Discovery 12 show today in Toronto: Additive Mfg Panel Discussion

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by Joe Hiemenz

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...

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Can You Pass Those Sunglasses? (Mojo Mania has us Feeling Like Stars)

Tuesday, May 8, 2012 by Joe Hiemenz

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...

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Embedding Inserts During an FDM Build

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 by Noah Zehringer

Embedding inserts during and FDM build.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...

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Incorporating Screw Threads into Fused Deposition Modeling Parts

Friday, April 6, 2012 by Jay Beversdorf

Incorporating Screw Threads into Fused Deposition Modeling PartsIncorporating 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...

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Remember Life Before Additive Manufacturing?

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 by Rob Storlien

Life before additive manufacturing - machinist building parts. Source: Kheel CenterMany years ago I was given the opportunity to design my first product. The terms rapid prototyping, 3D printing, and 3D prototyping were foreign to me. Although I felt confident in my abilities to design a complex piece of equipment, I was ill-prepared when it came to making the parts I needed.

We had a large in-house machine shop and I was assigned a machinist to build my prototypes. I would bring him a drawing of a part I’d worked on all day. He would bring me the part and I would find an error...

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Skate Where the Puck is Going: Toward Additive Manufacturing

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 by Joe Hiemenz

Matt Hlavin of Thogus standing in front of a Stratasys built Fortus 900 production systemLast week Gardner Publishing, launched “Additive Manufacturing,” a quarterly supplement to Modern Machine Shop and its sister publication, MoldMaking Technology. A surprising move, since these publications are aimed at CNC and mold-making facility leaders.

By recalling hockey legend Wayne Gretsky’s secret to success, Senior Editor, Peter Zelinski explains why Gardner launched the publication. Gretsky said his secret was to skate where the puck is going, not where it’s been. It involves “seeing...

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A new year -- new 3d printing industry events

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 by Ruth Jacques

Start the new year off right when you check out all the great information at any of industry events noted here. We frequently post links to events, shows and conferences centered on rapid prototyping technology, digital manufacturing, 3D printing and more, so check back often for the latest offerings.

 

Shot Show »
January 17-20, 2012
Las Vegas, NV

 

FETC 2012 »
January 24-26, 2012
Orlando, FL

 

Solidworks World »
February 12-15, 2012
San Diego, CA

Pacific Design & Mfg »
February 14-16, 2012
Anaheim,...

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12 additive manufacturing webinars you don’t want to miss

Monday, December 19, 2011 by Heather Hayes

At year-end there are always a ton of “Top 10” and “Best of” lists. At Stratasys, we’ve compiled our “Best of 2011 Webinars” list too. Whether you’re looking for inspiration to maximize your existing additive manufacturing equipment or justification to present your case for securing a rapid prototyping system, grab a cup of coffee and spend a few minutes with a few of Stratasys’ webinars from 2011. We'd love to hear what other webinars you might like to see -- leave your comments below.

7 Ways to...

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Large Prototyping Without Compromise

Monday, December 19, 2011 by Ruth Jacques

Fortus 900mc produced airplane dashboardAt Evektor  s.r.o, headquartered at the international airport in Kunovice, Czech Republic, size is no longer an issue when it comes to producing prototypes for lightweight aircraft, automotive and consumer components.

When outsourcing proved too time consuming and the costs to produce large components such as airplane dashboard covers started to soar, Evektor turned to Stratasys and its Fortus 900mc system -- a 3D production system which utilizes fused deposition modeling. This in-house solution...

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3D Production Systems Spur Tremendous Growth for Thogus

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 by Ruth Jacques

Until our economy turns around, will you hunker down or invest in technology?

When the economy started to tank, Matt Hlavin, CEO of Thogus Products, a 61-year-old manufacturing company rooted in injection molding and heavily dependent on the automotive industry, chose not to await economic recovery, but to invest in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology and diversify. His decision has paid off in spades.

With FDM in place, Thogus shifted to small-volume molding and now competes with high-cost...

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Rapid Prototyping, 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing December and January Events

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 by Ruth Jacques

If you’re looking for a break from cold winter weather, December and January offer several warm-weather industry events. Check our events section frequently, as we regularly post events interest, including events centered around rapid prototyping technology, digital manufacturing and 3D printing.

 

PRI (Performance Racing Industry) »
December 1 - 3, 2011
Orlando, FL

 

Shot Show »
January 17-20, 2012
Las Vegas, NV

 

FETC 2012 »
January 24-26, 2012
Orlando, FL

 

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This new prototype-support material is faster and enables finer detail

Monday, November 28, 2011 by Joe Hiemenz

SR-100 Soluble Support for use with polycarbonate parts. Soluble Support is no longer for ABS.Today Stratasys introduced a new soluble support material for its rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing systems. It's called SR-100 and it's for use with the polycarbonate (PC-10) formulation. Without a soluble support material, the prototype's supports must be manually removed. Automating the process speeds up the time to get a finished part in hand. Dissolve time is only about 30-120 minutes.

Prior to this introduction, soluble support material was available only for material...

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Excerpt 4: The Accuracy Myth: Don’t Make the Mistake of Confusing Resolution with Accuracy

Monday, November 28, 2011 by Joe Hiemenz

Accuracy Myth WhitepaperAs additive manufacturing is used more frequently to produce short-run production parts and manufacturing tools, like jigs and fixtures, engineers need to consider how well the parts hold their dimensions over time. The main controlling factor in assessing dimensional stability is the production material.

A Stratasys white paper, entitled "The Accuracy Myth: Don't Make the Mistake of Confusing Resolution with Accuracy" addresses the question of long-term stability of parts produced by additive...

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Rapid Prototyping Fits With OTTO’s Vertical Integration

Wednesday, November 23, 2011 by Ruth Jacques

As OTTO, maker of precision controls and communication devices, celebrated its 50th anniversary, it tested a new capability: in-house rapid prototyping on a Fortus 3D Production System. OTTO can design, test and manufacture devices for its demanding military, public safety, medical and commercial clients — all right at home on its Carpentersville, Ill., campus. Machine Shop Manager John Lang, while considering bringing a Fused Deposition Modeling system into the OTTO fold, used a trial...

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Excerpt 2: The Accuracy Myth: Don’t Make the Mistake of Confusing Resolution with Accuracy

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 by Joe Hiemenz
Accuracy Myth WhitepaperIt’s only natural that engineers working with additive manufacturing / 3D printing should have focused on the resolution of the manufacturing system in the days when "rapid prototyping" was used to produce conceptual models judged on  appearance only. Today, additive manufacturing is commonly used to produce tooling, functional prototypes and low volume production parts that must meet the same demanding dimensional requirements as traditional manufacturing methods. In this changing environment,...Read More »

November Industry Events

Tuesday, November 1, 2011 by Ruth Jacques

November offers a number of industry events that may be of interest, including events centered around rapid prototyping, technology, digital manufacturing and 3D printing. New events are posted regularly, be sure to check back.

 

SEMA Show »
November 1 - 4, 2011
Las Vegas, NV

 

MD&M Minneapolis »
November 2 - 3, 2011
Minneapolis, MN

 

ATMAE 2011 Annual Conference »
November 9 - 11, 2011
Cleveland, OH

 

ASME (International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Expo) »
November 13 - 16, 2011
Denver, CO

 

FABTE...

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Excerpt 4: Making the Case: How to Justify the Cost of a Rapid Prototyping System (Time is Money)

Monday, October 31, 2011 by Joe Hiemenz

When making a business case to purchase an additive manufacturing system the primary focus is usually on the money that can be saved. Another benefit that is more difficult to quantify is the ability to produce prototypes faster, which in turn can result in the ability to get your product to market faster. The problem is that it’s sometimes difficult to quantify additive manufacturing’s ability to make prototypes and production parts faster. A white paper addressing this issue follows, along...

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Excerpt 3: Making the Case: How to Justify the Cost of a Rapid Prototyping System (If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try Try Again)

Monday, October 24, 2011 by Joe Hiemenz

The simplest way to make a case to purchase an additive manufacturing system is to show that money can be saved by replacing existing prototyping and manufacturing methods. It’s more difficult to quantify the enormous benefits of producing more prototypes or of making production parts. For example, producing more prototypes can help improve product performance by providing the ability to inexpensively evaluate a wider range of design alternatives. A white paper addressing this is entitled, "...

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FDM Fixtures Speed New-Product Inspection

Friday, October 21, 2011 by Ruth Jacques
Oreck FDM Fixture

Wanting to get new products to market faster, but faced with a bottleneck in first-article inspection, Oreck Corporation found a new use for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).

Oreck, which manufactures lightweight cleaning products, uses a coordinate-measuring machine to inspect the dozens of parts that fit snugly into every new product. Inspection happens before the new item can enter production, and requires great precision. Custom fixtures must hold the part perfectly level to avoid...

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Excerpt 2: How to Justify the Cost of a Rapid Prototyping System (Don’t Rock the Boat)

Monday, October 17, 2011 by Joe Hiemenz

You know an additive manufacturing system can benefit your operation. But when building a business case for system purchase, be careful not to overstate the benefits or state them in a way that will threaten key players in your organization. A Stratasys white paper addresses how to create a business case that is compelling and believable. It is entitled, "Making the Case: How to Justify the Cost of a Rapid Prototyping System." Below is the second in a series of excerpts from this white paper,...

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