The Javelin Technologies Blog

Presenting 3D Printed Parts

At this point you have realized that owning a 3D printer will streamline your product development process, and provide additional benefits such as confidentiality, faster turnaround, and accelerated time to market.

You have also determined which technology is appropriate for your product, and selected the machine whose size and features best fit your needs and budget.

If you are planning to buy a printer for your personal use, or if you work for an organization that needs 3D printing, the purchase must have a rational and measurable justification. For an organization you will need to present the proposal to your management team. You should justify the need for a 3D Printer from both financial and technical aspects:

• Demonstrate that a 3D Printer will provide a financial benefit: by reducing the cost of the current product prototyping or testing methods. Your presentation must be strongly supported with actual numbers and measurable projections.
• The chosen technology can be easily supported by results: present an example printed part to your management team. Depending on your product needs, specific features in the printed part will match your main requirements e.g. high detail, product specific materials, production cost, speed, impact resistance, etc. Every technology has its own strengths, and they will be evident in the benchmark part.
• The benefits of in-house 3D Printing: such as confidentiality, faster time to market, and improvements in your product design process; which may not be 100% measurable, but must be highlighted and explained.

When you are able to present the benefits, supported by numbers, plus facts and convincing reasons, the purchase of your 3D printer will be a no brainer.

Stay tuned for the next chapter: Benchmarking. Don’t buy before you try.

Objet Braingear model printed in a single print job! No assembly was required.

In any assembly that involves mechanical interaction between components, defining the right tolerances according to the model material and the manufacturing process is a key factor for success. Designing a part for rapid prototyping is not an exception.

There are two methods of prototyping assemblies with an Objet 3D printer – either print individual components to be assembled later, or print the whole assembly in one single print job. The method you choose will depend on the type of assembly you require…

Individual components for subsequent assembly: use this method for the following circumstances:

1. If you don’t have a multi material printer (such as an Objet Connex), and need to use different materials due to mechanical properties or colour specifications.
2. When, due to the complexity of the assembly, the support removal is a challenging process (intricate channels or hard to reach inner gaps).

A tolerance of 0.3 mm (12 thou) between touching surfaces will let you assemble the components once they are finished and allow the parts to move and interact freely.

3D printing the assembly in one transaction: this is the preferred method if you don’t need to use different materials / colours in a moving model and assembly is not required; this method is also a time saver.

You will need to allow a 0.3 mm (12 thou) tolerance between touching surfaces to allow the support material to fill the gaps between parts and prevent the moving components to be bonded together.

Take a look at the example, this was created in a single print job without the need for assembly and the individual gears move as required!

3D Printed Calculator

Once you have justified the purchase of a 3D printer and chosen the technology that best fits your requirements, it is now time for budget considerations. With most 3D printing technologies the price range is very wide, and can lead to confusion.

To help you make the right decision you should start by identifying the main price drivers and compare them with your real needs. Deciding on the required envelope size, special features, material variety, and warranty / service options will determine the final price for a 3D Printer.

Answering the following questions will help you to narrow your budgetary scope:

• What is the average size of the parts you need to print?
• What features offered by the manufacturer do you really need? Are some of them just a nice to have?
• Are your prototypes intended for concept modeling and form / fit testing, or do you really need high end specialty prototyping materials?
• Do you want peace of mind with your printer operation? A service agreement is an option to consider.
• Upgrading your equipment in the future: Is it a likely scenario? Investing some money today may make a future upgrade easier.

Align your budget with your real needs, and don’t underestimate potential needs in the future.

Coming soon: How to present the project to the management.

Once you have answered the basic questions to justify the purchase of a 3D printer (please refer to my previous post), you need to determine which technology fits your real needs, has a clear projection to the future, and offers the most options.

3D Printing

Rapid prototyping technologies have been evolving for more than 15 years. Some have become obsolete, some are still active, and just a few show a clear evolution and a promising future. When you evaluate RP technologies, look forward, and think, which of the current technologies show a real evolution in the short and long term? Your 3D printer could become a long term investment or an exhibit in a museum!

When it comes to the specific needs of a prototype, keep this in mind:

• In some cases a quick approximation to the shape of your product is enough.
• In most cases, high detail and surface finish is necessary to have an accurate perception about what your product is going to look like.
• A closer approximation to the real materials used in your product will give you a better idea of how your product is going to work in real life. Most of current products are made out of more than one material.
•  A technology that allows you to apply extra finishing processes to prototypes will save you time in the design validation process. Painting, metal coating, sanding, machining and dying will add a lot of “reality” to your parts. Not all the technologies allow you to take full advantage of finishing processes.

If you want to know how world class companies have benefited from having in-house 3D printing solutions, please read some case studies on the Objet website.

Stay tuned for the next chapter: Is my budget in line with my needs?

3D Printed Part

Either you or somebody at your organization came across 3D printing. Your first thoughts are: amazing technology, cool stuff, neat parts. Then the obvious question: how can I benefit from having a 3D Printer in my company? Your imagination starts flying –  design validation, sales and marketing tools, functional testing, actual parts, jigs and fixtures, print that spare part that you need…

You find one or more useful applications and start your research. Technologies – FDM, LOM, Polyjet, SLA, SLS…an endless list of acronyms. Then, Materials – ABS threads, metal powder, liquid photopolymers, starch powder, even chocolate and other culinary specialties. You go further, and research prices – $3,000, $15,000….$500,000!

It is about you, so ask yourself the following questions:

1. How often do I need rapid prototyped parts?
2. How do I get more printed parts without the high cost of outsourcing?
3. What is the main purpose of 3D printed prototypes?
4. Is detail and surface finish important for my parts?
5. How important is colour for the models I print?
6. What kind of environmental / mechanical factors will my prototypes be exposed to?
7. Will I save money by having an in-house 3D printing solution?
8. What is the 3D printing technology most likely to introduce new developments and improvements in the near future?
9. Is confidentiality a must factor in my R&D process?

After answering these questions, and comparing your answers with the options on the market today, your purchase decision will be easier.

Stay tuned for the next chapter: What is the best technology for me?

Purchasing a 3D printer, like any capital investment decision, involves a careful analysis, as it will have a strong impact in your organization. There are several elements to consider: internal needs, current and future applications, industry trends, available technologies and, of course, budget.

Don’t rush the decision, but don’t postpone it forever. Making a decision without gathering and analyzing all the information can lead to a wrong and deceiving purchase. Postponing it may mean missing savings, delays in your R&D process and being behind your competition.

You will be overwhelmed by the huge amount of information available, sales people from several vendors trying to influence your decision, lack of awareness of new applications within your company, and a confusing threshold in price and machine capabilities.

In the next few posts I will review in detail each and every item to be considered through the purchase decision. Stay tuned for the next chapters:

1. It is about you.
2. What is the best technology for me?
3. Is my budget in line with my needs?
4. How to present the project to the management.
5. Benchmarking: don’t buy before you try.
6. Hidden needs: you may not know everything you can do.
7. ROI: Losing money and have not realized it?
8. I have a 3D printer in house, what is next?

If you are currently outsourcing the prototyping process, and are considering the purchase of an in-house solution, this white paper is for you:

Its time to upgrade the computer you’re using to send your models to your Objet 3D Printer, do you need to call Javelin to set it up?  Although we can come and set it up for you, it’s not too hard to do yourself.  Here are some instructions.  We’ll walk through configuring the network adapter, installing the Objet 3D Studio software and setting it up to communicate with an Objet 3D printer in this tip.  Since we are replacing an existing computer, this tip will not go into detail on all of the wiring between the printer, computer, monitor, keyboard and mouse.  You can make notes of the existing wiring before pulling it apart.

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One of the most import pieces in the Wall-E, body, is finally printed.  It determines how the limbs and the head are connected.  In addition, I printed the other leg and one arm.

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Hundreds of Javelin customers are designer/inventors who work for small firms or are just starting out with their own business. They are talented individuals who have great ideas and want to bring them to life using 3D design tools. But when the design is complete how do you take it to the next level and actually develop it and ultimately make some money?! You’ll need to get your design evaluated, market tested, marketed, branded, manufactured, distributed, and finally sold! That’s a lot of work, and as a small firm or a one-person business you might not have the time, resource, skill, capital, or contacts to take your 3D design to market.

But there may be a new way to get your design developed and sold…via social media?! Here is a cool design called Pivot Power, a flexible power bar that makes it easy to plug in all of your bulky power adapters. The idea was submitted by a young designer to a site called Quirky, and developed through social media, here is a quick video to see the product: http://youtu.be/s8VhDWPRV6g

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So, we have an Objet Connex 500 3D Printer here at the office, and I got thinking – what could I print that would really demonstrate the capabilities of this incredible machine and push it’s limits. There’s some complex automotive components with moving components that would have made interesting show pieces for our 3D Printer lab, but being a fan of the WALL-E movie by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures, I just found my printer test subject. It’s appealing, will look cool, and has an ample supply of moving parts…

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