3D Printing News Briefs: July 16, 2019

We’re starting today’s 3D Printing News Briefs off on a story with a deadline – LulzBot is currently having a two-day Amazon Prime Day Sale. Moving on with other business news, Robert Bosch Venture Capital has invested in Xometry’s Series D funding round, and Midwest Prototyping has announced an important industry certification. Finally, the ‘Nachtwacht 360’ reproduction, created with the help of 3D printing, is being presented.

LulzBot Offering Prime Day Discount on TAZ Pro

The two-day discount parade that is Amazon Prime Day ends tonight, and LulzBot is joining in on the fun by offering a 20% discount on its brand new TAZ Pro 3D printer. The industrial desktop printer creates large, functional prototypes just as easily as it can make manufacturing aids and on-demand parts. The 280 x 280 x 285 mm TAZ Pro, which normally costs $4,950, offers reliable multi-material and soluble support 3D printing.

The latest addition to the TAZ 3D printer line has a heated build plate, two active-lifting hot ends, dual filament runout sensors, and self-leveling. Additional features include automated calibration and nozzle wiping and a 5″ color touchscreen, as well as hardened steel E3D components for printing soft, flexible materials up to industrial-grade composites. This great deal – a savings of $990 – is only available during Prime Day sales, July 15-16. So if you’re interested in the new LulzBot TAZ Pro, now is the time to buy.

Xometry Receives Investment from Robert Bosch Venture Capital

On-demand manufacturing marketplace Xometry announced that it has received another investment – Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC) joined the company’s Series D funding round with a $5 million investment. RBVC is the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, and joins Almaz Capital, BMW i Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, the Foundry Group, GE Ventures, Greenspring Associates, Highland Capital Partners, and Maryland Venture Fund as investors in the round, bringing the full amount raised to $118 million.

“We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with a world class manufacturing brand like Bosch. Global expansion is one of our key upcoming initiatives and we look forward to leveraging Bosch’s deep manufacturing expertise as we launch in Europe,” said Randy Altschuler, the Co-Founder and CEO of Xometry.

Midwest Prototyping Achieves Important Aerospace Standard

Wisconsin AM service bureau Midwest Prototyping LLC has received its AS9100 Rev. D certification, which is a standard of operational excellence required for aviation and aerospace suppliers. This certification has opened a “new avenue for digital manufacturing” at the company, as it can now manufacture flight-ready components on all six of its offered 3D printing processes, in addition to finishing, post-processing, urethane casting, and CNC machining services, at all of its production facilities in Wisconsin and Colorado.

“The AS9100D certification process examines our entire operation. From the moment we quote a project or purchase raw material, to the finished product and the way we ship an order, our customers can have even more confidence in the quality of our work. I’m extremely proud of our team and their efforts to bring our organization to the next level and the benefits this program brings to both Midwest Prototyping and our customers,” said Nate Schumacher, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Midwest Prototyping, who oversaw the company’s AS9100 Rev. D and ISO 9001:2015 implementations.

3D Printing Used to Bring Life-Size ‘Night Watch’ to Life

Nachtwacht 360 is a full-sized photographic reproduction of Rembrandt’s masterpiece ‘Night Watch’ by photographer Julius Rooymans and fashion designer Hans Ubbink. The painting was reproduced, and the exhibition includes a ‘downside’ by Rooymans and Ubbink that lets viewers walk a full 360° around the piece, so they can see a reproduction of the 17th century background against which Rembrandt may have actually painted the piece. Rooymans and Ubbink found 25 lookalikes, including one of Rembrandt, and portraits of these people and their period attributes sit around the Nachtwacht 360 reproduction. The pair designed these attributes, which included weapons and harnesses, specifically for the project based off of multiple collections from around the Netherlands, but found that some of the helmets Rembrandt had painted never actually existed in real life. So artist Robin Bandari created 3D designs of these helmets, which were then 3D printed by Dutch 3D printing service bureau Oceanz.

“As a professional and Dutch 3D print company, we are proud that Oceanz was involved in the Nachtwacht 360 project,” said Frank Elbersen, sales engineer at Oceanz 3D printing. “How beautiful is it to be able to bring this Dutch masterpiece from the 17th century to life with the innovative and modern technology of today? 3D printing makes it possible to produce objects in the most high detail. For example, the helmets, collars and a partisan-which were seen 350 years ago by Rembrandt’s eyes, are exactly counterfeited to be able to show the general public now.”

You can see the Nachtwacht 360 exhibition Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 5:30 pm, until August 4th, at the Oostenburgermiddenstraat 101 in Amsterdam.

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