treat metal powders before being sintered into a 3D print.

In fact, a couple of challenges using powders in manufacturing processes are material purity and particle size. Apparently Farleygreene has introduced its SIEVGEN 400-US specifically to address these concerns for DMLS additive manufacturing.

“According to Farleygreene, when in normal use the system provides for a completely sealed and dust tight process. The feed hopper is docked into place to feed the sieve unit with a self-sealing interface and the media is introduced through an internal metering device designed to ensure the optimum screen dwell time to recover as much useable material as possible.

Oversize powder is continuously removed and ‘good’ product falls through the ultrasonically excited mesh. The screened media is filled into a receptacle locked into place on a mobile dolly to reduce manual handling as much as possible and allow the operator to move the product to where it is required.”

When you are hitting a potentially explosive metal powder with a laser, powder consistency and purity are obviously important material attributes to control.

3D Printing Great Tool for Displays, Exhibits and Promotions

Development model shown to Portland city council for project approval.

Capture the imagination of your Customers and Patrons with Unique Displays:

Architecture

• Turn around in as little as 24 hours means more time to perfect your designs.
• Embedded textures lets you simulate the colors of building materials like brick, stone and wood.
• Small features lets you design realistic windows, doors, beams, facades and other important visual design elements.
• Prints come directly from your BIM models.

Marketing

• Get your products in front of customers where it would otherwise be difficult or impossible.
• Customize marketing materials with logos and designs.
• Infinite customization to achieve the exact effects you desire.
• Get concept models in front of customers early in the product development cycle to get feedback before spending too much money on the wrong track.
• Get tangible products in your customers hands instead of a 2D computer image.

Promotions

• Pens and magnets are boring and forgettable. Make a promotional giveaway your customer has never before seen.
• Come to us with nothing but an idea for a promotional product and we can take care of the rest.
• Personalize your giveaways to the exact customer you are handing it to with custom messaging.
• Many promotional products require expensive tooling and long lead times to accomplish - RapidMade can make your promotional products in a week or less.

Displays

• Drive traffic to your stores at the window and sales with custom retail displays.
• Stand out and get attention at your next trade show with eye catching models.
• Capture your customers' attention and make them remember your brand
• Lean on our design team to come up with a creative solution that will satisfy your customers and be flexible for your budget.

Exhibits

• Store geometric and color data for priceless artifacts and works of art permanently with 3D scanning technology.
• Use digital object data to engage visitors online with interactive web exhibits.
• Create to-scale or re-scale replicas that let your visitors safely interact with models of priceless artifacts without endangering the original piece.
• Create complimentary pieces for your exhibit from object data scanned by other museums around the world.

RapidMade Advantages:

• Color: with almost 400,000 colors to choose from, why skimp?
• Size: scale-down huge machines or buildings to hand-held or table-sized replicas
• Logistics: avoid lugging heavy machinery to trade shows
• Creativity: turn your BIM and CAD models into tangible marketing materials
• Carefree: leave the design and fabrication to us, just supply the ideas

OMDOG Performance Canine Headgear Lets Your Dog Ride Safely in Style

RapidMade gets to work on many cool new product ideas.  Given our love of dogs - we have a dog-friendly workplace, this project has been a favorite...

"OMDOG performance canine headgear started as a simple idea — to build a custom helmet for Charlie the Dog, who rides around Portland, Oregon in a cargo bicycle. When the decision was made to duplicate and improve the design, we contacted Rapid Made. They were responsive and excited about the project. They quickly 3D scanned our prototype, reverse engineered it, and made it easy for us to review and approve the CAD model before printing. Rapid Made helped us take an idea that started as a cardboard model made from a pizza box turn it into a viable product design. They're providing us with manufacturing options within our budget and well suited for our target market. We are extraordinarily grateful to have found Rapid Made!"

Laika Debuts First Fully 3D Printed Puppet in "Kubo and the Two Strings."

3D Printed Moon Beast and other characters.  Image Credit:  Inverse.com

Next week, our Portland neighbor, Laika, premiers its newest project, "Kubo and the Two Strings." The animated film features its first fully 3D printed puppet, the Moon Beast. According to 3D Printing Industry, the character's physical requirements - and 130 separate pieces - demanded a different approach...

“Comprised of a series of 3D-printed shells that bolt over a centralized gooseneck armature, the Moon Beast was a unique undertaking on the part of LAIKA’s Rapid Prototyping department. Ordinarily they look after just the faces and heads of the characters, while the puppet department handles the rest. For the Moon Beast, though, separating the body from the head wasn’t really an option.”

The film, which took 94 weeks and 70 rapid prototyping specialists to complete, shows in theaters on August 19.

The Deadliest Cast - 3D Scanning, 3D Printing and Manufacturing Crabs

Click image to read case study.

One of the juicier projects we've had involved 3D scanning real 10-lb crabs to recreate life-like replicas for Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour.  The captain and his crew take tourists out on the high seas in the summer to watch them work.  Unfortunately, they were losing much of their inventory recreating their catches - this was both costly and unsustainable.

Once we 3D scanned the real thing, we 3D printed a master pattern which was used to create a mold.  The mold allowed RapidMade to cast the crab look alikes in urethane rubber.  See the results here.

Now You Can Scratch That Itch Using a 3D Printed Cast

My traditional cast for my broken right wrist

I am now 3 weeks into my cast-restricted convalescence.  And yes, it is as annoying, smelly and uncomfortable as everyone says.  So when my accident occurred (a large dog was desperate to greet Luke and I was in its way), I toyed with getting our team to scan and 3D print a cast. The doctors were not keen, and since traditional casts are reliable, cheap and quick, I didn't argue.

If I had gone that route, what would have been involved?  Well, as in the traditional approach, we would have waited a week for the swelling to go down.  Then I would have had a 3D scan to get an exact image of my arm.  The resulting file would then be modified to 3D print the lattice-like open "exo-skeleton" cast which would snap into place.  Oh, to be able to scratch and shower undeterred!  But I'm under no illusions; it could have been a pricey and time-consuming project - the design would have to withstand use and be printed in a non-toxic material, so while I was in a traditional cast 1 week after my fracture, it would likely have taken longer for a high-tech alternative.

But there are times when I'd give almost anything to scratch that itch.

RapidMade Featured in U.S. News Article on 3D Printing

RapidMade's founders were recently interviewed by U.S. News and World for an article explaining how 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has helped entrepreneurs innovate.

Here's an excerpt from the story which was published on line this week:

“Renee and Mark Eaton, with their son Micah Chaban, founded RapidMade, a 3-D printing, manufacturing and engineering company, based in Portland, Oregon, in 2011. About to graduate from the University of Oregon, Chaban told his parents he was contemplating job searching in Germany. Living in England at the time, the Eatons had read an article in “The Economist” on 3-D printing and the idea for RapidMade was born.

’We had both worked in manufacturing for years and were disheartened that so many kids were gravitating to lower-paying service jobs because high-tech manufacturing jobs either weren’t well known or readily available,’ Renee Eaton, chief executive officer of RapidMade, wrote in an email.

’During our careers, we had both been forced to close or downsize plants and relocate production, so we wanted very much to bring back manufacturing. We thought Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) was a great local and sustainable way to do that.’

She explained that entrepreneurs can develop and evaluate a design in little time with rapid prototyping and that by using 3-D printing to create tools, they can decrease lead times and cost. Most of RapidMade’s customers are new to 3-D printing, and the company’s engineers can help determine the best technology to create a product from a design, she wrote.”