3D Printing News Briefs: May 8, 2018

We’re starting with business in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, and then moving on to materials news. Nano Dimension has named a technology veteran to be its Chief Technology Officer, and iMakr opened its new store in London with a big event. Titomic is collaborating with Callaway Golf Company, and Renishaw just introduced its new dedicated additive manufacturing guide. BigRep 3D printed an airless bicycle tire using its new PRO FLEX material, while 3D printed silicone leader ACEO is introducing its fluorosilicone material and Rize launched its new Rizium One Black material.

Nano Dimension Appoints CTO

Dr. Jaim Nulman

3D printed electronics leader Nano Dimension announced that it has appointed high technology veteran Dr. Jaim Nulman to be its Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Nulman has over three decades of technological leadership experience, working with companies from startups all the way up to Fortune 500 enterprises to help them on their way to product commercialization. He will be responsible for the execution of Nano Dimension’s growth, and will also head up its technology strategy and product roadmap.

“Dr. Nulman is a seasoned technology professional with proven leadership credentials,” said Amit Dror, CEO of Nano Dimension. “His experience fits perfectly into our strategy to scale our operations. With a strong track record helping organizations expedite the transition from technology to product commercialization, he will play a major role as we accelerate Nano Dimension’s growth.”

iMakr Hosts Grand Opening Event for New Store

A view into the new iMakr store before everyone arrived.

In 2014, two years after it was founded, iMakr held the grand opening for its Manhattan 3D printer store. This was its second flagship store, with the first being located in London. Now, the company, which also offers consulting, training, 3D printing, scanning, and design services, has relocated the London store to the West End in Oxford Circus.

Recently, the store had its grand opening event, and many people came out to see the new location and the many 3D printers it houses, including DLP, FDM, SLA, SLM, and SLS technologies. Over food and drinks, visitors received an introduction to iMakr’s expanded UrbanManufacturing facilities, along with sneak peeks of top 3D printing technology and special unveilings of its newest, most advanced 3D printers.

“The opening of the iMakr store in Oxford Circus has allowed us to bring cutting edge 3D technology to a larger range of consumers and professional businesses,” Kaitlin Frye, iMakr’s Marketing Manager, told 3DPrint.com. “Our new store features the best 3D printing and scanning has to offer and our experts are on hand to help visitors realise their 3D projects.”

Titomic Enters Collaboration with Callaway Golf Company

Australia-based Titomic has signed an exclusive, year-long collaborative agreement with American global sporting goods company Callaway Golf Company. Callaway, located in California, is the largest manufacturer of golf clubs in the world, and designs, manufactures, markets, and sells golf equipment, accessories, and lifestyle-related products in over 70 countries. The agreement begins immediately, and will center around Titomic’s advanced metal additive manufacturing skills, with Callaway making use of its proprietary Titomic Kinetic Fusion process to develop novel golf products.

“We are very pleased to announce this collaborative agreement with the world’s largest golf club manufacturer,” said Jeff Lang, CEO and CTO of Titomic.

“This agreement establishes a strategic alliance with the intention of incorporating our Titomic Kinetic Fusion additive manufacturing process into the manufacturing of golfing accessories and will be carried out at our new state of the art Melbourne facility which houses the world’s largest 3D metal printer.”

Renishaw Introduces Additive Manufacturing Guide 

Technology firm Renishaw just launched a free, dedicated AM Guide, which will serve as an information hub on its website to educate its customers, and the greater engineering community, on all of the possibilities opened up through additive manufacturing. The guide will use case studies, feature articles, industry news, opinion pieces, and videos to accomplish this, and teach readers the business impact of 3D printing, in an effort to increase adoption in mainstream manufacturing. The new section devoted to 3D printing content features technical articles penned by Renishaw’s industry experts, including metal 3D printing powder expert Lucy Grainger and LinkedIn blogger Marc Saunders, as well as a beginner’s guide to AM.

“Investing in AM requires time, resources and equipment. To understand the benefits and develop a reliable and capable process, companies must rigorously assess operations,” said Robin Weston, Marketing Manager at Renishaw’s Additive Manufacturing Products Division.

“We want to educate the industry on why to consider AM, when to consider it and what applications are suitable. Alongside our knowledge of AM, Renishaw has expertise in precision measurement, machining and finishing. This positions us as the perfect partner for an integrated industrial additive manufacturing solution.”

BigRep Uses New Material to 3D Print Airless Bicycle Tire

Last month, large-scale industrial 3D printer manufacturer BigRep released its durable, TPU-based PRO FLEX, a flexible FFF 3D printing material with engineering-grade properties. The filament, perfect for industrial applications, was developed and tested to work on the standard 1 mm extruder of the company’s BigRep ONE industrial 3D printer, and has high temperature resistance, excellent damping behavior, and low temperature impact resistance.

While the company has experience with 3D printing wheel rims, it’s now turned its attention to tires, and used PRO FLEX to fabricate what it calls the world’s first 3D printed airless bicycle tire. The tire was successfully tested out in Berlin recently, as airless 3D printed tires increase in design and potential applications.

ACEO Introduces Fluorosilicone 3D Printing Material 

In 2016, German chemical company Wacker Chemie introduced its ACEO brand, which made it possible to 3D print silicone for industrial applications. According to Dr. Bernd Pachaly, the head of the brand, ACEO uses a liquid silicone rubber formulation, which consists of silicone polymer, crosslinker, reinforcing filler, and a catalyst to crosslink the high viscous mixture in order to form rubber. Silicone rubber is typically biocompatible and food compliant, as well as flexible and resistant to radiation, so it’s an important material in many applications, including medical and machinery.

Now, ACEO is back with another milestone: the brand has made its first public disclosure of fluorosilicone 3D printing, which is a 100% elastomer. This material combines the good resistance of fluorocarbons with the temperature properties of silicones, and can be used in sealing applications.

Dr. Pachaly said, “This is only the beginning of a series of novel materials for ACEO Silicone 3D Printing. In the next couple of months we will introduce functional silicones enabling unprecedented functionalities of silicone product designs.”

You can see this new development, along with some sample fluorosilicone 3D printed parts, at Wacker Chemie’s booth #E13 at next month’s 3D Print expo in Lyon, France.

Rize Introduces Rizium One Black Material

Boston-based Rize, which created the hybrid Rize One 3D printer, also developed its own thermoplastic material. Rizium One material is special due to the fact that it can retain much of its isotropic properties because of how the material bonds during the printing process. Now, the company is launching its new Rizium One Black material, available for purchase immediately. The material, like the existing Rizium One, has mechanical properties that mimic those of injection molded plastic parts, and is also safe and recyclable. It creates parts that have a high HDT, are watertight and able to be sterilized, and offer chemical resistance to acid, acetone, alcohol, and others. Rizium One Black parts also have the same zero-post-processing capability, so you can quickly and easily remove the supports by hand.

“Whether you use Rizium One or Rizium One Black for your functional parts, Rize’s APD additive manufacturing redefines the user and customer experience to scale the technology to an entirely new segment of commercial and industrial users,” Rize’s Vice President of Marketing Julie Reece said.

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