Did you know that there’s now such a thing as “traditional” 3D printing? Yes, tech moves fast.
While 3D printing may seem like it just got invented last year, you’ll find that there are new innovations popping up all over the place – though not many quite as game-changing as CLIP.
Meet CLIP by Carbon3D
Carbon3D, a California-based company, has created a high-tech 3D printer that can produce results 25 to 100 times faster than the devices often used today. Instead of the hours it would usually take, printing can be done in minutes. The technology behind it is amazing!
The Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) of 3D objects uses light, oxygen, non-curable resin, and the wonderful process of “photopolymerization.” This is the method that allows a polymer to change its properties once exposed to light (usually UV) to create structures by hardening the material.
All You Need is Light (And Oxygen. And Non-Curable Resin.)
Those three factors are what set CLIP apart from other 3D printers like Polyjet, SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) and SLA (Stereolithography), which print in layers.
By using amorphous, soft and deformable polymers such as high-quality elastomer, Carbon3D provides an end product with the perfect combination of resistance and malleability not found in other materials or 3D products.
Third party tests confirmed that CLIP can produce a 51mm diameter complex object in just 6 ½ minutes compared to the 3 hours to 11 hours that other printers need. The speed of CLIP’s printing provides users ample time to print intricate designs efficiently.
“As a continuous sequence of UV images are projected,” Carbon3D explains, “the object is drawn from the resin bath. Sophisticated software manages the entire process by controlling the variables.”
Aside from the wow factor that this advancement brings, there are many fields of science that can actually benefit from such efficient 3D printing operations. By manipulating light and oxygen to transform liquid into solid, more innovations in aviation, industry, automotives, retail and healthcare can be discovered.
Carbon3D has been secretly developing this and working on every step to ensure quality. It’s safe to say that this can spark a radical change in the way we produce objects.
Learn more at http://carbon3d.com/.
I had to re watch the video because of how cool it was. I’m so astonished by this. It’s crazy what people can invent and built. People are always finding new ways to make things do new stuff and it’s amazing. I don’t think I’ll ever need a 3D printer, (or for now at least) but this could mean great things for developers and such.
Just wait a couple of years and we’re goin to have machines that will 3D print objects in less than a minute, tech moves fast and while it’s scary it’s also exciting. I can’t wait for the day 3D printers are going to be a common household item.