Today I would like to take some time out to showcase one of the innovative companies that has inspired me to jump in the deep end of the 3D printing world: Carbon 3D.
Founded in 2013, Carbon 3D made quite a ripple in the 3D printing world when they launched a new type of 3D printer that uses light and oxygen to very rapidly pull a solid 3D printed object out of a pool of liquid resin. Below is a video (sped up 7x) that illustrates the process.
In simple terms, Digital Light Synthesis, as Carbon 3D have dubbed this process, works by projecting UV light through an oxygen-permeable window onto a pool of liquid resin. The resin has special properties, meaning it "cures" (i.e. solidifies) in response to being exposed to UV light in the presence of oxygen. By projecting a sequence of UV images onto the resin, corresponding to the cross-section of the object that is to be 3D printed at any point in time, the object is created and pulled out of the liquid resin.
Once the object is printed, it is then essentially baked in an oven, strengthening it further. The final result is a 3D printed object that has material properties more akin to traditionally manufactured injection-molded objects. In particular, it results in an object with material properties such as strength, elasticity, hardness, etc. that are more or less consistent in every direction of loading. This sets it apart from other 3D printing technologies such as Fused Filament Fabrication, where the material properties greatly vary with the direction of loading.
If you would like to know more about Carbon 3D, you can visit their website here.
If you would like to know more about what I do in the 3D printing world, or if you are interested in 3D printed metallic art and home decor (e.g. in bronze, iron or copper), then you can find out more here.
Thanks for looking!