Last week, the headline news within the 3D printing industry was the announcement of the new Objet500 Connex3 3D printer that Stratasys showed off at Solidworks World in San Diego. Immediately following the news, just about every technology blogger and news writer picked up on the story, and the 3D printing market suddenly became much more interesting. The ability to print out in numerous materials and mixtures of materials, as well as the ability to mix 3 different colors to make hundreds of colors, was truly a revolutionary moment within the industry.
The accuracy of the Objet30 3D Printer enables us to take a full-size part and scale it down to produce a one-tenth scale model. Once we have approval at this scale, we can move onto our larger Objet500 Connex 3D Printer to produce one-third scale models, full-sized parts as well as parts that combine different material properties without assembly.
If you were to read the following statement from the early 20th century by W.O. Bentley, the company’s founder, the use of these printers would certainly make sense,
The company’s objectives are to build a fast car, a good car, the best in its class. Maintaining this tradition for automotive excellence and prestige is a fundamental focus for Bentley as it combines innovative technologies with traditional craftsmanship at every stage of development and production.
This is without a doubt the future of prototyping. The Objet500 by Stratasys allows Bentley, and will allow many other manufacturers to prototype using multiple materials within one print, saving time and material, and most importantly, creating a near perfect final production.
The following is a video inside a Bentley manufacturing facility, where you will see the printer in use.
Discuss the Objet500 Printer and it’s future uses here: https://3dprintboard.com/showthread.php?1609-Bentley-is-already-using-Stratasys-Objet500-3D-Printers-in-Big-Ways