3D Printing: The Stories We Didn’t Cover This Week — March 5

In this week’s news, Poland’s Materialise office has been voted Best Polish Service Company for 2015 by CD3D after receiving several other recent awards as well. Also, a man reported on his 3D printing news blog that he left some PLA in a jar for 3.5 years, and the part was still in tip top shape when he was recently reunited with it. In more filament news, 3D-Fuel has announced that it is expanding its offerings to include a greater range of recycled and non-recycled materials, and XYZprinting has also announced new filament cartridges that are non-toxic and waterproof, too. Finally, in other business news, Israel-based Nano Dimension will start being traded on the NASDAQ on Monday, March 7, 2016.

Materialise Voted 2015’s Best Polish Service Company

It seems as if 2015 will go down on record as a very successful year for Materialise. For 2015, the popular 3D printing services company received the Henry Van De Velde Company Award and an ISPO Award given to Phits Insoles. Now Materialise has walked away with the Best Polish Service Company Award from Centrum Druku 3D, or CD3D. Since the Polish office has a large laser sintering capacity, it is able to meet business demands throughout Europe. This is one of the factors that played into receiving this award. And this isn’t the only award for Materialise in 2015. The company has also won second place in two more categories: Best Polish Company in 2015 and Best Foreign Company in 2015.

It’s difficult to imagine that the company could rack any more awards up in 2016 than it did last year, but who knows?

Man Conducts Accidental Experiment by Placing PLA in Water for 3.5 Years

This next bit of news recounts an incident whereby “Lazy Gecko” decided to conduct one experiment on PLA that ended up becoming something quite different than what he had expected. It all started when Lazy Gecko decided to place a PLA part in a jar with some tie-dye about 3.5 years ago (back in 2012). And then he put the jar in the back of one of his work cupboards. In his estimate, he forgot about it “8.2 seconds later.” Flash forward to this spring 2016, when he decided to clean out that work cupboard. Lo and behold, there was the same jar still sitting right where he had left it. And guess what? The PLA part that he had so curiously placed in the jar years ago? Well, it was the exact same years later. That’s right folks, according to Lazy Gecko, the PLA part “looks and feels exactly like the day it came off the printer.”

So now we know that not only is some PLA tough as nails and impervious to being soaked for years, but we also know that it won’t even be slightly altered from sitting in water like that. Thanks for letting us know this, Lazy Gecko!

3D-Fuel to Increase Filament Offerings

3D-Fuel, which recently received a “Best in Show” at CES 2016, has just announced that it plans to dramatically increase its filament offerings while also focusing on producing higher quality products with a greater range of materials and mechanical properties. These will includes both recycled and non-recycled materials.

3D-Fuel CEO Matthew Stegall comments:

“It is an exciting time for 3D-Fuel and our family of customers. We are finalizing major changes to our manufacturing infrastructure that will result in a level of quality unsurpassed by any other manufacturer. This new infrastructure will allow faster R&D to bring new materials to the market with better pricing than previously seen. Our family of 3D-Fuel users are in for an incredible 2016.”

The company is also planning to make a major announcement regarding new product line and manufacturing capabilities soon, while still producing its popular Advanced PLA filament line.

XYZprinting Now Offering Flexible Filament Cartridges

In other filament news, the award winning company XYZprinting has just released new nontoxic and waterproof flexible filament cartridges. These cartridges are made with special elastic properties that will provide durable and versatile prints for its users. As the press release states, these cartridges are intended to be used with the da Vinci 1.0 Blue and da Vinci AiO printers:

“XYZprinting’s Flexible Filaments are specifically formulated with thermoplastic elastomer properties, providing malleable and durable prints, while ensuring no distortion in color or form. The non-toxic and completely waterproof filament is compatible exclusively with the da Vinci 1.0 Blue and da Vinci AiO. The Flexible Filament is conveniently stored within an easy-to-use cartridge and uses a chip to track filament levels.”

XYZprinting has been dedicated to providing educators, students, artists, and small businesses a 3D printing experience that is both cost-effective and user friendly — all over the world. With offices in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Europe, and the US, the company’s latest flexible filament cartridges will no doubt retain the same high quality that is associated with the company’s award winning 3D printing product ecosystem. You can now order the cartridges directly off the XYZprinting website here.

On March 7, 2016 Nano Dimension Will Start Trading on the NASDAQ

“NNDM” will be the letters used for trading Israel-based Nano Dimension stock on the NASDAQ market beginning March 7, 2016. Nano Dimension uses three advanced technologies for its product line: 3D inkjet, 3D software, and nanomaterials. The company has especially made its name by producing the first 3D printer to print multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCB). It has also produced advanced nanotechnology-based conductive and dielectric inks.

Amit Dror, CEO of Nano Dimension, describes the significance of expanding Nano Dimension’s presence in the U.S. market:

“Becoming a NASDAQ-listed company is an important step in our overall corporate development strategy as we look to increase awareness of Nano Dimension within the U.S. investment community and expand our presence in the U.S. market. This listing adds to recent milestones for Nano Dimension, including the confidence placed in our products by top-tier U.S.-based beta customers, a manufacturing agreement with Flextronics, new patent applications to further solidify our leadership position in the industry, as well as recent research grant approval from Israel’s Chief Scientist.”

Listing the company ADSs on NASDAQ will increase the company’s exposure to a broader audience, raise its visibility, and generate more value for Nano Dimension shareholders.

That’s all the 3D printing news for this week! What did you find most interesting? Discuss in the Week’s 3D Printing News forum over at 3DPB.com.