3D Printing News Briefs: September 11, 2019

In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re talking about plenty of new things, from workflows to materials. Carbon and Dentsply Sirona have launched a workflow for the digital printing of dentures, and 3Doodler just introduced a luxury 3D printing pen. Materialise is the first to offer BASF’s new TPU material for HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology. Finally, Adam Savage, the Smithsonian Digitization Program Office, and Tested.com collaborated on a build project in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11th mission to the moon.

Lucitone Digital Print Denture Workflow Launch

This week, Carbon and Dentsply Sirona, the largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies, launched a premium 3D printable denture workflow and material system, leveraging Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology to create it. The new, FDA-cleared Lucitone Digital Print system has been optimized for Carbon’s M-Series printers, and this partnership is sure to shake things up in the world of digital dentistry.

Carbon is the only platform validated for the system’s materials, which offer more throughput, accuracy, and consistency than traditional dentures. The system can be used for two kinds of cases: complete single arch denture over existing dentition, and full-over-full dentures, with two arches. The easy workflow includes five core material system products, and can help laboratories of all sizes meet increasing patient demand. Carbon and Dentsply Sirona will present more details about the Lucitone Digital Print Denture system at the International Digital Denture Symposium (IDDS) in Atlanta, Georgia, September 27 & 28.

3Doodler Releases Limited Edition Luxury Create+ Pen

If you’re searching for a gift for the person who has everything, look no further! This week, 3Doodler announced the launch of its limited edition luxury 3D printing pen – a sleek tool, wrapped in leather, that closely resembles a cigar but actually lets the user draw eco-friendly 3D creations out of wood. The 1.9 oz 3Doodler Create+ Leather Edition pen, available exclusively through 3Doodler and Amazon for $119.99, has a dual-drive gear system, and includes six unique wood-centric projects, an Ultimate Guide to Doodling, a Mini Doodle Pad, a set of changeable nozzles in six shapes and sizes, two packages of mixed wood filament, and two packages of monochromatic Create plastic. There are only 1,000 of the 3Doodler Create+ Leather Edition in stock at the launch, so act fast or you’ll miss out!

“This is the first product we’ve designed with a focus on elevating the tactile and visual experience, creating a 3D pen that stands end-to-tip with actual high-end writing instruments. Functionality is always a given for us, but we wanted people to emotionally connect with the 3Doodler Create+ Leather Edition in ways they haven’t before,” explained 3Doodler CEO Daniel Cowen. “When you pick up the 3Doodler Leather Edition, it feels like you have jumped the chasm from a tech toy to a serious writing implement that you would leave on your desk and feel good picking up every time.”

Materialise Adding to 3D Printing Materials Offering

Materialise announced that it is adding the Ultrasint TPU 01 to its materials portfolio. The flexible material was just launched by BASF 3D Printing Solutions in May specifically for HP’s new Jet Fusion 5200 series, and Materialise, which was an early tester of that series, is the first company to make Ultrasint TPU 01 available through both its online platforms and offline prototyping and manufacturing services. This fully functional material combines high detail and great mechanical properties with smooth surface quality and abrasion resistance, which makes it great for applications that require wear resistance, shock absorption, and elasticity, such as grippers and seals, footwear, complex tubing, and air ducts.

“For nearly three decades Materialise has offered its customers access to the latest and most innovative products, technologies and manufacturing infrastructure. Together with our customers we continuously look for new opportunities to create true business value using 3D printing technology,” said Pieter Vos, the Marketing Director at Materialise Manufacturing.

Collaborative Project Egress

From movies to 3D printed spacesuit replicas, the world has been busy celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon this year. Famous Mythbusters maker Adam Savage, who is the Editor-in-Chief of Tested.com, teamed up with the Smithsonian Digitization Program Office on a collaborative build, called Project Egress, of the hatch door from the Apollo 11 Command Module (CM).

In 1967, an electrical fire erupted inside the cabin of Apollo 1 during a routine simulation, and the astronauts were unable to open the three-part hatch in time, sadly perishing in the flames. So engineers designed a new hatch that could be opened in just three seconds, which was used for the other Apollo missions. To commemorate man’s first steps on the moon in 1969, Savage wanted to create a life-sized replica of the epocal unified hatch. Engineering student Andrew Barth used advanced 3D scans of the CM, as well as archived technical drawings, to reverse engineer and CAD model the hatch. Artist Jen Schachter recruited a team of over forty makers to manufacture the individual hatch assembly pieces. The Project Egress hatch was assembled before a live audience at the National Air and Space Museum by Savage, Barth, and Schachter in July. This is a part of a broader move by the Smithsonian to digitize its assets and to offer 3D printed files to the world at large.

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