Thursday 20 February 2014

3D printing - its all about the service

It is a common mistake with 3D printing to get distracted by the technology and pay too little attention to the process and the outcome.

The mechanised action of the 3D printing process is a very simple one. The human processes of converting a 3D software model to a physical model using a 3D printer is a more complex process. The principle is straightforward but there are many ways for a simple job to go wrong.

Our True Value
Our job as 3D print service providers is to protect the customer from the many opportunities for human error that exist along the path from digital to physical model. Errors in files, unrealistic print geometries, inappropriate materials, failed builds, poorly printed parts, broken parts, parts that arrive late, incorrectly sized and scaled and a whole bunch of other things that can go wrong along the way. Knowledge gained from years of experience doing this single operation over and over again is what the customer is really paying for when they commission work from Lee 3D's service bureau. 

Success Through Service
As a small company, we are keenly aware that helping our clients to be successful in the long run ensures our success. As a service company repeat customers are an affirmation of our success. Enough said.

Understanding Customers 
As we have entrenched architectural backgrounds at Lee 3D, we really do appreciate the time it takes to get design work done and out the door.  So when the client calls a meeting at almost no notice with their overworked architect, we are ready to pull out all the stops to get a model on the table for the meeting.

Incremental Improvements
When you think you know what you are doing it can be easy to get stuck in the same old way of doing things.  Keeping an open mind and being willing to take risks allows those incremental improvements.  And owning the business certainly sharpens the instinct to innovate. 

And the award goes to...



To find out more about Lee 3D visit www.lee3d.co.uk or call George on 07563 243 891










3D printing in architecture - update

The ever changing world of 3D print truly is a dizzying place at the moment. Late last year Fripp Design announced a full colour silicon based printer. Recently, I heard of the Mark One which allegedly 3D prints in Kevlar, carbon and glass fibre. 3D Systems recently announced 3D printers that print in candy, chocolate, ceramic and a full colour plastic 3D printer. Stratasys announced that the Connex3 will print multi materials in a palette of colours.

And yet with all this change the old ZPrinter range that was designed by ZCorporation and acquired by 3D Systems two years ago is still the number one 3D printer for many architectural models. What is it that makes this printer continue to hold this position?

The ZPrinter 650 (relaunched by 3D Systems as the ProJet 660) has three significant features that lend it to making architectural concept models:

Speed
Quite simply, the machine makes same day or next day models. The longest build you could print would be completed in about 20 hours.

This means architects can design right up until the night before a presentation and have a model in their meeting in the morning.

Size
This machine has a build size of 380 x 250 x 200(z)mm, giving a footprint a little smaller than the A3 paper size.

This allows a good size architectural model to be printed in a single build. Larger models can be tiled to make larger models.

Powder
This may seem an odd characteristic. This gives two important advantages over other machines. Firstly, powder is self supporting so you do not need to build a support structure and then remove it afterwards. Secondly, parts can be hollowed thus reducing the amount of material used in the model.

Self supporting means just about any geometry can be created and hollowing parts mean much lower costs.

Oh, and it is a full colour printer too. Actually, most of the models we print are white but colour models photograph better!

3D printed at Lee 3D on ZPrinter 650



To find out more about 3D printing of architectural models visit www.lee3d.co.uk or call George on 07563 243 891