New 3D printing method - no ridges

[Corbs]

Still in the early stages but very impressive and very sci-fi-esque

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/03/16/this-new-technology-blows-3d-printing-out-of-the-water-literally/

[Marbelup]

It sounds too good to be true!  

 

Unfortunately, they don't really explain how it is done.  

 

Have to wait and see I suppose.

[billbedford]

Try this page for an explanation 

[alanbuttler]

It does look pretty mind blowing.  It looks like a similar process to the B9C and others but there must be something fundamentally different - I wonder if it's the continual movement of the build table that is the key difference?

 

By controlling the oxygen flux through the window, CLIP creates a “dead zone” — a thin layer of uncured resin between the window and the object.

This makes it possible to grow without stopping. As a continuous sequence of UV images are projected, the object is drawn from the resin bath.

 

[billbedford]

One of the problems with printers based on DLPs is that the cured resin tends to stick to the bottom of the resin bath. Usually some sort of mechanical arrangement is used to break the bond between the cured resin and the bath. It looks as if these guys seem to have found a way of preventing the resin sticking and so are able to not only speed up the curing cycles but also able to utilise much finer layers.

 

This machine still has all the other limitations of DLP printers, i.e. small build envelope and the need for physical supports but it looks like an interesting advance for those that can work within it's limitations.

[mgbusa]

The technology is not really new but they increased the speed nicely. I have seen pieces of other companies and they are much better looking than what DLP printers can do but all of those pieces were small (little Eiffel towers, chess pieces, etc.)