Jim, I noticed the same things about the article. I included the link as an example of what's out there. If you Google "PLA and 3D printing", you''ll come up with a lot of other sources, some of which have a very different take. Beth's article says "PLA was chosen because of its strength and ability to make very large prints without cracking or warping."
Gosh, Ann – That article is less than encouraging as an endorsement for PLA. It actually says it is best used as the support-structure for the primary material being ABS; that the PLA will degrade away, leaving the host ABS in place. The article is about 2 years old. I'm hoping that if MakerBot has invested their product line on this material as the primary building block, that it has rugged, stable material characteristics. Guess the Jury's still out.
Jim, I just did a little googling on the topic of PLA use in 3D printers. Here's some info: http://blog.makezine.com/2010/05/15/3d-printing-using-pla-as-a-support/
This device looks very attractive for a small sized design house. I would ask the entry-questions:
1) Not familiar with the PLA material; can we compare it something familiar and provide some specs-?
2) How big is the platen-? (max LxWxH of printed result)
3) What is the expected cost of the materials to print (per unit volume of delivered objects)-?
4) While 100 microns sounds awesome, it equals .004" – nearly 10x the coarse resolution of an Objet printer; but at 1/10th the price, still very acceptable.
Realizing these value-added points, it makes this very desirable for my office. I'm looking forward to learning more about it.
Beth, I notice that the Replicator 2 uses bioplastic PLA, not ABS. This appears to be an emerging trend in additive manufacturing, at least at the higher end. Do you know of any other 3D printers that use bioplastics?
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
