1 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
New look 3D Systems machines
A fresh design from Janne Kytannen brings 3D Systems' industrial offerings up to date with its consumer products
2 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
New Blueprinter parts
People have been asking for them and the Danish team has delivered — new parts showing the parts possible with the SHS technology
3 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
Concept X Line 1000R under wraps
4 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
Ta da! The behemoth Concept Laser machine is revealed
5 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
Parts from our Cube adorned the stand
6 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
the Cube Café and Shop
7 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
S-Print front and centre of the ExOne Stand
8 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
The Mcor Iris breaks cover
9 of 9
Jim Woodcock / TCT
Objet's Objet1000 caused a stir on opening
This was my third time at Euromold, with Frankfurt once again welcoming visitors from across the globe into its icy embrace. At four days long, the show is one of the longer of the year for me, and with several halls of the Messe Centre in use it’s one of the biggest too.
Big was a theme that ran through the first few launches on Tuesday, starting with the unveiling of the Objet1000 3D printer. At the last Euromold Objet’s CEO David Reis talked to me about the benefits of the inkjet method of 3D printing, citing scalability (both up and down from Objet’s current sizes) as one of the major plus points. If you want to cover more distance and thus produce larger parts, you can simply upscale your print heads. The Objet1000 is an impressive application of this theory, producing a build volume 10 times the size of the Objet500 Connex, and allowing parts up to a metre in length to be produced. It’s still no Mammoth (Materialise’s in-house SLA systems), but then again you can’t actually buy a Mammoth!
I spoke to a couple of people from major Automotive OEMs during the show who were very interested in the system for the production of 1:1 scale parts as part of the design and development processes. Whether the materials team at Objet can deliver polymers or ‘digital materials’ that would allow more functional testing (I’m thinking along the lines of Accura Bluestone for SLA or Windform materials for SLS) will need to be seen, but with the slew of new materials in the last year it seems they’re pushing hard in this area.
The next ‘big’ announcement came from Concept Laser with the X line 1000R — a joint venture with the Fraunhofer institute and Daimler AG (which already has a machine in operation). Perhaps more impressive than the Objet machine (given the ease of scalability of the inkjet process as opposed the complexities of selective laser melting) the X line 1000R has a build volume of 630 mm × 400 mm × 500 mm and a rotating build bed that allows finshing to take place while a new build continues on the opposite side of the bed, vastly improving productivity. Daimler hopes to use the machine to replace sand-casting and die-casting applications in early phases of development. In addition, the selective laser melting process (branded as LaserCUSING by Concept) will offer the possibility of generating lightweight structures with a high level of rigidity which will permit weight-optimised geometries.
The show also saw the launch of a large machine from Lübeck-based SLM Solutions — the SLM 500 HL. The system has a 500 x 280 x 325 mm build chamber that will have a wider appeal than the supersized Concept Laser machine across a wider range of industries. The SLM 500 HL uses multiple lasers to increase productivity. Two units — each containing a 400W and 1000W laser — operate in tandem, meaning four active lasers with two different beam profiles thanks to the shell-core-imaging process. Automated powder management helps to further decrease the time to part.
Get your FREE print subscription to TCT Magazine.
Exhibit at the UK's definitive and most influential 3D printing and additive manufacturing event, TCT 3Sixty.
Other large machines were in evidence on the show floor — both supporting impressive footprints and build sizes. Voxeljet’s VXC800 is the company’s continuous build offering, running a slanted build bed and ability to remove completed builds from the conveyor belt system while the build continues. Very useful and I am looking forward to getting to see a killer app with this one. ExOne had their S-Print front and centre — with its focus on sand casting moulds and cores ExOne’s kit appeals specifically to the industrial user. I like that.
Beyond the big and brash, a number of other interesting developments were on show. It was notable that the number of consumer-focussed machines was down on last year (or the buzz surrounding them was) but a couple of companies we first got sight of in 2011 returned. Blueprinter was following up the commercial launch of its system at TCT Live with some new parts to show (finally!). The company’s selective heat sintering (SHS) technology shows great promise, but work still needs to be done. The new parts were impressive for the price, with both the machine and materials targeted towards the lower-end of the price range. Talking to Graham Tromans it appears that there may be as much work to do on the software and set up side of the solution as the core SHS tech. One thing is for sure though — we’ll see more from this machine and the team behind it in 2013.
Asiga were another 2011 debutant who returned with a more diverse portfolio. Beyond some materials development aimed at the medical sector, the company was promoting its QuoteServer cloud-based bureaux fulfilment solution. You can see a full run down of QuoteServer in the last print issue of TCT.
3D Systems made a splash in the ‘Breezeway’ (me neither) with its Cube Shop and Café. This area looked every bit the funky retail space complete with a smattering of house music and displays of Cube 3D printers and the myriad of 3D printed accessories from FreshFiber and Freedom of Creation available to purchase. While Euromold remains a show for industry, initiatives like this remind us that we are all consumers and when not suited and booted and wearing a name badge, we’d quite like a cool 3D printed case for our iPhone or Blackberry.
We will be following up with specific stories from Euromold throughout the coming year.
