Stratasys, Inc.

If you’re at Toronto’s Discovery 12 show today, you may want to check out the Additive Manufacturing panel discussion at 2:00 in the Enbridge Theatre.  Stratasys VP Jeff DeGrange will join the panel of presenters. Learn how the additive manufacturing industry is migrating from rapid prototyping to direct part production.

Here’s the presentation description:

Rapid Prototyping - How Increasing the productivity of your company decreases the time to market

Rapid prototyping (RP) technology has advanced...

Forgive us for the countdown drama, but our engineers have been working on something very exciting! It’s fun to have a big secret, and it’s even better to shout it out: Our new printer is so cool!

First of all, for a professional Fused Deposition Modeling system, Mojo is impressively compact. It fits in my humble cubicle. I know this because a 3D-printed prototype sat on this very desk for a few days last winter. FDM on a desktop. And why not? Independent research says 80 percent of 3D models...

The newest addition to the Stratasys family, Mojo, got a lot of attention when we introduced it yesterday. We'd love to hear your feedback!

How do you think Mojo will be used? Will it fit into your shop?

With the unveiling of our Mojo 3D Printer today, at Stratasys we’re feeling a bit like stars from all the media attention. While it may not be the paparazzi covering us, here’s a sampling of the coverage we’re seeing from some of our top industry media.

Leslie Langnau at Design World: “From my engineering perspective, this is a sweet system.” Get Your Motor Running

Desktop Engineering’s Jamie Gooch on a Mojo beta test: “In my mind, Stratasys had locked [Todd Grimm] in a room with a Mojo. The only...

Offering the rare treat of a smart choice that’s also super easy, our Dimension team has bundled its popular 3D printers with the materials and accessories that every user needs anyway. The option is called a Dimension 3D Print Pack, and it boasts a nice price incentive versus buying the items separately.

When engineers and designers decide to adopt FDM technology, it’s often because they need time and money savings. The last thing they want to deal with at that stage is surprise costs. Besides...

It's time for some all-too-rare shameless boasting on the part of engineers and designers. What's the coolest thing you've ever designed? Maybe it wasn't even your most successful product, or for whatever reason hasn't yet seen the light of day outside your workshop. But something about it gives you great gratification. 

What design or engineering project makes you the proudest?

Things just got easier if you’re thinking about buying a 3D Printer. After the introduction of “3D Print Packs” for its uPrint SE line, Stratasys has begun offerering a similar Print Pack for its Dimension line. The bundled system includes a 3D printer, a support-removal system and a supply of model material, support material, and other supplies needed to build parts. The complete start-up kit means customers won’t have any surprises. Package prices begin at USD $31,900.

Packages makes...

The Lamborghini Aventador was the Top Gear Car of the Year for 2011. It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and boasts a top speed of about 230 mph. It’s 9 percent more powerful, 20 percent more fuel efficient and 6 percent lighter than the previous generation Murciélago. The key to the Aventador’s extreme performance is its light weight carbon-fiber reinforced composite (CFRC) monocoque, the core of its integrated body-chassis.

The component is the result of research involving 3D...

The Fortus 900mc is capable of producing extremely large parts, which requires a lot of material to be extruded. During these extended builds, the Teflon shield attached to the tip can become worn. Since tips are a consumable item and can be replaced between jobs, this wear isn't normally an issue. However, on extraordinarily long jobs, this wear on the tip shield can start to build up molten and burnt material, which can dislodge and get embedded in the part as a discolored spot.

To prevent...

Sunday is Earth Day, when we reiterate the importance of using resources responsibly and cleaning up after ourselves at home and at work. One of my favorite benefits of 3D printing in general — and Fused Deposition Modeling in particular — is the opportunity to reduce waste.

How have you taken advantage of this? Do you catch design flaws earlier? Skip tooling when possible? Did you move from a subtractive to an additive manufacturing process, resulting in less wasted material?

How has 3D printing...

Recently, we've seen an increase in requests for various types of inserts in 3D prototypes and production parts. With Fortus 3D Production Systems, a build can be paused and objects can be inserted directly into a 3D printed part. You can then resume the build and when it’s finished, your object is embedded firmly into the final part; it can be partially exposed outside the part for functionality or completely enclosed within the part. The end result is some very cool looking and functioning 3D...

An iconic name in aviation, Piper Aircraft creates single- and twin-engine planes for businesses and individuals. Hydroforming — placing sheet metal against a form and applying pressurized fluid — helps create hundreds of aluminum components from frame to skin.

In the past, Piper used a CNC machine to make aluminum forms. But complex geometries were expensive, lead time could be weeks, and material waste was considerable.

So Piper’s Fred Jones, lead tool designer, worked out a quicker, less...

STL files are essential to 3D printing. An STL file is what you can export from your CAD software to proceed with the 3D printing process. Most or all 3D printers read the surface of the STL file to produce its geometries. Whatever your computer and CAD software capabilities are, exporting an STL file with the highest resolution will give you better surface finish and dimensional accuracy. In the past you may have experienced rigid surfaces or polygonal holes and thought you had a problem with...

Yesterday, Dimension 3D Printing announced the winners in this year's Extreme Redesign contest, which challenges college and high school students to reinvent products and works of art or architecture. This year's achievements include a continuous-flow hand pump and a library building that encourages community involvement. Check out the designs if you haven't already -- they'll make you optimistic about tomorrow's engineers and designers.

Did you have 3D printing technology available in your...

Using colors on the Fortus systems is a great way to make your parts stand out, especially when creating an assembly or specialty parts for manufacturing applications. (Designated colors could signify safety, caution, no-fly, danger, etc.)

However, one thing I've noticed is that after using a colored material, when I switch back to a lighter color or natural material, some of the darker colorant bleeds onto the first few layers of my next part. I could purge extra material during the loading...

Incorporating Screw Threads Into FDM Parts
Screw threads are one of the most common components used for fastening parts in an assembly or attaching pipe tubing together. Here are five ways to incorporate screw threads into Fused Deposition Modeling parts, followed by some useful applications.

Threads directly from the FDM machine
Depending on the pitch and helical profile, it may be possible to design your desired thread right into the CAD file. Typically, large pitched threads on parts used for...

National Center for Manufacturing Sciences Senior VP Rebecca Taylor recently wrote about how FDM Technology mended a heartache. Her beautiful Corvette convertible, otherwise running great, was stranded for lack of one stupidly simple part: the tray that holds the engine computer.

With spring fast approaching, Taylor issued a distress call to the manufacturing community. Here's her account of how Stratasys Application Engineer Noah Zehringer delivered the joy that is a functioning convertible in...

Two years ago, we blogged about Dimension 3D Printing user Matt Bunting, who built a smart hexapod robot. Bunting has been hard at work on the device, which has taught itself to walk on its FDM legs using visual input. It can even recognize Bunting’s face.

The March 21 episode of Discovery Channel’s “Daily Planet” shows how Bunting’s bot behaves somewhat like a biological entity, adapting to its environment with the help of an artificial neural network. Five minutes in, see the Dimension 3D...

I recently received a 4:30 p.m. distress call from a customer. He runs a small service bureau using only Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) machines. He was really hoping to deliver a 3D prototype the following day to impress his new customer, but the green flag (default) run time was 36 hours and 11 minutes.

The part was basically a large, thin-walled container. Naturally, he chose to orient it with the cavity upward to avoid filling it with support, but a thin rim around the top still...

The time and expense to make conventional custom manufacturing tools means they're normally inventoried between uses. The need to inventory tools that are used infrequently comes with costs such as shelf space, managing and tracking the inventory, and time to locate jigs and fixtures when needed. Manufacturing tools made with additive manufacturing, on the other hand, can be made so quickly and inexpensively that it often makes sense to build them when you need them and discard or recycle then...