Douglas Levere
PostProcess
Daniel J. Hutchinson, left, and Jeff Mize stand with PostProcess products at Buffalo headquarters.
A start-up from New York has developed an automated system for cleaning off 3D-printed items.
PostProcess Technologies, which is affiliated with the University at Buffalo via the state’s START-UP NY economic development programme, noticed how annoying it is to clean away support structures and extra material once an item is printed.
The reaction to its product has been so great the machines are selling as fast as the company can make them. Though, the Buffalo-based company see the instant demand for their product as encouraging, rather than overwhelming.
“We currently have a backlog,” said Daniel J. Hutchinson, who invented the system and founded the company. “It’s a great problem to have in any seasoned company, and as a start-up it is a blessing.”
The process takes a complicated metal or plastic printed item and polishes it to gleaming lustre, even in the tight interior spaces. It removes support structures that most parts require in order to be printed.
Hutchinson, formerly of the US Navy, first realised the need for a system that could clean 3D-printed parts when visiting a defence contractor. His system encompasses software, chemicals and hardware that use patent-pending technology for support removal, surface finishing and wastewater treatment.
Douglas Levere
PostProcess part
A 3D-printed product cleaned by PostProcess Technologies.
“There is a misconception about additive manufacturing that the printed parts come out and they are ready to go,” said Jeff Mize, a former Sillicon Valley executive who was convinced to invest in PostProcess and then agreed to be the CEO. “You have to remove the supports and in most cases finish the surface to deliver a customer-ready part.”
The three integrated elements – software hardware and consumables – make the product unique according to Mize. The motion fluids within the machine are controlled by a software algorithm using sensor data that adjusts in real-time so that the waves are sinusoidal. This prevents items from being forced into a corner of the tank. Meanwhile, energy is tightly controlled and monitored to prevent part damage.
Detergents used in the cleaning process have been specifically formulated for 3D-printed materials and are able to remove supports from most materials and technologies. Additionally, the detergents can be tuned using nanosecond switching, to attack less dense forms of a material without damaging the final print. The surface finishing technology that polishes objects is filled with proprietary media and tuned to gently circulate the items without deforming them.
Since the product’s invention it has received a huge amount of attention from companies utilising additive manufacturing in their production processes. The company has received help, to deal with this increased attention, from UB through START-UP NY - which eliminates state taxes for ten years – and in making connections throughout the university and local manufacturing community. A number of UB interns have also been hired, as well as one recent graduate.
“Our primary objective is removing the growing post-printing bottleneck, and as a result, creating jobs in downtown Buffalo,” added Hutchinson.
