Stratasys Object500 Connex3 3D Printer Creates Stunning ‘Stained Glass’ Piece

Probably one of the most advanced 3D printers on the market today is the Stratasys Object500 Connex3. Its ability to print objects in multiple colors, as well as materials with varying properties, makes it an amazing machine for all sorts of incredible applications. If it wasn’t for the $330,000 price tag associated with it, I’d have one in every room of my house. Most individuals would not be able to afford a machine like this, as they are meant for a business environment. With that said, some people are lucky enough to work at a company where an Object500 Connex3 printer is available.

One such company is PADT, a leading provider of engineering services and products for simulation, product development, and rapid prototyping, which is headquartered in Tempe, AZ. There Principal and Director of Analysis & Design Technologies, Eric Miller was lucky enough to be able to use the Stratasys printer for a bit of an artistic project, while it was not in use making the company money.

The project he undertook was the creation of a piece of ‘stained glass’, using only the incredible 3D printer he had at his disposal. The piece would later be put on display in the company’s demo room with other samples to show potential clients what the technology is capable of.

Equipped with a new color pallet which included transparent material, Miller got to work finding the perfect design for his stained glass project. Being that he was admittedly an amateur when it came to art, he chose a simple, yet elegant piece to model his 3D print after, a flower.

After uploading the picture he found of the original piece to his CAD tool, SolidEdge, Miller traced the lines making up the lead between each piece of glass. He then added in some colors which represented the glass paneling, and saved it as an STL file. He handed that file over to the company’s prototyping department who made a few changes before assigning colors from the printer’s pallet to the model.

When time was available on the printer, the team began the model’s fabrication. As you can see from the images, it came out quite nicely, with a fogged transparent glass look to it, just like actual stained glass.

“The simple 3D printed stained glass window shows the power of Stratasys’ PolyJet technology for creating robust and accurate prototypes of a huge range of parts, reducing development time, and giving engineers and creatives both a better tool to produce a better final product,” wrote Miller on the company’s blog.

This actually was not the first print we have seen which has mocked the look of stained glass using this Stratasys model of 3D printers. Last week we did an article about a lamp which was created based on the same concept. Let’s hear your thoughts on this piece in the 3D printed stained glass forum thread on 3DPB.com.