Another conference in the books. This year was a historic one at that. It was the first year the AMUG (formerly 3DSUG) opened the doors to all additive manufacturing technologies. Last year, when the decision was made, we were not sure how this change would be received. Turns out, the conference was a huge success. The number of attendees and exhibitors were way up and everyone had a great time. As secretary of the board, it was a pleasure to work with such a great team of advisors. Thanks to all who worked hard and a special thanks to all the sponsors, vendors, and presenters who helped make this a success. The board has already begun planning next year’s conference in Jacksonville by holding meetings on site June 6-10. Our goal is to continue to improve and build on what we learned this year to make next year even better. See you in April 2013!

Barry Coyle and I attended the BIOMEDevice trade show in Boston, MA last week. It was the first trade show I had ever been to as a booth staffer, so I didn’t know what to expect. Luckily, everything turned out great. Our booth was located on a corner spot allowing for traffic flow from all angles. Our booth was consistently occupied by attendees who were interested in learning about what we do and how we would be beneficial to their company. People were drawn to our array of prototype parts displayed on our table. It was nice to have tangible parts for attendees to touch and look at first hand. But, I think the most attractive part of our booth was our Fishbowl made of DSM Somos 10122 which was filled to the brim with ‘wint-o-green’ mints… they were definitely a hit!

During our off-time, we ate at a restaurant called Del Friscos. It is known for steaks and red wine. So naturally, we ordered sea food and white wine. It was still delicious.  We also went on a Duck Tour. If you have never been, you should do it. The ‘Duck’ is a hybrid between a bus and a boat. The driver doubles as a tour guide who divulges all of the historical facts of the area. As the driver is talking, he drives the Duck through the city, then drives down a ramp right into the water. Our favorite historical story was ‘The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919’. There was literally a tidal wave of molasses. Crazy! Our last adventure was to a place where everybody knows your name – ‘Cheers’.  

Overall, the trip was great. We had a wonderful time working the booth and exploring the city. We returned with dozens of good leads that will hopefully turn into new customers.

Enjoy the pictures!

Last week marked the first ever AMUG (Additive Manufacturing Users Group) Conference in Costa Mesa, CA.  I was really impressed with the AMUG volunteers and venue, they all did an exceptional job pulling together this year’s conference and handling double the amount of attendees versus the former 3DSUG conferences.  We all had a great time networking, learning, and of course playing during the week.  Tuesday night awards dinner was not a letdown either, as it was hosted at Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park exclusively for our group.  I am extremely proud that my brother Bret stepped up to fill the shoes of Guy Bourdeau who could not make it due to illness (get better soon Guy, we missed you!)  Bret helped with the registration and conference items to help make it a success.  At the conference, Bret was nominated to serve on the 2012-2013 AMUG board as VP. Great job Bret!  

Centerbrook Architects & Planners
SLA Model Components

Laser Reproductions works with Centerbrook to build SLA components for an Academic Laboratory Building model.

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         – Vesta M. Kelly

Three levels of ice construction:

• Fab@home Rapid Prototyping Machine
  • Modified to make small 3D ice objects in a -20°C environment
• Adept Cobra 600 Robot
  • Produces finely detailed 3D ice objects about 30cm across by 20cm high
• Macro Robot
  • Hoped to develop this by 2012 for working at an architectural scale

Check out the articles below. There are a lot of interesting articles, photos, videos, publications, and links. My favorite is the link to the ‘Hotel de Glace’. I would love to go there… simply AMAZING!

Articles

Main Article: http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/ice/

PDF of Process: http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/ice/_source/REPARTI_ice_poster.pdf

Photos & Videos: http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/ice/

Hotel de Glace: http://www.hoteldeglace-canada.com/hotel.php?action=nouveautes

I had the pleasure of representing Laser Reproductions at the 2012 Association of Professional Model Makers show in Kansas City last month. Many companies were in attendance, filling the conference with the “Who’s Who” of the model making world. With so many renowned companies present, this was the perfect opportunity for us to exhibit and hold a workshop during the 4-day event.  

In LR’s breakout session, I touched on the many technologies that we offer including SLA, SLS, and FDM. After this brief introduction to our company, I focused on how the rapid prototyping industry has assisted modern-day model makers. With LR having an in-house model shop, the synergies of knowing the detail required for serving the model makers of the world certainly is helpful. 

During my downtime, I attended many of the workshops that were available. From what is new in RP, to new techniques and materials in model-making, the workshops were jam packed. On Saturday evening, the show hosted a conference dinner which featured a speaker from Garmin who spoke about taking a model shop in the basement of his own home to a major player in the industry, and then ultimately working for Garmin. 

LR had the pleasure of seeing many existing customers and of course meeting many new faces as well.  It was an honor to be a part of a conference where everyone in attendance takes so much pride in their true talents. Seeing firsthand what these model makers are tasked with each and every day, makes us gain a deeper appreciation for the projects that we get from model makers. The overall experience was truly remarkable and I look forward to attending the conference again in 2014. 

Look for the Case Study that will be posted next Wednesday to get an inside view of how Laser has recently assisted a model maker.

            Answer: A snow house without a loo!

Some potential advantages of using water as the build material are:

                    ·Equipment is less expensive

                    ·Material is environmentally friendly

                    ·Lower energy consumption

                    ·Faster build speeds

                    ·Improved surface finish

When geometries are complex, additive manufacturing processes often require the need for support materials. These support materials hold up overhangs or internal voids during the build process. Once the process is complete, the support materials are then removed. The scientists at Missouri S&T needed to make sure that the support materials for the RFP process had certain properties such as:

                   ·Freezing temperature similar to water

                   ·Non-soluble in water

                   ·Similar surface contact angle as water

                   ·Environmentally benign

                   ·Easy removal from ice structure

 They ended up testing two different support materials

                    1. Eutectic salt solution

                      ·Found out this could not be used because it caused degradation of the ice.

                    2. Eutectic sugar solution

                      ·Used this as the support material.

Many tests were conducted to test the feasibility, usefulness, and build quality of the Rapid Freeze Prototyping process. Results can be found in the links below.

Ice part prototypes and metal parts made by investment castings with ice patterns were successfully created.

I have not been successful in finding many RFP articles since these two were written in the early 2000’s. I wonder if this process is still one that scientists are pursuing.

Articles & Images: 

http://isc.mst.edu/research/intellegentmanufacturingprocess/virtualrapidprototypingmanufacturing/leu_rfp.html

http://web.mst.edu/~vram/proj-rfp.html

      – Maxwell Maltz