Solidscape to Unveil new Software & Manufacturing Process Via 3D Printing At EuroMold

[Brian_Krassenstein]

Are any of you attending EuroMold in Germany at the end of this month? If so, you will have a chance to see a demonstration of something Solidscape will be announcing. Supposedly it will be a manufacturing process that allows for the quick, creation of advanced parts, most likely through the wax 3D printing process that Solidscape is known for. It should definitely be interesting to see what this announcement will be. What do you think they will be showcasing? Read and see more on this at: http://3dprint.com/22931/solidscape-euromold-news/

[bford903]

My experience with Solidscape printers is that they need constant maintenance. The first printer I ever used was a T66 Benchtop. Jet failures were a regular occurrence. The jets are very expensive as well. Around $1000. I was able to locate the patent holder for the jets and he sells refurbed jets at a slightly reduced price...$750 (don't forget you have to buy two; build jet and support jet). A typical print took about 10-12 hours to complete. The software that accompanied it was DOS-based; luckily i'm old enough to have had a DOS computer at home when I was younger. Also, the material was extremely brittle so it had to be handled very delicately. These things were troublesome for someone new to 3D printing. Keep in mind, I realize my trouble with the printer was partially due to my inexperience, but the machine was temperamental no doubt about that.

That being said, as a jeweler, there is no other printer out there that offers the high quality prints combined with castability that the Solidscape offers. The material casts beautifully using typical investment and burnout cycles familiar to anyone casting injection waxes. I'm excited to see what Solidscape has in store, and I will probably track down someone that owns one to do some prints for me, but buying one would probably be out of the question.

[brbubba]

Many of the high end jewelry makers use these for master molds. I'd like to see this company come up with a similar system for more conventional materials such as plastics, although I'm sure there are some major technological hurdles.