3D Printing In A Liquid – New Methods
Haven’t things in 3D printing moved on in such a short space of time? In no way do we take anything away from Jerry Le Pore who we saw 3D printing the Eiffel Tower back in March 2014 using his Makerbot.
The project was a labor of love taking many hours to 3D print each piece and then carefully assemble them into Gustav’s iconic structure. Visions of a large Airfix model came to mind but Jerry’s result was stunning.
Likewise, we remember the amazing 3D Print From Makerbot of a train which was undertaken by Mr Fischer, taking hundreds of hours to 3D print all of the model’s 276 parts – just incredible!
Models of the Eiffel tower and this enormous train locomotive take many hours to 3D print using FDM machines.
Today, things in the 3D printing world are moving quicker than perhaps the manufacturers of fused decomposition modelling (FDM) based 3D printers would like to admit. And at 3DPrintWise we ask if 3D printing using FDM has a long term future beyond the consumer market. At least, the work undertaken using a technique which puts down one layer at a time may end up fragmenting if a better technology comes along at the right price.
Continuous Liquid Interface Production
A new technique showing great promise is the use of Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP). A method being harnessed by Carbon3D to 3D print in a liquid. It is an amazing technique which was discovered by material scientists and patented last year. One which is based upon the reactions between ultraviolet light and oxygen. A seemingly elementary chemical reaction which when applied under certain conditions can 3D print objects up to 100 times faster than FDM.
To the eye, a 3D printer from Carbon3D is like something from Star trek or out of the film Terminator. A complete solid model is literally pulled out of a pool of liquid photopolymer resin. We already made one post about how the future of 3D printing may have arrived using CLIP from Carbon 3D but we don’t want to leave it there. We believe the phenomena of photo polymerization that they are using to produce smooth-sided solid objects is too important and needs publicity. CLIP has the potential to disrupt the 3D printing industry itself.
The video of the 3D printed Eiffel tower using CLIP technology is an eye opener. After only a few minutes emerges a perfect copy of the Eiffel tower from a pool of blue colored resin. You can make up your own mind as to whether this may end up affecting the traditional manufacturers of FDM based 3D printers.
Watch this space! Carbon3D as pioneers of this 3D printing technique have already secured investment of $10m from Autodesk.
Update: A really well produced video by Science Magazine.