In Pontypool, Wales, waits a group of pragmatists.
Upon arrival, welcomes are exchanged, coffee politely declined, and then a bulky piece of metal is handed out.
“This is a splicer,” I’m told.
We all know what’s coming. To handle briefly, the object isn’t particularly burdensome. There’s a heft to it. You might not want to use it all day. And you certainly wouldn’t want to drop it on your foot. But heavy? No. Not until you have something to compare it to. Such as – you’ve guessed it – a 3D printed plastic version.
It’s an additive manufacturing (AM) user’s favourite trick. The best way to show what they can do with their new toy.
But it’s not new; not exactly. Airbond Splicers are six years into their AM journey. The Multi Jet Fusion machine that hums and whirs in the backroom of their two-storey office was purchased via a UK reseller in 2019, with the help of a £600,000 loan that was paid off last year.
The final repayment, whether by happenstance or design, represented a gear shift.
