Sharebot Teams with NESPOLI&Partners to 3D Print Furniture Designs

3D Printing appears to be making its way into just about every industry out there. Whether it is the construction industry, car manufacturing sector, or even the video game industry, 3D printing has already begun to make its mark. Before long it wouldn’t be surprising to see every single manufacturing firm turn to 3D printing for at least some of their production and prototyping needs.

For one company, NESPOLI&Partners, they saw 3D printing as a means for increasing efficiency in prototyping and the production of furniture pieces. So, the Como, Italy-based company turned to one of Italy’s most well known 3D printer manufacturers for testing. That company is ShareBot S.r.l., and the project that they worked on together was the creation of a 3D printed boiserie. For those of you who don’t know, a boiserie is a panel of carved wood that is oftentimes put on furniture pieces or walls as decoration.

As you can see in the photos, the pink colored boiserie was 3D printed on a Sharebot XXL 3D printer.

Final object (Left), 3D printed object (Right)

“They asked us to print a model starting from a real decorative element 3D laser scan by Nespoli” Explained Sharebot. “The object had to be bigger than the final product. We chose to print it with Sharebot XXL because it’s the best printer to duplicate both boiserie dimensions and the required object’s decorative details.”

3D scanning technology has really been developing quickly, even more so than 3D printing in general. Scanners are now able to capture so much detail that these objects can be 3D printed almost exactly like the originals.  The combination of scanning and printing allowed for the creation of this incredible decorative piece which would be almost impossible to tell the difference from an originally carved work.

Once the 3D printed boiserie was complete, Nespoli&Partners used it as a mold to create their final product. They used a rough-hew machine to design friezes and forms onto the wood. As you can see in the image provided, the final product turned out just perfect.

The Sharebot XXL is one of the higher quality, large build volume 3D printers on the market, featuring a print area of 700x250x200mm. It allowed the company to 3D print the boiserie in a single piece, without needing to break it up into different components which would later need to be assembled.

Sharebot XXL

“We wanted to prove all the potential that our 3D printers have and how they can be used to help anybody with their workflow,” Claudio Bonfiglioli of Sharebot tells 3Dprint.com. “We have plans to help any craftsman or member of the furniture industry do a better job with their creations.”

As for NESPOLI&Partners, this isn’t the first time they have utilized 3D printing technology in their desire to create unique furniture pieces.  They have also used the technology to create a miniature scaled down model of a chair, as seen in the image to the right.

It should be interesting to see how 3D printing and the furniture industry converge in the near future? Do you think that 3D printing has potential in the creation of decorative furniture pieces? Discuss in the 3D printing furniture forum thread on 3DPB.com.