3D printing living hinges
It’s been a little while since our last update after our move to a new premises in the Tauriko Industrial Estate (Tauranga), so many things happening but let’s start with a polypropylene like material available now via our recently purchased multi-jet machine (Object 30pro) The below video shows a “living hing” example print on our machine in a […]
Did you know….
Did you know that we have commercially available SLA printing in-house? It’s worth mentioning as I have noticed one prominent 3D printing company in New Zealand stating on their web site they have “the only commercially available SLA machines”… this is not true, we are SLA printing almost everyday right here in Tauranga NZ with […]
New SLA services and materials
For sometime we have been offering an SLA printing service with white material, we have now added to our in-house capabilities with new SLA materials including Clear, Black, Gray, Robust semi-flexible and Cast-able resin for the investment casting industry. (yeah, so just a few additions!) Also these materials we have in-stock and ready to go. SLA printing is […]
Turning plastic into metal
Recently we have got more involved with producing plastic parts that will be used for investment casting in various metal from Aluminium to Titanium. You may ask why do this when metal parts can be 3D printed directly? The answer is somewhat layered, Metal 3D printing is just the best thing for some applications but […]
Think big, print big
What happens when customers ask us to make parts that are bigger than our printers are? We do it anyway. There are some advantages in breaking up big parts into smaller pieces and joining them together, you may be surprised to know the main advantages are often speed and cost. Take the below example of […]
FDM 3D printing – Real life cost and material advantages
Out of the main 3D printing methods FDM (Fused deposition modeling) is sometimes seen as the printing technology for the hobbyist. (Endless prints of plastic rabbits and vases flooding the web don’t help this image!) The reality is however that all the different types of 3D printing have advantages and disadvantages and there is no perfect method […]
Robust rubber like parts now available
Today we are going to look a a rubber like material we are offering for production of end-use parts and prototypes. It’s is a type of Flexibel PolyEster (FPE) , the great advantage of this material is it’s robustness when compared to materials available from multi-jet printers where the tear strength is not great. It […]
This is the machine of the future
Not because of what it is but how it was made! Recently we custom designed and constructed two semi automatic machines destined for production lines in China, yes that’s right we are exporting machines to China from NZ! The machines we recently built have virtually no machined components (excluding those that are “off the shelf” […]
What have we been printing lately?
We have enjoyed a great variety of work lately, with some very interesting projects. Understandably we can’t share many of the things we are working on, however below are just a few examples: Scale model of an oil processing unit. Designed in New Zealand by ITL engineering (http://www.itnz.co.nz/) This model was made using MJP (Multi-jet printing) […]
3d printed Jigs for industry
A few years back when I was in the mass manufacturing business designing parts and production lines. Jigs and fixtures were always needed but often expensive and time consuming to make. As a consequence they were not used as often as they should have been. Current 3D printing in engineering materials would have certainly made […]
Mass Manufacturing to Mass Customization: a boon for small- to mid-sized manufacturers
Posted 10/24/2013 How many hours have employees and owners of small companies spent looking for standard components they can adapt to their products? Small companies are often more focused, more passionate and more inclined to customize their product according to customer feed-back, but are often restricted by a lack of capital and other resources. They have […]
Is additive manufacturing a good name for 3D printing?
For my business, I don’t think so. When I tell people I have an additive manufacturing company they don’t know what I’m talking about. To the layman, additive manufacturing could be the creation or development of ingredients for petrol or jam! So, personally, it’s really not that great in this context. So where did the […]