The Red Hook Regatta

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in September, deep in the industrial Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, far from any subway stop, hundreds of people gathered at the water. They were there to watch an event – the only of its kind in the world – called the Red Hook Regatta. It’s currently the world’s only 3D printed boat race, and this year’s second annual drew a cheering crowd that pushed five hundred.

The event was started by David Sheinkopf, who heads the Tech Department at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works. The race itself is part of a collaboration between Pioneer Works and the Red Hook Initiative, both nonprofits in Red Hook that blend art, education, and technology. They hatched the idea for the race with the goal of honoring the neighborhood’s shipping history with a boat race that could function as both an educational tool and a community unifier. Capitalizing on the buzz of 3D printing as well as the technology’s utility as a boat-constructor, a 3D printed, remote-controlled boat race was born.

Working with the Red Hook Initiative’s Digital Stewards, a group of 18-24 year-olds applying teachings in digital media and technology to civic journalism projects, the race began to take shape. Over the course of several weeks, the stewards designed their boats, learning the power and complexity of CAD software, culminating in printing their boats on Gigabot.

On race day, hundreds of spectators gathered to watch the boat captains navigate their creations through the waters of Brooklyn’s Valentino Pier, dozens of 3D printed boats paying homage to what was one of the nation’s primary shipping ports in the 19th century.

This is the story of the Red Hook Regatta.

Pioneer Works: http://pioneerworks.org/

Red Hook Regatta info: http://pioneerworks.org/red-hook-regatta/

Read Engadget’s account of the 2016 Red Hook Regatta: https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/28/red-hook-regatta-2016/

Morgan Hamel

Blog Post Author

On Beer and 3D Printing: Tap Handle Musings Part 1

If you have been following our social media accounts or exploits online, chances are you’ve witnessed multiple references to craft beer & roadtrips. We’ve also been guilty for using a #beerforscale next to our human scale 3D prints.

Chief Hacker shows off his super-sized 3D printed GE engine downloaded from Thingiverse using a Shiner Bock for scale.

As we’ve connected with makers across the globe, we’ve encountered a disproportionate number of other 3D printing enthusiasts who share a passion for home brews. Over stouts & porters (and an occasional hefewiezen), we began to muse with tap masters worldwide on the synergies between the additive manufacturing and brewing cultures, which revealed multiple overlaps.

Below are some similarities we’ve witnessed between our industries:

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  • Brewers are makerpros too
    • Many of the tap masters we chatted with shared that their career started out as a hobby. A bucket and oversized pot quickly was upgraded to a small still, which serviced crowdsourced recipe requests for friends and friends-of-friends. Like so many of us now running 3D printing companies, successful breweries are an amalgamation of passion, friends, curiosity and a little hardware hacking.
  • Both movements are changing policy
    • As state and federal law restrict scaling microbreweries, many beer enthusiasts such as Raise Your Pint in Mississippi suddenly found themselves immersed in state politics as they lobbied for deregulation. 3D printing startups sympathize as we struggle to make sense of lack of industry specific export codes, open source policies, debate around the ethical use of 3D printers and the slow realization that the government is unprepared for exporting personal factories worldwide. An artifact of explosive growth, participants in both the craft beer & the 3D movement have accidentally found themselves immersed in policy & regulatory discussions.
  • 3D printing and brewing is as much an art as a science
    • While both of our industries are ultimately contingent on chemistry, whether it be polymers or yeast, little academic rigor has been applied to craft brewing or FFF 3D printing. We therefore depend on instinct and basic scientific probing to ensure consistency & quality.
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  • We’re building factories
    • Whether you’re making a bottle of beer or a Gigabot, once you commit to commercialization (even in limited quantities), you’re forced to stand up shipping, compliance, and production. Within a few months, a small-scale factory emerges, with an impressive infrastructure investment (usually from the founder’s pockets).
  • We need significant capital outlay, that often is accomplished without a VC
    • With the exception of growth stage breweries (e.g. Laganitas), most microbreweries are intentionally small. As non-traditional business owners we chatted with borrowed from their 401K’s, installed the best investment apps uk, and got loans from families to bring their dream to reality. Not surprisingly, most founders we encountered were in their 30’s, 40’ or even 50’s, having accrued a nest egg to overcome the risk and initial expenditures. Breweries, like 3D printing start-ups tend to gravitate to non-dilutive options for initial funding and seemed more concerned with making a sustainable business than posturing for quick acquisition.
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  • Our cultures represent a lifestyle & community is core to our mission
    • Let’s face it.  No one wants to drink alone. Concurrently most hobbyists are only as successful as the last 3D print they shared publicly. Start-ups in both domains have calendars full of events to engage enthusiasts of all levels, because the heart of what we do includes sharing and dialogue. Yoga and trivia nights are no stranger to local breweries. Similarly most 3D printing start-ups host regular meet-up and grass roots efforts to provide education, good WiFi and a place to swap ideas.
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  • Tap handles make a perfect 3D printing project for budding breweries
    • Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Beer & 3D printing series!

Samantha snabes

Blog Post Author

Pitching for a Circular Economy Part 1: Why We Went to Aruba

Musings From Our Amazing Experience at the ATECH* Conference

As I sit on a plane flying in the opposite direction of Aruba I feel there is nothing more important than finding a way back. You see, Samantha & I spent the past three days as co-founders immersed in a new culture with new people and pitching an idea that is new and maybe just ahead of it’s time. The event that brought us all together is Atech2016. There exist in the paradise of an island nation of Aruba a group of inspiring founders who for the second year now have decided to put their money on the table. These visionaries invite tech savvy entrepreneurs and guest speakers to discuss thoughts and ideas on topics ranging from mobile banking & blockchain technology. I’m just glad we did research into sites like https://beincrypto.com/tag/coinbase/, as this meant that we were kept up to date with all things relating to the blockchain industry. We even looked into wearable tech & social inclusion from the perspective of Burning Man to inspire each other as well as the local Arubans how we as a society maintain relevance in the age of acceleration that we are living.

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Gatherings like Atech2016 are really the nexus, bringing together in one place a group of young individuals with passion, focus, and hunger for change. With connections made, and new ideas formed we are all contemplating our next steps as we fly in the opposite direction of Aruba. We feel honored to have been part of such an event and encouraged by many Arubans who resonated with re:3D’s vision and our pitch for the Atech and Aruban communities. We were stoked to be named finalists in the pitch competition, and, while we didn’t win left more determined than when we arrived.

Several things became clear to us in the few short days we spent on the island:

  1. Arubans are ready, in fact hungry, for greater technology. Meeting and talking to the young men and women volunteering at the conference we felt their excitement for 3D printing as well as other technology on display.
  2. The island nation of Aruba is resource constrained and imports the vast majority of all their physical goods. There is very limited manufacturing on the island.
  3. With an economy largely based on tourism and very little to nonexistent recycling program there is a growing problem with trash and landfill space.

Our goal and dream, that which we pitched to Aruba, was that re:3D would engineer and manufacture the prototype hardware needed to take the first step in 3D printing useful objects from plastic trash. During our few short days at the conference, we reached out to community leaders, local entrepreneurs, Aruban schools and universities and well as hotels to partner in the effort of recycling, re-using and re: imagining the possibilities to own their our factory as well as the supply chain. The response was super positive and affirmed for us first – hand there was a HUGE opportunity to leverage trash for a more circular economy.

Why is this important?

Where do we go next?

While we left Aruba affirmed that 3D printing from waste is inherently right, we unfortunately did not secure the resources we needed to complete a prototype to leverage reclaimed plastic using Gigabot. Stayed tuned to upcoming blogs in our series as we continue to share our vision in future competitions and pursue partners to donate post-manufacturing waste streams to test. With a little luck, we will raise enough support to partner with Aruba on a pilot!

~Happy Printing!

Matthew Fiedler

Blog Post Author

Investment Casting with 3D Printing

The following post was written by Todd Ronan. Todd joined the re:3D sales team after hearing a Co-Founder panel discussion on 3D printing & recyclable material at IEEE. From Michigan, parts Northwest, and now Austin (Portland’s si(hip)ster city) he is a Futurist, passionate about evolving technology, dreamer, and enthusiast of fine meade.

The thousand year old lost wax casting process has been revolutionized by the Human-Scale 3D printing of Gigabot

Several re:3D customers have augmented their foundries with Gigabot 3D printers because of the time savings, cost savings, and ability to convert more jobs into happy customers.

In traditional investment casting, a wax model is dipped into a ceramic slurry which is then allowed to dry. The resulting hard ceramic shell is then heated to melt the wax away, leaving a perfect model negative where the wax used to be.

Modern foundries however, have been making the move to 3D printing as a means of creating models for casting. With the ability to use  PLA prints in place of the wax models of old, 3D printing provides a cost efficient alternative method for producing investment casting patterns.

In layman’s terms: hot melted plastic can be printed in any shape, in any size, and allows for a cost efficient alternative to the traditional technique of lost wax casting.

In the past, 3D printers lacked the size to perform life-sized pieces and large format 3D printers, starting at $100K have been cost prohibitive. Enter re:3D’s Gigabot at 1/10th the price. A 3D printer with an 8 cubic foot build space for super-sized 3D printed parts.

Anyone lucky enough to find themselves outside of Austin in Bastrop will notice the beautiful, large bronze pieces of art around the city. These are courtesy of a high-point on the Austin Cultural Map tour, Clint Howard’s Deep In The Heart Art Foundry. Jamie and Clint Howard purchased the foundry in 1999, and have become the premier statuary design and manufacturing business in the state of Texas.

With demand for large pieces the foundry added a Gigabot FDM printer to their arsenal a couple of years ago. Instead of the long curing process associated with wax models, their Gigabot can make any design using standard CAD program, and print HUGE in PLA. It just so happens that PLA burns out just as clean as wax! The cost savings was almost immediate – cutting months and thousand of dollars off traditional casting allowing for increased bandwidth for contract pieces, and substantial revenue increase. With increased demand for printing, Deep in the Heart ordered a second Gigabot printer to keep up with the demand.

Another re:3D satisfied customer: family owned and operated Firebird 3D, located in Troutdale Oregon, recently participated in the Columbia River Highway centennial celebration.  Parts on this Model A (shown below) were Gigabot printed and cast along with this Rip Caswell piece, Devoted Passion, a re-telling of the exploration and creation of this amazingly scenic Pacific Northwest highway.

At Firebird they still use their traditional processes of wax casting but can use wax filament or PLA to print larger bronze pieces. It burns out, leaving a small amount of ash in the shell mold, which can be removed with washing. 3D printed PLA plastic burns out cleanly and is a more durable and more easily handled than a wax part. Chad Caswell (shown below) checks the layer height of their next print. They are, literally and figuratively burning through filament with a cost savings up to 70% by reducing labor!

We just got word Deep in the Heart purchased a 3rd Gigabot to help with workflow and high demand, and now has three 8 cubic foot 3d printers printing (money) while their workers sleep.

re:3D urges: Try a FREE print on us. Find out if Lost Wax (minus WAX + PLA) works for you! Please contact info@re3D.org for additional info on Gigabot 3D printers and lost wax castings!

Mike Strong

Blog Post Author

Stepper Motors vs Servo Motors

One question we sometimes get relates to our choice to use stepper motors over servos. We’d like to explain our rationale behind that, as well as why we personally prefer stepper motors to their servo counterpart.

I think the biggest advantage for servo systems is its ability to produce higher levels of torque at high RPM whereas stepper motors produce the most torque at low RPM. You might want to look into something similar to propshaft services for more information on what might be able to help. More torque at higher RPM means having a higher degree of certainty of achieving the desired position in high speed movements, i.e. accuracy and repeatability. If you have any more questions about servo motors or just need a repair check out the Servo Motor Repair Experts. In order to achieve potential benefits of closed loop control you must be willing to make some trade-offs:

  1. Increased cost
  2. More parts and more complicated system (ie more parts that can break)
  3. Decreased low end torque and power

Stepper motors on the other hand give time-proven reliability at a lower cost and provide a more robust system with fewer moving and electromechanical parts that can break. Some will point to servo closed loop control as being superior to steppers because it can correct positional errors should they happen. This may be helpful in traditional manufacturing technologies, but I challenge that a great majority of print failures and positional inaccuracies are caused by the 3D printer operators’ (in)ability to anticipate and control the thermodynamics occurring during the additive manufacturing process.

All plastic shrinks as it cools. Parts that warp and curl can become dislodged from the print surface, cause interference with the print head, and result in a loss of positional accuracy. Here are two reasons it does not help to have closed loop servo control: 1) If the part is warped and dimensionally deformed then the part will be scrapped anyway 2) If the part comes loose from the print surface and effectively causes the print head to loose position relative to your part, then your part will be scrapped. In the majority of causes of print failure, servo control has not saved your part.

If the size of the stepper motor is correctly chosen based upon the loads of the system, and appropriate limits are placed on acceleration and velocity, you will have the same reliability as a closed loop system. I have two large CNC mills driven by stepper motors that will drive a 1/2″ EM through steel at amazing rates machining parts to greater than 0.001″ tolerance. Stepper motors – we went to the moon on this technology!

Matthew Fiedler

Blog Post Author

IMTS 2016 – My Top Picks

Below is Gigamachinist Steve Johnson’s blog on IMTS 2016:

IMTS 2016 - My Top Picks

A few months ago, IKO International, asked re:3D if we would like to showcase Open Gigabot at their booth at International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2016 in Chicago. It would feature their linear rail system incorporated into our printer design, and would allow us to showcase our 3D printers among some of the world’s top manufacturing companies. Naturally, re:3D was thrilled to accept the opportunity to display at our first IMTS.

I have been running the machine shop at re:3D for just over a year, so my experience with 3D printing is still rather shallow, but my experience in manufacturing spans almost 25 years. And because I have a passion for mechanical design and manufacturing, IMTS is to me what Santa’s Workshop is to a 6 year old child. So when re:3D asked me to represent our team at IMTS, I was nervous and giddy all at once. Joining me to man our booth would be Jeric, an engineer from our team well versed in 3D printing. (and born around the time I entered the manufacturing industry) I was glad I would have his knowledge base to learn from and lean on during our time presenting Gigabot.

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With only 2 of us at the largest manufacturing show on this big blue marble we call home, it was very difficult to break loose from the re:3D display to visit other booths, and soak up some of the amazing displays being shown throughout the 1.37 million square feet of display space. We might slip out periodically, one at a time, to view a few booths close by, but for booths further away, we would need to arrive a  couple hours before the show opened to the public, so that we could freely view as much as time would allow.

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Over the course of 6 days presenting, we were able to meet hundreds of Gigabot admirers, and also meet several other companies who made a big impression on me in some way or another. These were my top 10 favorite booths from IMTS 2016, and why:

10. BobCAD-Cam

There are a lot of companies in the CAD/CAM market. Most, are simple CAM packages which aid the user in creating quick code for simple machine operations, and are reasonably inexpensive. A few, such as Autodesk, CATIA, Mastercam, and ProEngineer have gained a reputation as robust software packages capable of handling the most complex modern machine programming toolpaths in multi-axis environments. These companies also charge a premium price for their packages. And then there is BobCad. The best of both worlds. A high functioning CAD/CAM system at a price even a small business owner can easily manage.

Perhaps I am biased, as I use BobCAD version 28 in our shop at re:3D, to program the machines that make each part for every Gigabot 3D printer we sell. But there is no bias in saying that BobCAD has come a long way, and can compete with the big players in the CAD/CAM market at a price that makes the cost of other software packages seem bloated. And it is a standalone software. Create your solids, straight to code output in one software.

The folks at BobCAD had a relatively small booth in comparison to many of their competitors, but what it lacked in floor space, it made up for in content with a great staff of techs giving demos, and plenty of free swag. No nonsense high end results, and priced for everyone. Enough said.

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9. Autodesk

Autodesk is well known in the manufacturing industry as a leader in design software. So it is probably no wonder that they made my top 10. However, I did not pick their booth on the merit of their software, but rather for the content of their presentation. The Autodesk booth was the first thing you saw as you entered the East building from the skybridge. A massive booth among other software companies, Autodesk designed their area as a presentation stage. And it drew in the crowds all week as they did presentation after presentation on every topic you can think of in regard to manufacturing. (The free beer and coffee may have helped as well) But the one presentation that drew me in the most was a speech and Q&A with none other than Titan Gilroy, owner of Titan American MFG. For me, Titan is a true American success story that exemplifies the spirit of manufacturing excellence, and the drive to constantly improve our process. The desire to continually learn and adapt to an ever changing industry. And Titan shares his motivation and knowledge with the world via Youtube, as well as other appearances such as this. Having Titan speak from their booth was, in my opinion, a wise choice to connect to a broad demographic of manufacturers, big to small, and young to old. I made sure to get a signed poster for our team as well.

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8. DMG Mori | Mazak

This one was a split decision. Even before heading to IMTS, I had heard that Mazak had something special on the horizon. And upon arrival, I quickly heard that DMG Mori was also following the same path. So a visit to each booth was a must.

I remember back in 1997 I attended a tool show in Houston where I was first exposed to 3D printing. The concept absolutely blew my mind. But as additive manufacturing began to gain more attention, I heard the rumbling and grumbling of people in my industry doubting its validity in the manufacturing environment. As time passed and the technology expanded, people on the manufacturing floor began to fear that 3D printing was progressing so much that they believed it would end the need for machinists, forcing us into an early retirement, and the end of a career field. So my visit to both the Mazak and DMG Mori booths was a calming to all the fears of the past, as I witnessed the first two machines to meld additive manufacturing with subtractive manufacturing. Each company presented a mill center capable of CNC milling combined with 3D metal printing. These two machines are not eliminating machinists, but instead, redefining machining, just as the CNC machine did to conventional manual machining. Barriers are being broken down, and new possibilities are being realized. Parts that were previously impossible to make are now a reality. Material requirements are being decreased. These two booths excited me about the future of our industry, and I left envisioning what will be possible tomorrow.

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7. Datron

This booth made my list, in spite of my previous bias. I had seen internet postings about this relatively new company, and their milling machines. I quickly formed an uneducated opinion that they were selling snake oil. So, when I visited their booth I was bound and determined to prove to myself that they were selling a toy, not a tool.

I could not have been more wrong. Yes, it hurts a bit to admit I prejudged Datron, but I also feel it is necessary to set the record straight. Here is a new company that took the basics of what a milling machine does, and threw the standard out the window to design something entirely new and fresh. From the 6hp spindle turning 60,000rpms at a feedrate of 866ipm, to the ethanol coolant mister, to the most innovative vacuum chuck I have seen yet, they did not fail to impress me. Add in a huge touch screen control that has no physical keyboard, and a camera based part zero system that makes setups almost instantaneous. Have they created the perfect mill? No. The machines still have a rather short Z stroke, and a very limited tool diameter capability. But what they have created is totally outside the box from traditional mill design. I do think their asking price on these machines is a bit high, but all things considered, I was pleasantly surprised with this company. Way to go Datron. I am now a big fan.

6. Oak Ridge National Laboratories

When we speak of 3D printing, it is often difficult for people to envision a legitimate use for it. And most people instantly think of the tiny desktop printers that make tiny knick knacks to display. We at re:3D envisioned something bigger. A machine capable of building real world useful items and accessible to the masses. And then there is Oak Ridge National Laboratories. They took that concept to a whole new level. Upon entering their booth my eyes caught not only a Jeep on a completely 3D printed chassis, but a Cobra as well. Both are fully functional full sized vehicles. This was real world implementation of fused filament printing at it’s finest. But then it got better as I saw the office right behind them… which was also 3D printed. Yes, a full sized printed office structure. When you talk about making a big first impression, this should be the litmus for said impression. I am really looking forward to what they do next.

5. Stratasys

For people involved in additive manufacturing, Stratasys is a household name. They have been making impressive machines for years. Although a bit pricey, they are a solid company with a quality product and great features. At their booth this year, we got a chance to see a new printer utilizing a 4th axis rotary as well as a multi-axis printhead. This platform allows them to print parts without the worry of support material or overhang, and, less importantly, is mesmerizing to watch. Gone is the concept of extruding layers in a single plane.

I am told that they had a printer there that was capable of printing infinite length prints as well. I wish I had seen that and could report on it as well, but I apparently had tunnel vision aimed in on the multi-axis platform the entire time we were in their booth. Sometimes you miss stuff. It is a huge show. Even without seeing that printer, I felt this booth deserved serious props for WOW factor.

4. Fanuc

This one makes the list, not only for the Fanuc booth itself, but also for the massive presence their product had in so many other booths, including the IKO booth we were showing Gigabot in. Yes, if you have been in manufacturing long, you know who Fanuc is. From CNC control systems to robotic arms and delta systems, Fanuc has their hand in everything. Our booth featured a delta style part sorter that used IKO bearings in its assembly. Numerous other booths featured Fanuc robot arms performing various tasks involved with their product. And then there was the Fanuc booth. We witnessed a completely automated production line of mills running swag parts. Robots loading mills for first op, unloading, flipping, and reloading for second op, and then unloading, washing, and delivering parts as a finished product. All aspects of the line were Fanuc products. A fantastic display of the large variety of products they offer. And, of course, I cannot fail to mention the one item that had people talking all week. A massive robotic arm that was holding a brand new Fanuc Yellow Corvette, and manipulating the car all over the back corner of their booth. Yeah, that was a pretty sweet display of dexterity and power.

3. MachMotion | Solidcam

A teamed up booth much like our own, the Solidcam booth was hosting MachMotion for this show. Solidcam is a machine programming software that runs native in Solidworks, and MachMotion is a control company who has their hands in many projects. For the Solidcam booth, they were showing a MachMotion mill control that ran Solidworks and Solidcam at the control, allowing on floor programming in a design environment. Solidcam was also giving away a pretty nice 4 wheel UTV at their booth, which they refused to draw my name for. But I won’t hold that against them. And MachMotion also had one of their control systems on an engraving machine in another booth that made me geek out for a bit. The MachMotion control allowed us to text the machine from any cellphone, at which point the machine would ask us what text we wanted to engrave. Reply with a line of text, and the machine would process our request by engraving our requested text on an aluminum thumb drive. Custom made swag is always the best swag.

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2. IKO International

We cannot make this list without giving a shout out to the company who made it possible for us to attend IMTS in the first place. IKO welcomed us into their booth as a display of their linear rail system at work. We shared space with a couple other machines sporting IKO equipment. But the show winner for IKO… the machine that stole the limelight all week long… a simple claw machine built by a couple IKO engineers and salesmen, utilizing IKO ball screw systems. Loaded with IKO swag such as flashlights, notepads, and Rubik’s Cubes, the line to play the IKO claw machine stayed full all week. We may have gotten a bit jealous that it got more visibility than Gigabot, but in reality, we lined up a few times to play as well. Hey, it was fun.

1. F.I.R.S.T

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – An organization founded by Dean Kamen, had a huge presence on the C hall, and brought in students from 38 states and several countries to be a part of IMTS. This organization also had several activities planned for the students, which helped inspire these young minds to move forward to become the designers and manufacturers who will shape our future. I have to list them as my number 1 pick, as this organization is building our future, and helping our next generation to dream bigger, and reach beyond the stars. Thank you for all that you do.

Happy Printing!

Steve Johnson

Blog Post Author

Making Electric Motorcycle Battery Packs with Farasis Energy

“I got into 3D printing while I was in college doing my electrical engineering degree. One of the things that really got me interested in it was being able to make a box for the electronics projects that wasn’t made out of cardboard and duct tape, which is kind of a trademark of most EE students.”

This is Chase Nachtmann, a Systems Engineer at Farasis Energy.

“That kind of sparked my interest in working with 3D printers, because it’s a way of designing things…and having them come out exactly the way that you want.”

Nachtmann ended up managing the high-end industrial 3D printer at his university, and has now put this knowledge to use post-graduation.

Farasis, based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, makes lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles. They use Gigabot to print parts for a variety of applications throughout their battery pack development process.

Part of that process involves bolting their pack onto a shake table for testing, which puts it through the ringer by vibrating at a punishing 90 G’s sinusoidal in each direction. This particular piece of equipment is pricey to rent time on.

“It’s very expensive, and it costs a lot per hour,” Nachtmann explains. Jackson Edwards, an Applications Engineer at Farasis, jumps in – “Four hundred and fifty dollars.”

Nachtmann continues, “ When you’re doing a custom-shaped box, at least one hour is just spent bolting it onto the table in a secure fashion.”

This is where their Gigabot comes in.

“By printing it, we have a custom box that has the mounting holes already integrated into it – we’re saving a lot of money that way – and we’ve found that printing it was definitely strong enough after we filled the inside with an epoxy body compound,” Nachtmann says. “It saved a significant amount compared to having it machined out of aluminum.”

This machining process was their only option prior to getting a 3D printer. Edwards recounts the process of shopping around for the most affordable option. “We were quoted between two and five thousand dollars for the piece of aluminum, and it also had a 2 week lead time,” he recalls. “Having the ability to make these fixtures in-house is a huge help.”

Contrast this with what it costs them to make the 3D printed version, an extremely dense, 100% infill piece, and it’s a no-brainer. The printed piece uses about five pounds of filament, bringing their cost of printing a custom box to just under $100. On top of that, there’s no lead time: it’s something they can do in-house as needed.

The Product in Action

One of Farasis’s battery packs’ big applications right now is electric motorcycles.

“We just recently completed a build for Brammo’s Isle of Man motorcycle,” says Edwards. “The bikes performed flawlessly and everything went great.”

Another notable name on their customer list is Zero, known for their high-performance electric motorcycles.

“They are right in the middle of their build year right now, making 17 bikes a day,” Edwards explains. “Going to a production-level status with them is pretty fun.”

Zero’s bikes use somewhere between 56 and 140 of Farasis’s battery cells, and the Farasis team has also made some 3D printed test fixtures and parts for their validation builds.

As a true sign of someone in love with their work, Jackson proceeds to wheel out a Zero bike of his own from the back of the office.

“I commute from the Santa Cruz area,” he explains. “I used to commute from Aptos, which was 67 miles one-way…but now I’m a little closer and it’s only a 50 mile trip.”

He explains that the bike has a range that would allow it to do the entire round-trip on one charge, but as he puts it, “it’s nice to have a little bit of headroom.” He opts to plug in at the office while he works.

I get my motorcycle-fantasy fix vicariously, so I leave with the question: how fast does this thing go?

“The fastest I’ve had this one is 105,” Jackson reveals. “It’s a heck of a lot of fun.”

Morgan Hamel

Blog Post Author

Architectural Decoration with 3D Printed Molds

The following is a story from Stockholm-based Gigabot owner Monsén Arkitekter

“We feel that contemporary architecture is now too minimalistic and the naked buildings have lost their storytelling aspect. In our latest project, we designed human figures demonstrating the anatomy of movement for the façade of a building. We quickly realized our small office 3D printer was too small for the job, which is when we found Gigabot.

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Artist's rendering

We have used Gigabot for producing decorative building components in full scale to be used for exterior and interior design. This could be 3D printing molds for concrete casting or using the printed designs directly on the buildings. We use 3D printing for what it is really good at for architecture: making fine details. And it doesn’t stop there. Concrete printing is developing more and more so hopefully at one point we will be able to print whole houses! 

Everybody said it could not be done, but after a few very entrepreneurial weeks, we got a test plate made. The cost of the plate was 20% of what it would have been had we gone the other route and used a big industrial printer. Four hundred casted plates later, the building with the people on it is the talk of the town in Uppsala, Sweden where it is located.

Concrete panels cast from 3D prints
Concrete panels cast from 3D prints

We invented a new architectural style which we like to call Super Deco, a fusion between super-modern buildings and 3D printed decorative elements. Gigabot gave us the opportunity to make this a reality and to bring character back into architecture. Our hope is that other architectural firms catch onto Super Deco and start to decorate our cityscapes again.”

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The concrete panels in the real world

Morgan Hamel

Blog Post Author

Improving Your Manufacturing Equipment with Gigabot

Below is Gigamachinist Steve Johnson’s second blog on 3D printing for re:3D’s Gigabot fabrication shop.

Improving Your Manufacturing Equipment with Gigabot

by Steve Johnson

Sometimes, you have a product that works, but there is a way to improve it to make it work better.

A few months back, we added a 4th axis rotary table to our mill at re:3D. It has allowed us to begin to capitalize on the full milling envelope of our machine, allowing us to mill as much as 8 times more parts per program cycle, and reduced the need for multiple operations on some parts.

We quickly found a weak spot in our rotary table though. The table was designed without any seals to prevent shavings from entering the gearbox. As a result, we have had to disassemble the rotary table twice now in order to clean out aluminum shavings that had bound up in the worm gear. We decided this time, that we needed to find a solution for this issue, to keep our mill up and running longer between needed maintenance.

Once we had the rotary table apart, we found the area where the shaving were getting into the gearbox. There is a groove in the back of the table section, and a boss on the rotary body that rides inside the groove. But the fit between the two, once assembled, is very loose, and will allow anything smaller than .1 of an inch to pass through. Obviously we needed some type of o-ring, or gasket in order to seal this gap, without creating unwanted friction.

A few quick measurements, and Matthew headed to the computer to create a short profile on Solidworks, that would fill the gap. Using Ninja semi-flex filament from www.ninjatech.com, we made a first print of that profile on Gigabot, and took it to the shop to test fit. It was a little tight, so back to the computer to adjust a couple dimensions, and another short profile print. Once we had the right fit, we revolved the profile into a full circle on Solidworks, and 15 minutes later, we had a custom made flexible gasket that seals the rotary table from chips without creating drag on the axis motor.

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We found a problem. We imagined a solution. And with Gigabot, we made it a reality today.

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Now we are back up and running so that we can manufacture the parts for YOUR new Gigabot.

Happy Printing!

Steve Johnson

Blog Post Author

The Pros & Cons(iderations) of Toilet-sized 3D Printing

3D printing large objects is a very rewarding experience; it is also an introduction to a magnified set of challenges that a user will face when designing and realizing his or her prints. To keep things simple, we’ll review some of the pros and cons of large-scale printing in a list format.

Pros:

Human Scale

The driving force behind Gigabot being so large was printing objects at a Human Scale. But what exactly does that mean? In our view, Human Scale means items that are sized to be useful and helpful in everyday life. An example of this is a compostable toilet, which has been one of the prints that we’ve always considered to be of utmost importance. At this scale, furniture, as seen below, can be printed. Tables, lamps, and even low cost-prosthetics all fit into the idea of Human Scale Prints.

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Practical Functionality

In addition to the Human Scale benefit of large format 3D printing, Practical Functionality is also a key aspect. For example, to scale models of engine parts, hand-held devices, toys, newly designed mechanical components, and so many more items are useful for sales and visualization purposes. When the model is smaller than the real-world equivalent however, it is difficult to fully appreciate tolerances, and nuances in design. With a large volume for printing, items that are full sized can be fabricated and used for fit-checks, actual function, and testing purposes.

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Strength

With larger prints that are a single object, greater strength can be achieved. This is due to the perimeters encapsulating the entire object and passing loads throughout without disruptions in the path. The Infill that is inside also assists in taking the load and spreading it through the entire print and thus reducing stress concentrations. This allows prints to be very strong in compression, and to a lesser extent, tension. Depending on the infill percentages used on a print, the forces necessary to cause damage may be well in excess of what an average adult could exert.

No Assembly Required

There are many instances where 3D printed objects are glued, melted, or mechanically held together to form larger pieces. One of the wonderful characteristics of having the ability to print in large format is that pre- and post-processes such as those can be eliminated. When printing smaller pieces for an item that will be assembled, there may need to be design work to add pegs and keys assist pieces in locking together. On the backend, using adhesives and other methods are time consuming and not always simple. The ability to fabricate a large object in one go helps to simplify the manufacturing process and save time.

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Expanded Creativity and Capability

Art is on area where 3D printing shines when scale in involved. So many more beautiful details can be expressed or replicated in a piece that is large. For example, there have been several artists who have made pieces over 20 feet long by incorporating 3D printing into their skillset. Sculptures of dinosaurs with incredible skin detail have been cast by a lost wax process after using 3D printed pieces as the base of the work. (A process, I like to call Lost Plastic instead!) Full size busts of persons have been printed as well as spaceship simulators and functional robots. The possibilities for creating new items is endless!

Cons(iderations)

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Importance of Bed Leveling

Keeping the bed of a 3D printer level is one of the most important aspects of getting a piece to be made well. Without proper leveling, corners may warp, objects may not stick to bed, and objects may have poor surface quality. This is true for any size printer, but it becomes more important when a larger surface is used. Imagine a 5 degree angle from one point of a bed plate to the other. If the bed plate was 15 inches long, the difference in height on the other side of the bed plate would be 1.31 inches. If the bed plate was 30 inches long, that vertical differential is now double at 2.62 inches which is much more dramatic. It demonstrates the importance of minimizing any angles and ensuring that the bed plate is as flat as possible

Learning New Slicing Profiles

One of the most complicated parts of 3D printing is learning about all the settings that are involved with making an object. I’ve listed several here, although there are many more that can be adjusted for any print. Learning how to adjust these setting for new sizes takes a little bit of practice and can make all the difference between a nice print and a great print.

Number of Solid Bottom and Top Layers

With smaller prints the number of Solid Bottom and Top Layers is typically two or three, depending on the infill percentage. Usually a decent number is about 15% which gives a nice structure inside the print and means that the solid layers will not sag very much when being printed on the infill. With larger prints, however, infills can at times be down to 1-2% leaving up to an inch between supporting infill. The first solid layer will usually droop between these sections and the next layers may not have good finishes. Increasing the number of solid layers will allow the print to have a much nicer finish as the bottom layers support the ones after them.

Number of Perimeters

The number of perimeters typically also increase with an increase in print size. Having this number go up allows a print to be stronger and more rigid. It also allows for more surface area for the higher layers to print on. Where there are steep angles, this helps to provide a betters surface finish.

Infill Density

As mentioned before, infill density typically decreases when print size increases. This help in several ways: it reduces the final weight of the print, reduces the amount of material used, and reduces the print time. It is also not necessary to have such a high infill when the number of perimeters and solid layers has gone up, as much those characteristics help to strengthen the piece.

Layer Height

Layer height is one of the settings that is changed when trying to affect the surface finish. However, it can also be used to decrease print times. Doing so will lower the print quality, but not by a noticeable amount. Typically most printing is set at a default layer height of 300 microns which produces smooth surface finishes, but the layers can be seen. Most folks don’t mind this finish as it is a nice compromise between time and quality. However, for rough prototyping, or surface finishes that will be post-process, the layer height can be increased to save time.

Support Criteria

Since overhangs may be much more pronounced in larger models, there will be new instances where support may be needed where it was not needed in a smaller model. Luckily, most slicing software is smart enough to calculate where support is necessary, so this does not impact the user much, but it is an aspect to take into consideration when looking at material usage and print times.

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Much more Support

As mentioned previously, there may be instances may be necessary on larger models where it may not have been necessary on the same smaller model. For this reason, much more support is typically seen on larger models. Not only for features, but also due to the size of the print itself. A very tall print with many overhangs would require significant support structure to make sure it prints well. This will also impact the post-processing time as there will be more material to clean off.

Longer Print Times

Imagine a 1 inch cube took about 10 minutes to print. Using the same settings, if that cube was made to be 2 inches, it would take (at a minimum) 8 times longer to print! The time that the nozzle would have to travel each side would double and the number of layers needed would double which would can be expressed mathematically as 2 x 2 x 2 = 8. Of course, settings can be changed to decrease infill, change layer heights, change the number of perimeters and solid, layers to help make these difference smaller, but the curve would follow the trend that as a print gets bigger, the longer it will take to complete. User are typically exposed to prints that are a few hours long on smaller printers, but on lager ones, print times can span days! That’s a major difference!

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Potential of Running out of Filament

A lot of spools come in 1 lb or 1 kg quantities. This is sufficient for small prints, but can be consumed on the first few layers of a larger print! The largest spools we stock at re:3D are 15 lbs. These massive amounts of filament allow us to print very large items without much thought with regards to running out of filament. It still does happen however, and it is one of the things that must be considered when starting a multi-day print. Since our software does allow for filament change-out, it is not a big ordeal to swap filament mid-print, but it does slow down the production process, and it needs to be planned for. As prints go into ever-longer territory, the potential for running out of filament is one of the manufacturing spaces that must be considered.

Ernie travels w/Gigabot to share his insights at SXSW, the Austin Mini Makerfaire and UBM Minnesota

We’ve explored some of the benefits and considerations of 3D printing large objects. While the list is by no means exhaustive, it does provide an insight into some the areas where new learning is required and it definitely showcases the great possibilities that are unlocked by an expanded creative volume. Hopefully this provides some insight on what is involved with large prints and we’d be happy to hear your feedback and answer any questions.

Catch you on the next layer!

~Type 1 Ernie: re:3D Ops Man

Ernie Prado

Blog Post Author