Objective3D | BLOG

Telstra Option City built entirely from 3D printing and Additive Manufacturing Technology at RapidPro Things have been pretty hectic at RapidPro of late, especially with the evolution of Telstra Option City, designed by The Face and built by RapidPro utilising all the technologies we have in-house including our engineers expertise and skill to deliver a complex model that sits on a large plinth, rotates and has all the lights and whistles ... literally! The buildings were made using RedEye Australasia's Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) build centre, the signage was built using Objet's polyjet technology, the fine detail including satellite dishes etc utilise ZCorp and EOS SLS parts for fine feature detail and the entire project was painted to precise specifications by our team of painting and finishing experts. To read the full case study, visit our website by clicking here .  Check out the video to see how this complex model of architectural buildings came together

"Within the next decade, additive manufacturing could make our complicated global supply chain obsolete, replacing it with a new economy based on a high-tech system of local, connected suppliers." Travis Hessman, Associate Editor, IndustryWeek, Jul. 11, 2013 A recent story for MHLNews, highlights 3D printing and the need for 3D printing Service bureaus. Read the articles by following the link below: The Rise of The Printing Bureau   and 3D printing the Supply Chain .  RedEye bureau - able to print on demand in various locations around the world including Australia

Today I noticed an interesting article on Quartz regarding 3D printing patents expiring and how that will impact the market.The article describes how with patents for Laser Sintering expiring in 2014, there will be an influx of cheaper machines making the technology more accessible to everybody. Much like what happened with Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), originally patented by Stratasys before expiring and MakerBot making it's mark.  Several key points were raised and I would like to take this opportunity to explain things from a local Australian perspective. POINT 1: With the end of patents comes an influx of low end machines to the market making home 3D printing more accessible, in this case for laser sintering.  At this point it is important to note that that not all 3D printers are the same. A 3D printer, like those used by bureaus, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The resulting part will be of a much higher standard and quality than something produced at h

China is not always cheaper, especially when it comes to SLS printed parts and prototypes. To test this theory we sent out a CAD file to be quoted by 3 companies in China. We also quoted the CAD file ourselves using RapidPro’s quoting system. The results were surprising … There is a common misconception that if you want something cheap, go straight to China. And while there are undoubtedly many things that are cheaper in China, SLS prototyping is not one of them.    Let me explain …  With so much hype about China being cheaper, we decided to test this theory by getting several Chinese companies to quote on printing a single file in SLS. We looked at time to respond, lead time (excluding freight) and cost. *Click to enlarge So how did we compare…. *Click to enlarge Not only were our costs comparable or cheaper, our turnaround and lead times were much faster, ensuring the customer receives their parts faster and cheaper than if they had gone direct

Have you ever wondered who the Engineers are behind RapidPro? Check them out at our Meet the Experts page on our website. For example: Did you know that Simon is a Six Sigma Black Belt? Did you know that Hugh can craft guitars using CNC?  Did you know that Daniel is an SLS innovator? Read about our expert team by clicking here .