Rapid Prototyping

We have an in house FDM machine (fuse deposition modelling).

It's a 3D office based printer that allows us to make ABS parts directly from our 3D software. The models are durable and strong and behave very much like a moulded part. They are stable and overtime they do not warp like SLAs do when they have been exposed to moisture in the air.

A fine thread of plastic is injected out of a nozzle and plots a shape onto a base plate. This plate is lowered by 0.25mm for each layer, and another level of material is plotted on top. A small part can take as little as 30 minutes using this technology. Large parts take around 10 hours. But this is still much faster than outsourcing our models.

The build bed is 200mm x 200mm and can model 250mm tall. Larger models are made by gluing parts together which works very well. We can make models in black or white.

For more finished aesthetic rather than functional models, parts can be lightly filled and sanded to a smooth finish ready for painting.

Having this technology in house allows us to rapidly explore design solutions and refine them. As a result our design process is far faster and our designs more rigorously developed.