May 2013

Multi-Jet vs. Stereolithography

Multi-Jet vs. Stereolithography

There are many different methods used in the additive manufacturing industry to deliver prototypes. I talked with Realize President Todd Reese about the methods currently being used in our facility. We have a new machine named Candice and she’s really into detailed parts.

3d printer at Realize – Candice

3D Systems Viper si2 SLA System

Multi-Jet Modeling is an additive manufacturing technology commonly referred to as 3D Printing. Unlike SLA, which uses a UV laser to draw/harden each layer onto the surface of a vat of liquid resin, our ProJet 3500HDMax employs a UV lamp to flash cure each layer of material that has been jetted on demand from a print head.  Using MJM technology, there’s no laser beam diameter to compensate and the process does not suffer from an SLA phenomenon we call print-through.  This enables our MJM to produce models with exceptional detail and crispness(see image below). The MJM process is also capable of build layers nearly eight times finer than SLA.  Our SLAs are calibrated to run at 0.004″ and 0.002″, but our MJM can run at ~0.001″ and ~0.0005″.  Unfortunately, MJM materials are not as robust as SLA materials at this time, but I would expect strides to be made in this arena in years to come.  Both technologies have a place for serving a variety of applications.

– Todd Reese President Realize, Inc.

mereedMulti-Jet vs. Stereolithography
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Realize Employee Profile- Jennifer Voyak

What is your role at Realize?

Office Manager is the title but I prefer office guru. A Lot of accounting work, quoting, answering phones and run errands. I do pretty much anything that’s asked of me. I reek havoc on this place.

Name some of your favorite things in the world.

My daughter Reagan who is 9 years old…working out…I do a lot of cardio and love to run outside, 5-6  days a week. My husband is pretty cool…16 years of bliss this year in October…spending time with the fam is my fav.

How does Realize do things differently than the competition?

Staying up to date on technology and what is going on in the RP and 3Dprinting world. There is a focus on keeping things running like a fined tuned machine.

Favorite meal?

Vegetable fried rice from Mark Pi’s, Diet Mountain Dew and an egg-roll. For dessert tuxedo cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory..and a Miller Lite beer.

What music are you listening to right now?

It depends on my mood…this morning it was 80’s hair bands…GNR, Motley Crue. My fav all time are the Crue, Jason Aldean, and Bon Jovi in leather in pants.

You can take two movies with you to space…which do you bring?

Sixteen Candles and Rock of Ages with Tom Cruise..

One word that describes you?

Outgoing.

What impresses yo most about the Rapid Prototype Industry?

The fact that it even exists its amazing! What it can do..is just incredible to me.

How do you explain to friends what Realize does?

I say that I work for a company that builds prototypes….and the say, “what is that?” My answer is something like, “we get files and then create something in a machine.”

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Right now quoting is the biggest challenge…the process is smooth but making sure its solid and correct is the toughest part.

One personal thing you would like to Rapid Prototype?

Our black lab that passed away a few years ago Bocephus.

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mereedRealize Employee Profile- Jennifer Voyak
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Realize visits the AMUG 2013 Conference

Realize President Todd Reese recently attended the AMUG conference in Jacksonville, Florida. The conference was celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary. We asked Todd to recap the overall experience. What were the attendees buzzing about this year?

Realize President Todd Reese meets Iron Man!

This group has morphed over the years. It started off focusing on one technology, stereolithography, but the industry was growing so the group thought it would be a good idea to include emerging, different and competitive technologies. AMUG is all inclusive now, anyone that has additive manufacturing machines, regardless of technology, is invited now. It’s developed into more of a technical forum with the people actually running the machines and solving problems while pushing the technology to the next big thing. The dream for many is to quickly print production parts off of these machines, and even do so from home. For example, a knob on your blender breaks, well the idea is that you could just download the file for that component and make the part yourself on your personal 3D printer rather than go to the store and buy it. Discovering the appropriate materials, and engineering more consistency and repeatability into the machines to create production parts is where the trick is. At Realize we are more focused on prototypes, helping clients early in their product development cycle, and that will remain an important step in the process.  I expect designs will change as additive manufacturing technologies become used to make production parts, because the limitations or restrictions you would see with traditional methods, such as injection molding, don’t exist in that realm.  Think, building a whistle with the ball already inside it.  Again, the trick lies in developing appropriate materials and machines with better repeatability.  From a pure production standpoint, I think we are still a ways off from that. The AMUG group continues to grow in size but even just a few short years ago you really did not hear about the technology outside of the industry. Now with the 3D printing buzzword the media has brought to the street it’s really come to the masses.
It’s incredible there are all these innovative people making machines in their garage and coming up with new ways of doing things. Right now there are two groups out there; guys like me who have been at it for 20+ years on an industry side, and then a new brilliant, social media generation who have recently been introduced to 3D printing.  I talked to many people at AMUG on this very topic, and the common thread was that it will be a challenge to bring them together, or can you even bring them together? The new generation has done a heck of a job creating a buzz, and a cool factor, and the national media has grabbed and run with it…is it a bubble? I don’t know.
Realize is primarily a stereolithography and rubber tooling service bureau but we do offer 3D printing services as well.  I’m excited to see what’s next in the evolution of the industry.   AMUG is a great event for witnessing and participating in the evolution, as it’s where the technical leaders to come together.
It’s a conference unlike anything else I’ve been to. The networking and information exchange is such a priority for everyone and the board does a phenomenal job of structuring the event to keep people engaged throughout the entire event experience. There were many fascinating elements during the conference but the highlight for me would be the presentation from Jason Lopes from Legacy Effects. It was very exciting to see how the technology I work with every day is applied to costumes and special effects in the movies.  It is used a lot more than you might think!  By using these technologies they can bring back some realism and not completely rely on the computer animated graphics, the results are pretty special. I was especially impressed with learning how rapid prototyping was used to make the Iron Man mask. A big thanks to the AMUG board. That group of passionate volunteers does an incredible job of putting the event together and improving things each year to make the conference the premiere event it is today, hats off to them.
Bottom line this is a great conference to attend. You will talk to your peers and competitors. Sharing knowledge will help us advance. I certainly walked away with some great information this year.

mereedRealize visits the AMUG 2013 Conference
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