3D Printing
3D printing is a core part of our making process. We use it to test ideas, produce patterns for casting, or create final pieces. Our printers allow us to control material behavior at a small scale, enabling us to fabricate geometries that would be impossible or too costly through traditional methods. We use several types of printers and materials, each suited to a specific phase of the process — from prototyping to wax patterns for lost-wax casting, or detailed resin prints ready for finishing. 3D printing, for us, is not mass production. It’s a tool for experimentation and precision — part of our craft.
FDM
Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing technology, which works by extruding a model layer by layer. It is used for rapid modeling and prototyping. It uses thermoplastics and materials with large heat resistance.
SLA
Stereolithography (SLA) is a 3D printing technique which uses photopolymerization, a process by which light causes chains of molecules to link, forming polymers. It works by focusing an ultraviolet laser on to a vat of photopolymer resin.
DLP
DLP uses a digital projector screen to flash an image of each layer across the entire printing platform at once. The projector is a digital screen, thus the image of each layer is composed of square pixels, resulting in a layer formed from small voxels.
FDM Printers
FDM printers work by using thermoplastic in order to build strong and durable prototypes with optimized accuracy. It is an ideal way for designers and engineers to produce and test a design in the most cost-effective manner. The rapid, low cost prototyping method allows for numerous design iterations, permiting mass customization strategies. Using prototyping plastics, FDM printers are best suited for fit or form checks but are also suitable for printing functional parts such as enclosures and custom piping.
DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
| Minimum Wall Thickness | 1.4 mm |
| Minimum Details | 0.5 mm |
| Maximum Size | 200 x 200 x 180 mm |
| Minimum distance between features | 0.8 mm |
SLA Printers
Stereolithography (also known as SLA) is a laser-based 3D printing technology which uses UV-sensitive liquid resin. A UV laser beam scans the surface of the resin and selectively hardens the material corresponding to a cross section of the product, building the 3D part from the bottom to the top.
DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
| Minimum Wall Thickness | 0.6 mm |
| Maximum part dimensions | 145x145x175 mm |
| Layer thickness | Standard: 50 microns High resolution: 25 microns Low resolution: 100 microns |
| Minimum embossed detail | 0.1 mm |
| Minimum engraved detail | 0.4 mm |
| Minimum distance between features | 0.5 mm |
DLP Printers
DLP use a technique that constructs the object on a built platform which hangs downwards. A light source shines upwards on the decided spots of liquid resin which will become part of the model. The build platform with the model is then pulled up slightly, and the next layer is printed in one single pass. Layer by layer, the operation is repeated untill the object is completed.
DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
| Minimum Wall Thickness | 0.2 mm |
| Maximum part dimensions | 80x45x120 mm |
| Layer thickness | Standard: 25 microns Low resolution: 50 microns |
| Minimum embossed detail | 0.1 mm |
| Minimum engraved detail | 0.4 mm |
| Minimum distance between features | 0.5 mm |
