MIT’s glass 3D printer

Posted on by aneczka2307

http://gizmodo.com/watching-mits-glass-3d-printer-is-absolutely-mesmerizin-1725433454

Watching MIT's Glass 3D Printer Is Absolutely Mesmerizing

Watching MIT’s Glass 3D Printer Is Absolutely Mesmerizing

MIT’s Mediated Matter Group made a video showing off their first of its kind optically transparent glass printing process. It will soothe your soul.

Called G3DP (Glass 3D Printing) and developed in collaboration with MIT’s Glass Lab, the process is an additive manufacturing platform with dual heated chambers. The upper chamber is a “Kiln Cartridge,” operating at a mind-boggling 1900°F, while the lower chamber works to anneal (heat then cool in order to soften the glass). The special 3D printer is not creating glass from scratch, but rather working with the preexisting substance, then layering and building out fantastical shapes like a robot glassblower.

It’s wonderfully soothing to watch in action—and strangely delicious-looking. “Like warm frosting,” my colleague Andrew Liszewski confirmed. “Center of the Earth warm frosting.”

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by Kaila Hale-Stern |  8/20/15 4:30pm

High-Res 3D printer!

Posted on by aneczka2307

http://gizmodo.com/a-new-high-res-3d-printer-can-print-objects-smaller-tha-1713352660

A New High-Res 3D Printer Can Print Objects Smaller Than Blood Cells

A New High-Res 3D Printer Can Print Objects Smaller Than Blood Cells

Those telltale layered stripe marks all over a 3D-printed object might soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new high-res printing technique that’s actually capable of creating 3D objects smaller than a red blood cell.

A team of researchers from South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, led by professor Park Jang-ung, have developed a new kind of 3D printing technique that works not unlike the color printer you have at home. Except that this electrohydrodynamic inkjet uses special inks that can be layered to form microscopic 3D shapes like arched bridges, zig-zag structures, and pillars.

A New High-Res 3D Printer Can Print Objects Smaller Than Blood Cells

The new 3D printing technique can actually create patterns as small as 0.001-millimeters in size. For comparison, a red blood cell measures in at 0.006 to 0.008-millimeters, so it’s actually capable of creating shapes too small for the naked human eye to see.

An obvious application of the new technology would be to further refine the 3D printing process to the point where objects have no visible layering or textures. They’d be—at least in theory—smooth to the touch as soon as they came off the printer. But a more immediate application involves using these new techniques for 3D printing electronic components and circuit boards, making it easier and faster to create, refine, and perfect prototypes.

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by Andrew Liszewski | 6/23/15 2:15pm

Jet Engine!

Posted on by aneczka2307

http://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-first-3d-printed-part-thats-approved-for-a-1698939385

This Is the First 3D-Printed Part That's Approved for a Jet Engine

This Is the First 3D Printed Part That’s Approved for a Jet Engine

3D printing has just reached another major milestone as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has officially approved GE’s T25 as the first 3D printed part cleared for use on a commercial jet engine.

GE is now working with Boeing to retrofit over 400 of its GE90-94B engines—used on the modern 777—with the new part.

But before you get second thoughts about ever flying again, it’s important to note that this part wasn’t created using the consumer-grade 3D printers that churn out toys, smartphone cases, and other plastic trinkets. The fist-sized silver metal housing designed to protect a compressor inlet temperature sensor from icing was created using a 3D printer using additive manufacturing techniques. But instead of extruding plastic from a heated nozzle, a highly-accurate laser is directed at layer after layer of cobalt-chrome powder to slowly build up the part over time.

What you’re left with is a part made from lightweight cobalt-chrome alloy metal that’s just as strong and durable as parts made with more traditional manufacturing techniques like metal stamping or milling. Except that using a 3D printer means these parts are actually faster to produce and refine, they can be far more complex in their design, and they result in little to no wasted material during production.

This Is the First 3D-Printed Part That's Approved for a Jet Engine

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by Andrew Liszewski | 4/20/15 10:15am

Dental 3D printer?

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

Say Goodbye To Old-Fashioned Dentures!

http://gizmodo.com/these-terrifyingly-real-teeth-were-made-by-a-new-dental-1690523835

These Terrifyingly Real Teeth Were Made By a New Dental 3D Printer

These Terrifyingly Real Teeth Were Made By a New Dental 3D Printer
The world is still trying to figure out why every home would need a 3D printer, but in the professional world they continue to thrive. At the International Dental Show currently going on in Germany, Stratasys announced a new 3D printer that uses multiple materials at once to create startlingly realistic dental models in a single print run.
These Terrifyingly Real Teeth Were Made By a New Dental 3D Printer

The Objet260 Dental Selection 3D Printer is a lot bigger than the consumer-friendly desktop models sold by companies like MakerBot. But with 16-micron accuracy and a triple-jet system that lets it produce dental models with realistic looking gums, bones, nerves, and teeth, it’s designed for use in dental and orthodontic offices that need to be able to test dental appliances without having access to the actual patient.

The material used to 3D print the gingiva—or gums as they’re more commonly known—is even soft and pliable like the real thing which allows implants, bridges, and crowns to be tested and refined to ensure they won’t actually damage a patient’s real tissue when eventually installed.Given the current limitations of 3D printing the new machine can’t actually be used to create a false set of teeth for a patient to wear, but given how realistic these models look that doesn’t seem like it would be too far off.

GIZMODO.COM
by Andrew Liszewski |  3/10/15 12:09pm