Spiral 3D Technologies is focused on leveraging 3D printing and scanning technologies for use in industrial applications, and is helping equipment manufacturers fix the “production bottlenecks” they run into as a result of traditional manufacturing. The company offers its large client base a way around these bottlenecks by employing Divide By Zero’s industrial Accucraft i250D.
“We have observed that many clients want to know capabilities of foundry firm or want sample casting before finalising the order. In such cases, it’s difficult to invest in injection molding tools and die for the wax pattern. Apart from financial investment, it is a time- consuming process. In such cases, 3D printed patterns are a quicker and cheaper production option for casters. When the volume of production of each design is less, the cost of tools and die incurred is high. This further impacts the production cost. In such cases, 3D printed casting pattern provides the cheapest production option,” said Spiral 3D co-founder Manthan Mendapara when asked about the advantages of 3D printed investment casting patterns. “The cost of tools and die increase exponentially with the increase in complexity but that’s not in the case of 3D printed patterns. The cost of 3D printed pattern remains almost the same, irrespective of the complexity of the design. So for highly complex designs, 3D printed casting patterns has a major advantage over conventional production processes.”
Divide By Zero’s dual-extruder Accucraft i250D was also used recently to help create a unique 3D printed sculpture.
“We have been collaborating with many large enterprises and SMBs, offering them support for efficient prototyping, small volume production, design testing and getting the product to the market in much lesser span of time,” Divide By Zero wrote. “However, our collaboration with Srujanamm was a tad different than the others, for it led to a wonderful journey of art, philosophy and intriguing application of the 3D printing technology in the field of art.”
The Srujanamm art studio in Pune was founded by artistic couple Shwetali and Uday Raghuwanshi. The two follow a concept of “the bliss from your inner self,” which is reflected in their creative artwork. Srujanamm gives “integrated art offerings” to corporations, hospitals, interior designers, and collectors, and each piece is inspired by their spiritual philosophies. In an effort to express some new conceptual ideas, the studio recently decided to try out the more contemporary medium of 3D printing technology to create unique pieces. Thanks to different post-processing techniques, the 3D printed pieces of art can feature multiple kinds of finishes, from molten copper to a shiny pearl-like finish.
Srujanamm first created a 3D model of the proposed sculpture, and used the Accucraft i250D to 3D print many individual parts that would be used to make up the larger final piece. The pieces were assembled into the form of the sculpture and then fixed on a pedestal, before post-processing was completed.
“With the grace of Great Living Master, realization of two things in the spiritual state [inner raptures]: the longing to see God, obscuring all else, so intense is the desire and the other is an excessive gladness and delight, which is so extreme that while living, the soul appears to swoon away and seems on the verge of leaving the body.”
Divide By Zero explained that this simply means that every soul has a right to know its creator, and this is illustrated in the four components of the sculpture: the mermaid is the seeker, while the anchor represents creation. The fish are all of the souls “entangled in the creation,” and the dolphin represents the living master, who supervises our world and the afterlife.
These two very different Accucraft i250D projects are both great examples of the versatility and customization that 3D printing offers. Discuss in the Divide By Zero forum at 3DPB.com.