The fully-body Iron Man suit!

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

An Incredible 1.8 Miles of Filament Were Used to Create This Fully-Body Iron Man Suit!

http://3dprint.com/48264/3d-printed-iron-man-suit/

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Life-Size 3D Printed Iron Man Suit Used Over 1.8 Miles of Plastic Filament, Took 14 Months to Complete

One of the areas which has seen substantial benefit from 3D printing is that of the prop and costume industry. Whether created for movie and set production or printed out as simply a hobby, the design attributes that 3D printing has to offer are taking prop and costume making to the next level.

Over the last 13 months we have seen numerous body suits and masks from popular movies 3D printed. We’ve seen entire 3D Printed Alien Xenomorph suitscreated, as well as life-sized suits such as the Hulkbuster from the Iron Man movies 3D printed and then painted. Additive manufacturing enables fine intricate details which could not have been accomplished without great expense using traditional forms of subtractive manufacturing.

In what may be one of the most detailed and largest prop/costume projects we have seen to date, a 20-year-old Marvel Comics enthusiast named Ross Wilkes has created a 3D printed life-sized Iron Man suit.

The project — which Wilkes started way back in 2013 as part of his odd, yet very creative, New Year’s resolution — has taken 14 months to finally culminate in a complete suit reminiscent of Tony Stark’s famous armor.

“Building my own Iron Man suit has been an incredible challenge,” says Wilkes. “Before I could start, I had to learn the basics of 3D printing and was able to pick up the rest along the way. I’m thrilled with what I’ve been able to create using only a 3D printer, and to be able to see the complete suit now is incredible.”

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‘Incredible’ may be an understatement. Wilkes, who used only one 3D printer, a Velleman K8200, which was purchased in kit form back in 2013 and assembled soon thereafter, used quite a bit of filament for this project. A total of 32 1kg-spools of filament were used, equating to approximately a 1.8-mile-long strand. Because the Velleman 8200 has a build envelope of just 20 x 20 x 20 cm, Wilkes had to 3D print the suit in hundreds of separate pieces before fusing them all together, sort of like a puzzle.

Velleman 8200 3D Printer

Three different colors of filament were used for the main body of the suit — red, gold, and gray — and it even features the familiar chest repulsor transmitter, centered at the sternum area. Unlike many past projects we have seen, Wilkes did not paint or use any finishing techniques on this project, relying on the colors of the filament to do their job. As you can see from the images provided to us by Wilkes, he’s done a remarkable job at realizing an accurate rendition of the suit, one which appears to be 3D printed, yet still remains a very accurate representation of the suit we are all familiar with from comic books and movies.

Let’s hear your thoughts on this incredible 3D print in the 3D printed Iron Man Suit forum thread on 3DPB.com.

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3DPRINT.COM
by  | MARCH 3, 2015

Filaments recycled

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

A Terrific Example of 3D Printing’s Sustainable Qualities!

http://goo.gl/woybZ2

cruncher plastic waste recycler

Recycling Plastic Waste & 3D Print Fails Into Filament: The Cruncher
Any time I’ve seen a new technology meant to bring 3D printing to the masses, my initial response has been: “Do we really need more low-quality plastic crap in our houses?” But I’m excited by rapid prototyping as a much less materially intensive way to design and redesign products, and experiments in the healthcare sector, such as printing replacement organs, are awfully cool. But, of course, all of that testing out and experimenting will involve failures — should those bad prints just go to the landfill? Not if startup Extrusionbot has its way. I originally published the following post at sustainablog on February 6th, 2015.

Recycling Those 3D Printing Fails: The Cruncher

I’m still not sold on the idea that 3D printing is a useful consumer-level technology, but it’s definitely got its uses for designers and researchers. Regardless of who’s using the technology, though, there will be failures. With 2D printing, you can just throw the paper into a recycling bin. With 3D printing, the type of resin used, and the ability to break it down in a useful manner, determines recyclability. And using recycable plastic in the first place makes for a greener process overall.

So, I was intrigued when I came across a press release for The Cruncher, a machine designed to recycle 3D printing fails, or prints that are no longer useful. Created by Extrusionbot, a company that launched its signature EB2 filament extruder through a successful Kickstarter campaign. The new device will work right alongside the earlier product, but can also work with other extruders. In short, The Cruncher breaks down prints and other plastic materials that makes them ready for reuse.

If this just addressed the issue of 3d printing waste, The Cruncher would be a good thing, but fairly limited in its impact. But in addition to turning existing prints and prototypes back into usable plastic pellets, The Cruncher can also process other plastics, like used bottles and other waste materials. That’s kind of exciting… still limited in terms of impact, but conceptually promising. Why not use plastic waste that may well end up in landfills or oceans otherwise?

I’m pretty sure this one’s going to hit its funding goal: it’s already well on the way. It’s clearly designed for use beyond the consumer audience. I like the idea of reuse and recycling as an integral part of 3d printing, and hope not only that this campaign succeeds, but the concept catches on in the niche.

Work with 3D printing? Would a product like this help your efforts? Share your thoughts with us…

CLEANTECHNICA.COM
by  | February 12th, 2015

3D re-printer

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

From discarded plastic bottles to 3D printing filament; the industry provides yet another outlet for sustainable recycling! 🙂

http://www.inside3dp.com/3d-re-printer-recycles-plastic-bo…/

3D Re-printer

3D printer recycles plastic into 3D printing filament

Global warming, chemical and physical pollution and other environmental issues are no longer the far removed issues they once used to be. The world is changing quickly as a result of human life and people are finally starting to take note. In contrast to life fifty years ago, environmental issues have become such potential imminent threats that it seems everyone has a general awareness of their existence.

Companies are now morally obligated to conduct environmentally friendly business practices and include them in their code of ethics. Whether by recycling or using energy-saving electricity, everyone seems to be doing something to lessen the carbon footprint.

3D printing and the environment

3D printing has garnered some negative attention for the amount of plastic it wastes. To combat this many companies have attempted to reduce the environmental harm caused by 3D printing. There are companies like ProtoPrint and The Plastic Bank who kill two birds with one stone by employing underprivileged people to pick up and sort through plastic waste that is then converted into 3D printer filament. There are also people trying to steer away from plastic completely, like researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology who are developing a way to produce printer filament from foods like spinach, cocoa and rice.

Leading 3D printer manufacturer 3D Systems even made a 3D printer called the Ekocycle that extrudes recycled plastic bottles and uses them as filament to build products. Now, a team of designers has followed suit and created a 3D printer that has an automatic built-in plastic waste extruder.

Designers Yangzi Qin, Yingting Wang, Luckas Fischer and Hanying Xie have created what they call the 3D Re-printer. The machine works by recycling plastic bottles and converting it into raw material for 3D printing. The 3D Re-printer isn’t publicly released yet and there isn’t much information available online, but the designers revealed details of its basic functions.

“Plastic products and waste material are part of our daily lives, be it at home, in school or the office,” writes the team on itsdesign concept photo. “We don’t know where to put most of these products, or feel that it is such a waste. The quantity of plastic waste is constantly rising and thus affecting our lives in the future and causing damage to the environment due to huge landfills and the long time it takes to degrade. In addition it affects the overall beauty of our cities by creating “visual pollution.” 3D-Reprinter is a device design that allows the user to recycle the home waste plastic bottles into new products.”

From the little available information on the 3D Re-printer, it seems almost identical in functionality to 3D Systems’ $1,199Ekocycle. The 3D Re-printer doesn’t have a listed price tag yet, but if its designers choose to sell it for a relatively reasonable cost then it may be worth looking into.

INSIDE3DP.COM
by Shanie Phillips | Sep 15 2014 , 11:24:42