Before products go to full scale production, during the design phase, there is often a need for a model or mockup to prove the design or concept, or to test for form or fit. 3D printing provides an ideal solution for rapidly and cost effectively producing such prototypes.
3dAddFab's high resolution additive fabrication technology is an excellent choice for rapid protoyping.
Imagine an inventor or product designer who has just designed the best thing since sliced bread. He designed it using a 3D CAD modelling program and viewed it over and over on the screen. He rotated it and flipped it and did whatever else he could do - on screen. But he needs to hold it. Or his boss, investors or potential customers do. They're stakeholders and they need to see how it fits in their hand or just how it looks. Further, since he's going to fabricate it using very expensive techniques and materials, he can't get it wrong. He needs a prototype and he needs it inexpensively and quickly. So what does he do? 3D print it. For a fraction of the cost, and in some cases overnight, he'll have a physical object in his hands that he can show to those same stakeholders. If a picture's worth a thousand words, and actual object must be worth even more.
Now imagine the same sort of inventor or product designer above but imagine her design is a mission critical piece of equipment. And she needs to see whether her design will fit into the narrow space where equipment of it's type goes. Additive fabrication can quickly provide her with an exact replica without the cost and time of tooling for traditional manufacture. Maybe she also needs to see if it will function as intended. Depending on the material and the post-fabrication processing, a 3D printed object can often be used to test functional aspects of a design. In fact, depending on the final volume of objects you need, additive fabrication may be all you need to produce your final products. (See Short Run Items).
One of the least expensive forms of fabrication is molding or casting. By some defintions this IS additive fabrication, at least in a macro sense. Instead of the 3 dimensional instructions being stored digitally in a computer file, the information is contained in the mold itself. But getting the information into the mold can be a timeconsuming and expensive process. Patterns might be hand carved or tooled using expensive equipment. However, if a 3D CAD design has been produced, 3d printing can be utilized to quickly and cost effectively produce the needed pattern. Applications include low temperature jewelry molding, silcone molding for urethane parts, sand casting, vacuum forming, and other rapid tooling applications.
Jigs, guides and fixtures are very often custome made, one and done items. As such they can be very expensive and time consuming to produce. Designing the jig, guide or fixture using a 3D CAD program and then 3d printing the object as either the final product or as a pattern to ensure fit and function can save time and potentially thousands of dollars.
This is an area of 3d printing which seems to generate the most excitement from newcomers to the technology. Once one fully grasps additive fabrication this tends to be what comes to mind; 3d printing whatever object you want, when you want it, preferably at home. The possibilites here seem limitless. Unfortunately, the Star Trek replicator is still well into the future. Printable designs do not exist for most items, material choices - while ever expanding - are still limited, and the equipment is still too expensive for all but the most hard core home enthusiasts.
However, in some situations, additive fabrication can be the only and/or most cost effective solution. Need moving parts dynamically fabricated within an object? Or have user specific 3d information such as a game avatar or dental/medical scans? 3D printing might be able to produce objects impossible - or highly impractical - using any other fabrication technique. Even when ways of fabrication are possible, additive fabrication may still compete for lowest cost for smaller runs of tens or hundreds of pieces.
The short answer is 'anything you want'.
If you're already experienced with additive fabrication, then you know what you can use it for. If not, and you're intrigued, our advice would be to familiarize yourself with the technology - it's strengths and weaknesses - to see if 3D printing might fit into your plans.
And talk to us. We're excited about working with people new to 3D printing. We'll answer any questions you have and give you a straight assessment of your plans. So give us a call or send us an email today.