SprintRay MoonRay High Resolution UV DLP 3D Printer

SprintRay presented their MoonRay high resolution UV DLP 3D printer. It will be priced at  3499 USD.

Key features:

• Custom-built projector for 3D printing fine details: MoonRay’s resin requires UV light for proper curing. Other similar 3D printers use commercial projectors, which produce visible light but not pure UV light. The advantages of the custom UV LED projector in MoonRay are in the resolution and curing process. The MoonRay’s UV projector, RayOne, was custom designed with some special qualities:
• Perfect light spectrum: The resin used for 3D printing cures under light with a 405nm wavelength. The custom-built projector hits the proper wavelength consistently across the build platform, which allows you to get real 100-micron resolution.
• Runs cool and quiet: Utilizing a UV projector allows the MoonRay to avoid any overheating and makes it much quieter than other 3D printers.
• Long lifespan: RayOne’s 50,000-hour lifespan means you won’t ever need to replace the bulb.
• Revolutionary resin tank: the team designed the MoonRay’s resin tank to last, so there’s no more replacing your printer’s resin tank or changing the PDMS layer

MoonRay presentation:




Here is MoonRay on CES 2016 with more detailed presentation:




... it makes very fine objects like this 3d printed cloth:



SprintRay homepage:

http://www.global.sprintray.us/moonray

Read More

Resin based 3d printable ceramic with high-end properties

Scientists at HRL developed new resin ceramic material that can be 3d printed using stereolitography and has high strength and resistance to temperature. Amazing advances!


Project summary:

Researchers at HRL Laboratories, LLC, have achieved a new milestone in 3D printing technology by demonstrating an approach to additively manufacture ceramics that overcomes the limits of traditional ceramic processing and enables high temperature, high strength ceramic components.

HRL’s Senior Chemical Engineer Zak Eckel and Senior Chemist Dr. Chaoyin Zhou invented a resin formulation that can be 3D printed into parts of virtually any shape and size. The printed resin can then be fired, converting it into a high strength, fully dense ceramic. The resulting material can withstand ultrahigh temperatures in excess of 1700°C and exhibits strength ten times higher than similar materials.

Ceramics are much more difficult to process than polymers or metals because they cannot be cast or machined easily. Traditionally ceramic parts are consolidated from powders by sintering, which introduces porosity and limits both achievable shapes and final strength. "With our new 3D printing process we can take full advantage of the many desirable properties of this silicon oxycarbide ceramic, including high hardness, strength and temperature capability as well as resistance to abrasion and corrosion." says program manager Dr. Tobias Schaedler.

The novel process and material could be used in a wide range of applications from large components in jet engines and hypersonic vehicles to intricate parts in microelectromechanical systems and electronic device packaging.

HRL Laboratories page:

http://www.hrl.com/news/2016/0101/

The HRL team’s research paper, "Additive Manufacturing of Polymer Derived Ceramics," has been published in the January 1st issue of Science.

Read More

3d Printing with Multi-part Polyurethane

The Structur3d crew made a extensive attempts to 3d print with multi par polyurethane resin. They used custom print heads with mixed results. Mos tof the parts failed, but they are slowly moving towards success. If you want to experiment and see several techniques do check out their research.

Very detailed page with step-by-step process, extruder technology and g-code examples:


http://www.structur3d.io/blog/2015/12/3/3d-printing-with-polyurethane


Here is the video of the process:

Read More

Chimera DLP 3D Printer You Can Build for Under 60$

Here is one of the cheapest DIY 3d printers you can make, with cost at around 60 USD, and it is DLP SLA machine!
It also comes with very detailed construction guide made by the developer "matstermind".

How can the price be so low? Mostly by using used or scraped parts. You can see it in the parts list below.

Bill of materials:

• 1x Mitsubishi XD221u 1024x768 video projector, used or second-hand $50
• 1x computer disc drive laser deck assembly (must be one with a stepper motor), free from scrap disc drive
• 1x Arduino UNO / Duemilanove or atmega328 based Arduino clone, $4 ebay, used or second-hand
• 1x Easydriver v4.4, $2 from ebay
• misc wire, solder, etc.
• (optional) Ability to etch circuit boards (you can protoboard/breadboard it if you have to)
• (possibly) 5v, .5A power supply. Some laser decks can be powered by the USB port by the Arduino, some may need a power supply to be plugged into the Arduino or M+ on the easydriver to make the motor move. It will depend on the power of your USB port. My deck did not need one.
• Total=$55.5
• (optional for frame) scrap wood for free or 2x4ft MDF board or $10 from hardware store

Looks rough and simple with wood frame. I like the style ...

Chimera is named inspired by mythological creature that is made up of three different animals since this printer is made by using the recycled/modified parts of three different categories (projector, toys, and old computer stuff), hence the name.

Video of Chimera working its DLP resin hardening magic:





Print quality looks good:

Chimera has a very detailed construction guide at:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Chimera-60-DLP-resin-3d-printer/

Read More

SLA 3D Printed Working DIY RC Micro Drone "Air-Form 1"

Thingiverse user "niklasm" designed and 3d printed a fully working micro RC drone from tough resin on a Form 1.

Technical specifications:

• battery: 150mAh
• thrust: 54g
• weight: 60g
• wingspan: 58cm
• dihedral: 15deg
• flight time: 11min

Non-Printed Parts:

• specktrum ar6410
• 150mAh battery
• laTrax motor
• laTrax bearings
• laTrax gear/propshaft
• laTrax prop
• 3/32in X 7/32in X 3ft rectangular carbon rod
• 3/16in carbon tube
• 7/64 carbon rod
• 3ft X 3in X 3/32 balsa board
• 1/32in music wire
• superglue

All the files to make it and instructions can be found at:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1051655

Read More

The Bug is a new kind of DIY 3d printer that prints with fiber composites

Sebastian Morales developed a new kind of 3d printer inspired by fiber composites found in nature and named it "The Bug".

The printer uses fiber soaked with UV curable resin and then extruded trough toolhead with UV lights.

Sebastian writes:

"Think of this machine as a very friendly sculpting spider."

Here is the extrusion head solidifying the UV resin:




Prints are still a very rough but the concept works and is under development.

Here is Instructables page with much more details on The Bug:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fiber-Composite-3D-Printing-The-Bug/?ALLSTEPS

Also check out Sebastians homepage with many other cool projects : http://www.adorevolution.com/

Read More

Building easy rubber molds for making resin copies of your 3d printed things

Tasted has an excellent video tutorial on how to make simple rubber molds in order to make resin copies of your 3d printed models. The technique described uses simple tools and materials like foam boards for frames and can be very useful in your daily work.

Thnx Tested!

Scalpels ... I like them ...

Read More

LittleRP affordable open source DLP 3d printer

LittleRP is a low cost open source DLP 3d printer where you can configure it and adapt it to fit a variety of needs. It is compatible with a range of vat designs, linear motion components, and DLP light sources. The higher the resolution of the DLP projector, the higher resolution of this 3d printer will be.

LittleRP technical specifications:

• Build Volume: 60mm(X) 40mm(Y) 100mm(Z)
• Build Speed: Approx 2 minutes per 1mm at .05mm layer height. A 40mm tall object would take approximately 80 minutes to complete.
• Electronics: Arduino compatible microcontroller, GRBL Firmware
• Software: Envision Labs Creation Workshop (STL Slicer, Projector Controller, Gcode Sender)
• Available Resins: Most general UV Curing Resin such as MakerJuice (SubFlex, SubSF), MadeSolid (MS resin)
• Resin Vat: PDMS (Standard), Teflon
• The basic LittleRP kit uses a non-peeling vat, and is intended for jewelry, miniature figures and similar styles of prints. For printing larger or more solid prints the company offers a tilting upgrade. The tilt option will allow you to print much larger models and print them with a larger variety of resins. The optional tilting vat will be available for $149 and all LittleRP printers are upgrade ready before shipping.
• The non-stick coating of the LittleRP resin vats only requires $1 of material to re-coat compared to $8-10 for larger printers.

http://www.littlerp.com/


From the LittleRP page:

LittleRP, an affordable, open source 3D resin printer that lowers the barriers to entry for those looking to get into the exciting world of stereo-lithography printing.

The LittleRP has been designed from the ground up to simplify the resin printing process. Our focus on smaller high quality prints means complicated peeling mechanisms are not required.
Being open source is one thing, but we wanted to make the LittleRP easy to self source. Lasercut materials and standard T-Slot extrusion means building your own from scratch, or simply modifying an existing LittleRP is an exercise you can take on yourself!

Inexpensive quality stereo lithography prints are possible thanks to the use of high quality components such as linear slides and integrated leadscrew steppers. The LittleRP might be inexpensive but corners were definitely not cut.

LittleRP was known as the LittleDLPer / LittleSLA, but the name was changed due to some trademark
issues.
It will be on Kickstarter soon where you will able to get Extra Early Bird LittleRP Kit for $475 and for $499 for later supporters. The Kickstarter kit comes in Complete, Complete HD and Projectorless options. The Complete kit includes everything you need to get printing, whereas the Projectorless option requires you to supply your own DLP projector.

Read More

DropLit sub $600 DLP 3d printer kit made by SeeMeCNC

Description with technical specifications from the DropLit page:

Meet DropLit™. Our next generation of 3D printers for makers/hackers/tinkerers. With our world famous laser-cut frames and stainless steel hardware this kit has all the quality people have come to know and trust with our other SeeMeCNC™ desktop 3D printers. Our aim in offering the DropLit™ is to provide a solid foundation for the rapid advancement of the next technological leap in desktop 3D printing. We have one of the most amazing and active communities out there when it comes to delta based 3D printers and look forward to contributing the knowledge that we've all gained and applying it to desktop resin printing.

Droplit™ is an open-source desktop resin based 3D printer *kit* that includes the mechanical parts needed to build and run the z stage. It does not include the projector, you will need to purchase and likely modify a projector separately. We do not provide the projector or any specific models to use, however you can visit our Forum for topics involving which models people have used and what modifications they have done.

Specs (Subject to change):

• Build Diameter: appx. 3"
• Max Build Height: appx 6"
• Layer Height: User defined (avg. .050mm - .1 mm)
• Power Supply: ATX PC style PSU (included)
• Electronics: Ardunio UNO + GRBLShiled
• Firmware: GRBL
• The Z axis stage is driven by an M5-.8 screw and uses our own design of an anti-backlash nut and spring assembly to hold less than 5 micron accuracy. The nut design can be downloaded and printed here or found on our GitHub page for the DropLit™

We have tested the DropLit™ with a projector with the following specs:

• 1024x768 or better native resolution
• 17,000:1 contrast ratio
• 3,000 Lumens output
• DLP only, LCD will not work
• Uses Osram 190w P-VIP lamp (removal of the UV filter required)

DropLit homepage:

http://seemecnc.com/products/droplit-diy-kit

Read More