Designed and Produced by the 3D Systems Advanced Application Development Group
What’s driving the excitement about DLP and other pixel-based additive manufacturing approaches? Speed. With DLP there is almost no correlation between cross-sectional complexity with productivity. While with vector-based additive approaches there is a significant correlation: - the more parts you have in batch the longer the build times. To demonstrate this difference we are presenting “The Three Minute Pen” at Rapid+TCT 2019 event in Detroit this week. On a vector-based system this plastic pen would be called the “30 to 55 Minute Pen” while on the DLP-based hardware this is called the “3 Minute Pen”. This is why we selected DLP to drive the engines within our Figure 4 production systems. Productivity matters.
The pens are printed in a batch process, and after curing are then finished with a novel recessed inlay acrylate paint for that final perfect touch.
- Hardware: Fig.4 Modular platform
- Material: Tough Black 20 (High Speed Low, differential shrink RP resin)
- Batch Size: 60 units vertical per batch
- Build time: 3 Hours
- Unit time: 3 Minutes
- Raw Unit cost (resin): $1.28
- Post Processing: total labor 10 minutes: Batch: washing / IPA+Ultrasonics / airline
- Post Curing: batch process: 90 minutes
- Advanced finishing technique: recessed inlay text brush-painted with acrylate paint and IPA wiped.
Additive Manufacturing - Make the existing better - Make the new possible