Professional Additive Manufacturing
By “professional additive manufacturing”, we intend all those categories of 3D printing adoption that relate to the creative and artistic spheres. These include applications in architecture, construction, design, arts & crafts as well as entertainment (movies and animation) and designer consumer products such as furniture and jewelry.
This category of adopters has grown enormously in recent years as the cost of professional level AM systems has decreased from over $100,000 to between $20,000 and $5,000. This enormous paradigm shift has opened up 3D printing to a wide demographic of users that have innovated and imagined new application possibilities for AM. The process is still very much ongoing as the abundance of news and articles in this section clearly indicate.
Several artists and creatives have embraced plastic and in many cases ceramics based technologies to explore new possibilities in both end-use products and their supply to the final user. 3D printing is seen as the key technology that will enable the production of mass customized items, produced on-demand, on location, by professionals in any part of the world.
Global professional and B2C additive manufacturing services such as Shapeways, iMaterialise and Sculpteo have also contributed to expanding this area of AM by making high-end 3D printing technologies easily accessible and affordable for more people all over the world.
Latest professional AM news:
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Italy-based 3D printer manufacturer Lumi Industries has announced its newest product, the PicoFAB, a low-cost resin 3D printer ideal for producing small and intricate prototypes and products for the dental and jewelry sectors, among others. The PicoFAB, which will retail for under 150 euros, is powered by a compact light…
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The Smithsonian Institution has installed a full-color 3D printer from Mimaki at its Smithsonian Exhibits (SIE) studios in Landover, MD. The technology will be used by the Smithsonian to explore new exhibition practices for its various museums and offices. Made up of 19 expansive museums and galleries, nine research centers…
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We know that 3D printing is being used as a tool to help preserve artefacts and share cultural histories, but apparently it is also being used to preserve sound, so to speak. A team from the Royal Holloway University of London and the University of York have used 3D printing…
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3D Systems has launched a new Figure 4 production system dedicated specifically to the jewelry market. The machine—called the Figure 4 Jewelry—offers high speed printing as well as high precision and fine feature detail capabilities. It is optimized for particular applications, including jewelry casting patterns, master patterns for molds and…
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In recent years, 3D scanning and printing have taken on increasingly important roles in the museal context, used by conservationists and archaeologists to digitally archive fragile or decaying artefacts. At Oxford University, for instance, historical instruments are being replicated using 3D printing, which allows them to be handled and even…
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Since Pre-Hispanic times the cochineal insect has been used as a natural colorant by indigenous peoples from the Americas. For the upcoming Cooper-Hewitt exhibition, Nature by Design: Cochineal, Emerging Objects produced a series of 3D printed objects using this ancient colorant. The Californian studio founded by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello has been…
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Steven Naifeh, a prolific artist and author, recently teamed up with 3D printing service i.materialise to bring to life a 12-foot-tall sculpture he designed for the Eskenazi Museum of Fine Art at the University of Indiana. The piece, which was 3D printed using laser sintering technology, is inspired by desert…
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Bridges have become a popular way for research groups and additive manufacturing companies to demonstrate their technologies. It makes sense. Bridges combine architecture and performance while also engaging directly with people. While not every person may recognize the ingenious nature of a topologically optimized engine component, a state-of-the art bridge…
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The Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford houses a stunning collection of historical musical instruments from around the world. Unlike many types of artefact, which can simply be looked at and understood, having a collection of instruments presents a unique challenge, as hearing them is part of the…
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Precious metals and precious metal 3D printing provider Cooksongold is partnering with 3D LAB on the AtoNoble, a compact powder atomization machine that will help revolutionize powder production and parameter development for precious metals. The machine uses a patented process, known as ultrasonic plasma atomization, to melt non-reactive precious metals…
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