3D Printing "living" Bio-based materials with Urban Reef
Urban Reef is using 3D Printing to create Bio-Inclusive Cities
Urban Reef is a startup that researches, develops and designs situations and interactions for a more-than-human urban environment. The mission: terraforming world's metropoles.
"Cities should be home to all forms of life, not just humans."
Following this principle, Urban Reef is developing "Reefs" which are designed to be open to a wide range of forms of life. These prototypes are created using algorithms and are 3D printed with "living" materials using Delta WASP 40100 Clay and the Continuous Feeding System. They can absorb water and provide a range of microclimates and nutrients, giving more organisms the opportunity to thrive in the city.
3D Printed "Reefs" to Enhance Biodiversity in Cities
Reefs are intricate designs that can retain water through porosity, and offer a range of microclimates that complement urban settings and extreme climates. In this way they provide microrefugia for urban species, increasing biodiversity.
The 3D printer Delta WASP 40100 Clay is utilized to process complex geometrical designs with porous materials such as ceramics and composites (including mycelium, river dredge, sea shells and clay). The moisture in the air is able to pass through and cultivate the ideal environment for fungi to grow, thus giving life to structure.
The Continuous Feeding System allows the printing of larger pieces thanks to the significant increase of the machine's capacity combined with the automatic material outgassing system.
Rain Reef is 3D printed with a porous material (manufactured from a mixture of seeds, coffee grounds and mycelium), which is saturated with collected rainwater, rendering it accessible to vegetation being grown outside.
Professional LDM 3D Printing
Urban Reef is using Delta WASP 40100 Clay combined with the Continuous Feeding System to develop their prototypes. With Delta WASP 40100 Clay It's possible to print directly on the floor or on a printing surface removable steel. You can also continue printing without waiting for the piece to dry and simply by moving the printer.
3D printed moon 'Enceladus' for Triennale Milano
3D printed art installation for Triennale Milano 'Unknown Unknowns'
Enceladus is a 3D printed art installation designed by Irene Stracuzzi and 3D printed by WASP Hub Mantova (Arche 3D) for the 23rd International Exhibition of Triennale Milano, headed by Stefano Boeri, and curated by Ersilia Vaudo.
The project explores Enceladus, a moon of Saturn that is believed to have an underground ocean beneath its icy surface, raising the possibility of life existing there. This has sparked curiosity in both scientists and artists about what its hidden world might look like.
3D printing the moon 'Enceladus' with 3MT HDP
Enceladus was 3D printed by WASP Hub Mantova (Arche 3D) using WASP 3MT HDP, the large scale pellet 3D printer.
The digital model was provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) and then divided and worked on for printing. There are 12 pieces in total: 5 segments consisting of two pieces that are approximately 1 meter and 0.5 meter in height, welded with hot reinforcements to make transportation and assembly easier, and 2 removable pieces held in place by magnets, so they could be opened to load a smoke machine inside.
The total width is 3 meters and the total height is 1.5, and the material used is PLA INGEO white masterbatch. The total weight is between 150 and 200 kg. The total printing time is about 250 hours.
Photos by WASP Hub Mantova (Arche 3D)
Summary sheet
Piece name: Enceladus
Printer: 3MT HDP
Material: PLA INGEO with white masterbatch
Designed by: Irene Stracuzzi
Printed by: WASP Hub Mantova (Arche 3D)
Exhibition: Unknown Unknowns, An Introduction to Mysteries, Triennale Milano, from July 15 2022 to December 11 2022
Number of pieces: 12
Printing time: 250 hrs
Size: 3x1,5 m
Large scale 3D printing
Enceladus was created with the 3MT 3D printer. This is the best printer for creating medium-large pieces thanks to its wide printing bed area of 1 meter in diameter.
3D printed installation for MUSE - Science Museum
3D Printing, Art and Biotechnology at MUSE Trento
From 30 November 2022 to 8 January 2023 it will be possible to visit the 3D printed installation 'Cloroplastic' for the MUSE exhibition “BioArt. Ricerche d’avanguardia e immaginario artistico” at Palazzo delle Albere, as part of the European project ACDC – Artificial Cells with Distributed Cores.
WASP participated in the project by creating a 3D printed installation using transparent materials of plant origin.
Piece name: Cloroplastic
Printer: 3MT HDP
Material: Recycled transparent PLA of plant origin
Printed with: WASP Hub Milano (Superforma)
Cloroplastic: 3D printing of a transparent biopolymer of plant origin
Cloroplastic consists of a collective work inspired by nature and capable of reacting to stimuli from the environment, the result of the process of sharing scientific knowledge that took place during the Open Talks&Labs organized by MUSE as part of the progetto ACDC.
The outer membrane was printed in transparent PLA recycled with WASP 3MT HDP from the WASP Hub in Milan, Superforma.
The outer membrane of the structure was made of recycled transparent PLA of vegetable origin using WASP 3MT HDP, the 3D printer optimized for large-scale printing.
The work is inspired by chloroplasts, organelles present in plant cells where chlorophyll photosynthesis takes place. It was built in a participatory way, through the use of digital manufacturing techniques and biotechnological laboratories.
In Cloroplastic, visitors who interact with the work will provide the light needed by plants to activate the photosynthesis process. The installation hosts Impatiens walleriana plants planted by the participants in the Open Labs, through the use of micropropagation techniques.
"This installation - explains Lucilla Galatà, project coordinator for MUSE - wants to show the results of a path we have undertaken in the museum as part of the ACDC project, to involve the community in research on the border between natural and artificial, living and non-living living, scientific research and artistic practices. The ultimate goal is to invite the public to look beyond these dichotomies and to inspire new connections and reflections”.
PLA pellet
The material used to print the project is transparent recycled PLA of plant origin. Pellet printing has many advantages: You can use recycled plastic, and It's cheaper and faster than filament material.
Discover our pellet materials.
Large scale 3D printing
For this project it has been used the 3MT 3D printer. It permits to print big pieces until 1 meter of diameter and it is really used for installations or to create walls. The procedure is to print in pieces and then assembly them, building the entire structure.
3D printing with a recycled material from fishing nets
New recycled material for pellet 3D printing
WASP has partnered with Reflow with the purpose of refining the printing of a new recycled material in large scale. The results obtained during the research have been extremely positive, getting us to look forward to continuing expanding our catalogue with new sustainable materials.
The benefits of pellet 3D printing in large scale
These pieces were printed using WASP 3MT HDP, the large scale pellet 3D printer optimized for large objects. The material, rPPGF, provided by Reflow, was recycled and pelletized directly from discharged fishing nets.
Being able to work directly with pellet reduces the cost of the material up to 1/10 compared to the corresponding filament. It allows to use a greater variety of materials, and decreases printing times.
Large scale 3D printer
These pieces have been created with the 3MT 3D printer. This is the best printer for creating medium-large pieces thanks to its wide printing bed area of 1m in diameter.
Collaboration with Ai Build to test AiSync slicing software
Ai Build is a British software company that works with a network of innovative clients, partners and investors to bring our cutting edge technology into a wide range of industrial applications.
WASP has a partnership with AI Build to test non-planar slicing on Delta WASP 3MT Industrial 4.0.
WASP HUB in Milan SuperForma, the testing produced good results.
Watch video here: https://fb.watch/c5bpIxol67/
Software AiSync for non-planar slicing
With AiSync software it is about multi-axis 3D printing which unlike traditional 3D printing software produces multi-axis toolpaths that are not constrained by slicing layers.
AiSync is compatible with Delta WASP 3MT Industrial 4.0 large 3D printer
3D printing wall art and stairs
3D printing in large scale for art installations
Large scale 3D printing has a lot of potential for being used to create ehxhibitions and installations, but not everyone knows why to choose this technology. 3D printing lets you to overcome limits of manufacturing, experimenting with shapes and structures that are not possible in other ways. These works are made by WASP Hub Madrid, Lowpoly.
Stairs to Infinity
In this case study, we’ll see how additive manufacturing opens new ways to design stairs with parametric techniques: lighter and with recycled materials.
The structure has been designed in wireframe to reach the goal of lightness and resistance at the same time.
This project is designed by Carmen Baselga and Hector Serrano for the exhibition PRINT3D in Cosmocaixa Museum in Barcelona. The concept of the project was trying to design a spiral staircase of 12 meters, only supported by transparent threads, as light as possible.
Gelosia
Gelosia is a project that uses 3d printing on a large scale to create big partition walls. Like for Stairs to Infinity, It was designed by Carmen Baselga and Hector Serrano for the exhibition PRINT3D of Cosmocaixa museum in Barcelona.
The purpose of the project was to separate sections of the exhibition while maintaining the view through it.
3D printing process
The wireframe structure has been chosen not only for functional issues, but also for the light and shades effects that this holes pattern creates.
Grasshopper is the software used to generate the gcode and the route that the 3D printer follows. If you want to see how to generate the gcode directly from Grasshopper, click on the button
This design process permits to minimize the waste of material, optimizing the shape and reducing the material only to the structural parts.
Each step has been divided and printed in parts to have the chance to add couplings to make the assembly easier. This procedure has led to shipping the entire stairs in two boxes, optimizing the logistics and dropping the CO2 emissions.
PLA pellet
The material used to print the project is PLA recycled from food packaging, mixed with natural white pigment. In this way, the aesthetical result is excellent and it is not necessary to finish it with final painting. Printing with pellets has many advantages: you can use recycled plastic: it is cheaper and faster than filament material.
Check our pellet materials.
Large scale 3D printer
For these two projects it has been used the 3MT 3D printer. It permits to print big pieces until 1 meter of diameter and it is really used for installations or to create walls. The procedure is to print in pieces and then assembly them, building the entire structure.
3D printed sculptural walls in a Flagship Store
3D printed store
3D printing is a perfect way to create installations designed with parametric shapes. This leads to a new concept to create sets and scenographies because it permits to build original decorative shapes. In this case La Máquina (by Noumena) printed a flagship store designed by External Reference in Dubai. An immersive space where digital blends with physical world.
An immersive fluid space
The sculptural walls transform the store in a geometric space, where the products (shoes) are perfectly included in the scenography and become a part of it. Everything is perfectly mixed for a complete experience. The sculptural walls are augmented with a layer of interactive 3D mapping that continously change the environment visuals and where customers can communicate and play.
Thanks to parametric design, the geometry flows following the curves of the walls. The installation was subdivided in pieces, printed and then assembled. This process is available thanks to additive manufacturing and its way to print simultaneously different parts.
3D printer for large scale
These walls are built with 3MT HDP, the 3D printer designed for massive prints. With the technology High Definition Pellet, you can print Pellet material fastly and precisely. Pellet granules are 10x cheaper than filaments and they reduce the printing time. In plus, you can print 24/7 thanks to the Continuous Feeding System.
Cocoon and Divergent the 3D printed lamps
Printing on fabric for complex shapes
3d printing never stops surprising with the different ways to approach design and modeling. In this article, we'll see the opportunity to reach different shapes through the behavior of different materials in contact.
Drag and drop, a design study located in Bucharest - Romania, has explored large-size 3D printing in all its facets. They mainly print with the 3MT and model with algorithms, discovering new esthetic through materials and their features.
Divergent equilibrium lamp
Divergent equilibrium is a complex lamp that comes as a result of 3D printing polymeric filaments on textile material. The shape that comes out was studied starting from algorithms that draw curves and curls up the fabric, creating beautiful movements.
"Our designs are intimately linked with the additive manufacturing process and we have been exploring the unique aesthetic features which are only made possible by the advent of large scale 3d printing. In our work we celebrate the chunky layers, the material drips and the intricate geometries that are only possible with this technology. As designers we have more control than ever - from the material mix to controlling the machine to promoting the work. It really feels empowering." - Madalin Gheorghe / Drag And Drop
Cocoon lamp
Cocoon is an intricated lamp where the softness of the textile interacts with the complex system of the 3D printed polymeric lines. The shape comes out by herself following the pattern designed with algorithms. As the result, appearance evokes smooth vibes, but also similar to the moon shape by the lateral view.
Here you can see the process of 3D printing on textile: you can see that suddenly after the releasing of the pins, the shape comes out. To create this lamp, Drag and Drop used the large size 3D printer Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0.
Large size 3D printer
Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0 is the printer used to create these beautiful 3d printed lamp. It's the perfect printer for large size pieces, with filament or pellet materials.
TECHNĒ, a 3D printed fashion line
3D printed clothes
Milan-based fashion designer Chiara Giusti has collaborated with Superforma Fablab, a digital manufacturing laboratory specializing in 3D printing, to create a 3D printed clothing line called TECHNĒ. As part of her final university project at Politecnico di Milano.
Italian fashion designer uses Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0 to create 3D printing clothing line TECHNE
Giusti used a Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0 Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printer to deposit Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) at high temperatures directly onto stretched textiles to create complex three-dimensional textures and geometries.
3D Fashion Designer
To create TECHNĒ, Chiara studied how 3D printing is used with tension-activated textiles in-depth. Chiara’s main aim was to produce comfortable yet fashionable clothes where 3D printing played a structural and decorative role. Previously, 3D printed materials have been more rigid than most fabrics used in clothing, which is why Chiara used FDM machines to print directly onto apparel to make the clothes comfortable to wear.
Chiara studied a range of materials and techniques to implement sustainable methods. She believes 3D printed fashion involving machines and craftsmanship can attract a consumer base with a conscious approach to style. She says: “In a moment when everything is carelessly duplicated and synthesized, the combined work of mind, hands, and machines could generate a new fashion system.”
3D Printer for clothes
Furthermore, SuperForma’s Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0 FDM machine helped Chiara fine-tune the printing parameters and experiment with different materials that lead to creating the final clothing line. Chiara added: “It was CEO and founder Mattia Ciurnelli of SuperForma who followed the progress of the experimentation and helped me to manage the available technologies with his competence in digital fabrication.”
Superforma is part of the international WASP Hub network promoted by WASP. Aside from its work with TECHNĒ, WASP has worked on other large-scale structures, such as partnering with the Rossana Orlandi gallery in Milan to showcase the Gaia, a 3D printed eco-house created with sustainable materials.
Chiara believes her creativity came from her knowledge in pattern making, which then influenced her ability to question, analyze, and rethink it throughout the study of the manufacturing process and experimentation with FDM printing machines. TECHNĒ was created with the ambition to combine form and function in 3D printed clothes. Chiara said: “Usually, 3D printing is used to create showpieces, sculptural structures, and even when printing materials and fabrics merge, additive manufacturing has a mainly decorative/ornamental role.”
Iris Van Herpen as inspiration
Esteemed fashion designer Iris van Herpen, known for her occasional ‘decorative/ornamental’ application of 3D printing in her designs, debuted her 3D printed ‘face jewelry’ at Paris Fashion Week 2019. The collection entitled ‘Cellchemy’ was created by 3D scanning each model’s face to map out a shape highlighting shifts in density and contours of their faces. The final result was a series of lace-like masks created by a high-resolution multi-material printer.
Chiara said: “I definitely believe that 3D printed fabrics could enter the global fashion market soon, but designers should combine their experience with the knowledge of scientists and engineers to further explore this sector, improving and stabilizing techniques and machines to obtain reliable, ergonomic products for the end-user.”
Large scale 3D printer
Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0 is the perfect printer to create large size pieces, with filament or pellet materials.
3D printed molds
Customized panels
3D printing in large scale has infinite potential, as we can see here, also in the mold sector. In this project, carried out by WASP Hub Denmark, we can see this innovative approach of molds creation through Additive Manufacturing.
Formworks are widely used in architecture to create concrete panels. Their shapes are often standard because the materials most used are wood, metal and polystyrene. The first two are the most solid but the shapes remain always the same and they can not be customized with details or different geometry. To create customized panels, the most used material is polystyrene: it is more adaptable than the others but you can't reach all the shapes.
Now we have a new technique that can transform the way we produce concrete panels: large scale 3D printing. With this technology it's super fast creating big pieces with the wanted shape always in different way.
With 3D printing you can constantly design new geometries and customize the texturing of the panel. This allows you to overcome the limits of the standard formworks and reach new geometric patterns.
Texturing is a process used also in nature to create shapes that have functional features. To show the opportunities of 3D printing in this field, a series of panels in concrete with unique design has been created.
These panels are the results of computational processes and the inspiration comes from nature and abstract shapes. The process of creation involves FDM technology, with upcycled plastic waste in order to re-utilize the material.
3D printing concrete mold
Texturing is a process used also in nature to create shapes that have functional features. To show the opportunities of 3D printing in this field, a series of panels in concrete with unique design has been created. These panels are the results of computational processes and the inspiration comes from nature and abstract shapes.
The process of creation involves FDM technology, with upcycled plastic waste in order to re-utilize the material. This is another plus that makes 3D printing the perfect ally forcreate molds.
Thanks to computational design you can reach always different patterns, generated with algorithms. Here some examples of the different shapes you can reach.
Project credits
CREATE Group - Led by Asst. Prof. Dr. Roberto Naboni
University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Unit of Civil and Architectural Engineering (CAE)
Team: Roberto Naboni, Luca Breseghello, David W. Jokszies
3D Scanning: at the SDU Prototyping Lab (Prof. Knud Bjørnholt)
Industry Partners: WASP (3D Printers), Hi-Con (High-Performance Concrete)
The printer for large scale objects
The printer used in this project is Delta WASP 3MT Industrial 4.0, the perfect printer for large scale objects. It works with filament and pellet extrusion, in order to use recycled plastics. With its printing bed of 1 meter of diameter, it lets you print big objects in small time.
3D printed furniture, when Art meet Additive Manufacturing
by Carolyn Schwaar thanks to all3dpi
Images and project by piegatto.com
Delta WASP: 3D Printed Furniture With Beauty & Form
Delta WASP 3D Printing Case Study: How a Guatemalan architect creates stunningly intricate furniture designs achievable only with a large format 3D printer.
A sculpture machine – this is how an artist sees a 3D printer. To furniture designer, architect, and artist Alejandro Estrada, his 3D printer is a tool on par with a hammer and chisel. He didn’t choose this method because it was faster, cheaper, or easier. He creates with a 3D printer because it expands what’s possible in design and challenges his imagination.
“When you know how to draw a line it’s completely unimportant if it’s with a stick, with your hand, with a pencil, or with a computer,” he says. “And when you know how to draw a line and you find much more accurate ways of doing so, then you take this new way of doing to create a work of art.”
Estrada’s art includes contemporary furniture design through additive manufacturing, specifically with the technology of Italian printer manufacturer WASP.
CASE STUDY AT A GLANCE
Type of Print: Final Piece - 3D printed chaise longue
Options: Injection Molding vs FDM
Industry: Furniture
3D Print Volume: 1 per week on average
Print Material: Various PLA, wood composite pellets
Printer selected: Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0
Printer investment: $40,000 with accessories
Time to ROI: Expected: 1.5 years
Art Meets Technology in Unique and Beautiful Ways
Estrada’s 3D printed furniture isn’t just an expression of art, it’s an expression of additive manufacturing technology itself because he only produces pieces that can’t be made any other way. “If it looks like you can do it with your hands or it can be done with another machine, then I think it doesn’t make any sense to 3D print it,” he says.
Some designers might imagine a chair then look for a unique way to produce it. Instead, Estrada begins with the method – the 3D printer – and then, with an intimate understanding of its capabilities, imagines what type of chair only it could produce.
And with this approach the Truss line of outdoor furniture was born. Retailing in exclusive designer furniture galleries in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, each piece of Estrada’s furniture created by his company, Piegatto, is a solid, intricate object of art that is as beautiful as it is comfortable. Printed from biodegradable and weatherproof PLA with openings that create transparency, the chair stretches in some parts and stays sturdy in others.
Not many 3D printers are capable of producing prints at this level of complexity and size, and finding the right printer took Estrada time and testing.
Choosing the Right Printer and Material
Dozens of printer manufacturers display their machines at the IDTechEx Show in California every year. Estrada spoke with several and narrowed the companies to one that appeared to have the quality and scale he needed to create unique outdoor furniture. He traveled to Germany, conducted printing tests, and was very close to buying a machine, he says. “But the big problem was that we could only buy the material through them and, for the material alone, one chair was around $700. For what we wanted to do, it didn’t make any sense.”
The material had to be less expensive. Spools of filament, which start at $20 per kilogram, were out of the question for making a full-size chair. Instead, Estrada looked at thermoplastic materials in pellet form, which can run as low as $2.50 per kilogram.
More commonly used in injection molding, pellets are not only less expensive but come in a wider range of materials than filament, including a long list of recycled and sustainable products. Plus, because a high volume of pellet material is fed via a hopper into the extruder, pellet-based 3D printers typically can print large objects quicker than filament-based printers.
Sustainability is an important aspect of Piegatto’s designs. Not only should the furniture be made of sustainable materials but the process should create little waste, which is a hallmark of additive manufacturing.
For Estrada, 3D printing is a way to add even more beauty to an object. “We realized that we needed to do wise objects without waste, as the beauty of an object not only resides in what you see as a final product, but what … you practice in achieving that beauty.”
An Innovative Artist Meets an Innovative Printer
Material, size, and quality needs led Estrada to Italian printer manufacturer WASP (World’s Advanced Savings Project).
Known for its mission to 3D print clay houses to solve the world’s housing issues, WASP has grown over the years to offer a wide range of industrial printers for construction, architecture and design, art and culture, energy, medical devices, and food.
Test prints on the Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0 printer convinced Estrada to make the investment. Although WASP offers a printing service, purchasing the printer at $40,000 with accessories, made more sense, he says, not only because his design company is located in Guatemala City, Guatemala, some 10,000 miles away from WASP, but because his creative process required multiple iterations and testing
“Imagine all the trials and errors that we make,” says Estrada, “it would be impossible to do it with an outsource service.”
Piegatto’s two WASP printers (he also owns the Delta WASP 40100 Clay) run almost every day when there aren’t electricity blackouts, which are common in Guatemala. It takes six days to print one Truss chair and customer demand is high.
“We’re working on some modular benches for a shopping center, as well as some small pieces and vases,” says Estrada. “And the other thing is testing and more testing.”
Stay tuned to Piegatto for more innovative creations from Alejandro Estrada, a visionary pushing the boundaries of additive manufacturing for design.
A 3D printed installation with bioplastics
It is confirmed once again that the WASP HUB network is a winner player for the realization of large format works.
WASP Hub Macerata, Design For Craft and the WASP HUB network have in fact printed 360 elements in wood-filled bioplastic with the 3D printer WASP 3MT HDP.
WASP 3MT HDP is the perfect 3D printer for the digital manufacture of installations and furnishings. Thanks to the pellet technology, therefore and the possibility of printing directly the granule directly, the production costs are lower, and the productivity is higher.
“We designed and produced a small series of support for smartphones that also work as a passive loudspeaker for the Grottini Retail Environments Company. To realize them it was used the same geometry used in the design of the walls of their Agorà exhibition space (at the Euroshop in Düsseldorf) and the same material. The aim is to offer visitors a complete and totally personalized experience”
WASP Hub Macerata - Design For Craft
PLACE: Euroshop 2020 (Dusseldorf Messe)
The Grottini Company booth at the Euroshop, called Agorà, was designed by an international and multidisciplinary team with the aim of creating a rich and engaging experience, that can involve all the senses, thanks to the co-presence of multimedia technologies who work in a coordinated way with design.
Design for Craft (WASP Hub Macerata) supplied the panels that make up the perimeter walls of the space, realizing them through digital additive manufacturing powered by PLA pellets.
The design of these elements is the result of a biomimetic design attitude, born from the observation of the "endoskeleton" present in some plants, such as cacti, for example. The fibrous members of the interior of a cactus, in fact, were acquired using a 3D scanner, through a reverse-engineering process, it was translated into an algorithm that describes its morphological genesis using the Grasshopper parametric modeling software.
In this way the software developed different designs by simply varying some of the algorithm inputs: in that way it was possible to design 6 variants generated by the same original model to obtain a variability of design on the entire surface to be managed, about 190 square meters.
The production of the 360 panels took place thanks to a large 3D printer: WASP 3MT HDP.
The material used is a PLA and wood powder bioplastic; these, besides having characteristics of biodegradability, have given the produced elements a natural-looking finish reminiscent of natural wood.
The final appearance of the walls is particularly scenographic: the variability along the vertical direction it’s a sort of shrinking wave, the visual transparency between inside and outside gives dynamism to the entire surface.
Credits:
Project and images: Design For Craft
Large scale 3D printer
WASP 3MT HDP is the 3D printer designed for massive prints. With the technology High Definition Pellet, you can print Pellet material fastly and precisely. Pellet granules are 10x cheaper than filaments and they reduce the printing time. In plus, you can print 24/7 thanks to the Continuous Feeding System.
Digital Fabrication and Art in dialogue by WASP Hub Venice
Digital fabrication processes, 3D printing, bioplastic and the union between technology and craftsmanship are the elements that make possible new processes of creation and artwork reproduction, in an absolutely detailed, rapid and economic way.
Fablab Venice was recently involved in the creation of a large-format artworks, in collaboration with the London art-gallery SoShiro and starting from a scale sketch by the artist Arlene Wandera.
The work, with a strong symbolic meaning, represents a female figure wearing a large metal necklace, a symbolic representation of the typical jewels of the pokot people. In fact, the artist's work focuses on the issues of everyday life and female empowerment.
Manufacturing follows an articulated process, which explores the great potential of digital fabrication in the artistic field: the 20 cm high sketch, created by hand by Wandera, was scanned obtaining a detailed digital model; this was divided into portions and optimized for 3D printing and subsequent assembly.
For the printing phase, Fablab Venezia used Delta WASP 4070 INDUSTRIAL 4.0, Delta WASP 60100 and Delta WASP 3MT with filament extruder, the material used is PLA.
The assembly phase was followed by the post-production and finishing of the sculpture, using special resins and plaster, the process ended with the roller and brush painting.
For the production of the necklace structure, milling, laser cutting, and hot bending techniques were used.
The result is a powerful work, an exact reproduction of the scale model; the English gallery, at its first experience with digital fabrication, was pleasantly impressed by the intrinsic potential of a technology, 3D printing, which is increasingly venturing towards new applications, beyond prototyping in the manufacturing field.
Credits:
Article text and images: Fablab Venezia
WASP technical sponsor of the Expo Dubai 2020 Design Competition Winner
Delta WASP 3MT experiences the 3D printed tissue
Our pay off is: Your dimension, Your material, Our solution and every day WASP works to create a network and give tailored answers.
Shapemode is a design studio specialized in digital fabrication and innovative additive printing technologies, based in Milan. When Shapemode asked us to collaborate with them on the SIKKA project, a unique project based on the innovative combination of textiles and 3D printing technology, we eagerly accepted.
Delta WASP 3MT prints large formats and has been strategic to achieve the final results and allow the team to go beyond experimentation, up to the final production.
The project is based on the innovative combination of rigid materials with flexible materials and thanks to an experimental process, a 3D printed tissue was created.
Realized by a team of architects and designers from the Polytechnic and the NUMEN Institute SIKKA opens a new era in the texile industry. The prototyping process involves 3D printing with FDM technology (3D pellet printing) on elastic tissue. Once the tension has ceased, the tissue generates a selective deformation of the surface and extremely complex surface bendings. The composite tissue is folded, cut and / or laminated to obtain further aesthetic and functional effects. Although experimental this process translates into visually convincing surfaces with unique performance characteristics.
SIKKA breaks new ground in digital textile technology and will have the honor of representing Italian innovation during next year’s Expo event to be held in the UAE from October 2020 to April 2021 and, even before that, at other national events focusing on design. The Design Competition, at its seventh edition in 2019, focuses on the creation of innovative projects and prototypes given by the collaboration between local companies and designers under the age of 35.
Shapemode won the competition as the best of the 20 projects selected to be exhibited at Expo 2020.
The combination of elastic and plastic tissue had already been tested in small elements, but the SIKKA project brought this experience to a large object for the first time thanks to Delta WASP 3MT printers.
Huge 3D printed ABS sculpture
The world of 3D printers is now included in the majority of production processes thanks to technological stability and the improvement of technical materials such as ABS. The fields of applications are endless: medical, construction, production, ceramics up to the world of sculpture.
In this case WASP realized a 4 meter by 2.5 meter sculpture in ABS with the Delta WASP 3MT industrial 4.0 3D printer.
3D Scanning
We started with a small sculpture of a stylized bull, which was later to be replicated on a monumental scale.
Let's start with a 3D scan.
In this project we used the Artec Eva 3D scanner, a tool for acquiring objects using structured light. It is a process in which a luminous pattern is projected onto the surface of the piece that will determine the digital reconstruction of the subject.
The file obtained was resized by scaling it from 20cm to 400cm. To 3D print objects of this size you need a large 3D printer and a quick printing process.
Pellet extruder for ABS
The solution is the Delta WASP 3MT Industrial 4.0 3D printer, which thanks to its size is able to make objects up to 1 meter of print even in ABS. Furthermore, the possibility of printing with the pellet extruder, allows the use of nozzles with a diameter up to 3mm, and therefore print objects with a layer height 10 times higher than normal. .
This means that normally by printing with the classic filament and using nozzles with a diameter of 0.4mm, a 10-hour piece with the pellet extruder can be made in just 1 hour.
On the other hand, the possibility of reducing printing times by raising the layer height value inevitably creates a coarser surface, characterized by the various printing layers. For many in the design world it also becomes an aesthetic and design feature such as the Iride or the Bike Chair.
But we will see in the following chapters how to eliminate the various layers during post production. .
Continuous printing in ABS with Delta WASP 3MT Industrial 4.0
Once scaled the sculpture, through Meshmixer software it was divided into several parts to optimize the fabrication times. Four printers worked in sync producing 2 pieces per printer per day.
Thanks to the technical improvements we implemented on the Delta WASP 3MT industrial 4.0 3D printer, in 3 days the 25 pieces in ABS were ready to be assembled.
The 50kg pellet tank with auto power supply and the material end sensor allowed the printers to work 24 hours a day without ever stopping. The system essentially recognizes when the pellet is almost finished inside the extruder and automatically feeds itself.
3D sculpture: ABS is an excellent material for post production
As the printers finished producing the missing pieces, two WASP operators began assembling the parts already made.
The choice of the material to be printed is very important, especially in terms of end use:
should it be placed outdoors?
will it be subjected to heat sources?
will it have to withstand impacts or compressions?
In addition, the choice must also be made considering whether the finished product must be sanded, painted or otherwise subject to post-production processes .
The 3D printed sculpture in question had to be smooth, painted and placed in a garden, so the choice of ABS was the perfect solution for this application.
3D sculpture and post production: ABS Juice
A mixture of acetone and ABS granules (you can also use waste or ABS supports), was used as a glue between the various printed parts. .
The diluted ABS in acetone allows a perfect adhesion / fusion between the various sections making the sculpture a single solid object, resistant to heat and weathering. .
Moreover, if used as a filler, the mixture is perfect to even out the entire surface.
With a spatula, gloves and mask, getting to the smooth piece is a snap.
Finally sandpaper in hand and the sculpture is ready ;-)
DELTA WASP 3MT at BURNING MAN in the NEVADA Desert
The Burning Man Festival takes place every year since 1991 in Black Rock City, Nevada desert, with a mood that is very reminiscent of Mad Max. The most important event from which it takes its name is the great fire of a big wooden puppet. This tradition continues since 1986, when Larry Harvey and Jerry James, the Festival's founders, celebrated the summer solstice burning a big puppet on San Francisco's Baker Beach. The spirit of the event is wild and is described by the organizers as a sort of "social experiment", where everyone can feel free to express himself with performances, dances, exhibitions and even workshops.
One of the peculiarities of the Burning Man Festival is the massive presence of mutant vehicles, cars transformed in the most bizarre and creative possible ways. Another important peculiarity is the payment with barter exchange. Participating at the Burning Man Festival is a unique experience full of adrenaline, an opportunity to bring out our most authentic side, without constraints, limits or rules.
In the center of the Festival reserved area every year is build a structure representing the Burning Man Temple: it respect the Festival principles such as "Civic Responsibility" and "Leaving No Traces".
It is one of the most significant places of the Burning Man Festival, it represents a portal for healing, sharing emotional experiences, creating deep connections with yourself and with the others. Then it will be burned down during the last day.
The temple is a special place for the community to pray, to heal and to release pain. It is a place where to cry together for losses, whether it is a loved one or an elderly person.
At the 2018 Burning Man Festival, the famous Architect Arthur Mamou-Mani designed and built the Galaxia Temple. It celebrated hope in the unknown, in the stars, planets, black holes, in the movement that unites us in whirling galaxies of dreams. Galaxia was formed by 20 wooden trusses that converged like a spiral towards a point into the sky.
The triangular trusses formed different paths towards a central space ending with a gigantic 3D printed mandala, the heart of Galaxia. The first wooden modules started large enough to contain small alcoves where people could write in peace the messages that would be burned with the Temple. Then, while people were walking on the path under Galaxia, the wooden modules rose and became thinner towards the sky in order to reach the central mandala.
In the center of Galaxia's heart there was a collection of objects that fell from various heights from the highest part of the temple ceiling. These objects represented the tears of the people inside the "healing from pain" Temple. These objects were 3D printed with bio-plastic materials on Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL thanks to the open source software Silkworm for Grasshopper3D.
3D Printed Teardrop is the name of the single object created by WASP for Galaxia. It represented the tears of sadness and joy that condensed into a central incandescent movement. Then they rose towards the sky while under these suspended tears there was a ripple in the ground, representing the expected tear’s fall.
Here is an image before the realization:
The project was designed in London, the code optimization work was managed remotely by WASP in Massa Lombarda. The fifty 3D Printed Teardrop pieces were realized in Reno with a Delta WASP 3MT printer installed inside The Generator, a space dedicated to the construction of various Burning Man facilities.
The partnership with Studio Arthur Mamou-Mani is a milestone for WASP. WASP founded a WASP HUB in London that collaborates with the Studio in the creation and production of 3D printed pieces of various sizes and materials for international projects.
This video shows the construction of the colossal Galaxia Temple of Burning Man 2018:
You must know that all the activities dedicated to the realization of the Festival are managed by volunteers. The management behind a similar event is huge, but all the volunteers are drove by: a great passion for the project, vision, utopia and love.
Davide and Cristiano from WASP Team flew to Reno to participate voluntarily and actively in the event. The report was made by Cristiano often in bad conditions, which makes it truly authentic.
Here you can see some moments lived by Davide and Cristiano during the event: one of the most exciting of these was the marriage of Arthur.
This fantastic video shows one of the central events of the Festival. We will always be grateful to Davide and Cristiano that allowed us to burn our letters with the temple of healing from pain.
In the pictures above you can see our guys engaged in one of the most important phases: cleaning the desert. Volunteers clean the site so that nothing remains of the passage of the human being. For this reason, during the event, water, food and waste are meticulously managed and controlled.
WASP & Fabio Novembre together for SAMMONTANA
ICE-DREAM project: a WASP new collection of printed furtniture in recycled plastic
ICE DREAM
Printing time: 10 hours
Layer resolution: 1mm
Material: Bio plastic
A cleaner world. WASP produces the Delta WASP 3MT Industrial 4.0 which is a printer that can create and generate new useful forms starting from plastic waste and new materials such as Bio plastic, recycled and recyclable plastic. Un mondo più pulito.
ICE DREAM is a collection of printed funiture, sustainable bioplastic objects in 3D printed with Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0.
Designed by Fabio Novembre
WASP & Arthur Mamou-Mani: CONIFERA project for COS
CONIFERA Project is an example of digital fabrication and innovation technology
The fashion brand COS together with the architect Arthur Mamou-Mani presented a large-scale 3D printed architectural installation: CONIFERA Project. It was created for the Milano Design Week 2019 from renewable bioplastic bricks and made by WASP thanks to a 3D printer Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0.
CONIFERA Project is really ambitious: Studio Arthur together with the Milan, Venice and Macerata’s WASP Hub created the largest 3D project in the world. This was possible thanks to a WASP Hubs network that created 700 pieces with the DELTA WASP 3MT Industrial 4.0. This new Industry 4.0 line could print big dimensions objects in short times, in this case using bioplastics and recycled plastics.
This is the first real concrete example of widespread manufacturing, a unique project that represents the WASP’s soul. A work realized together with the remote work of this network of digital manufacturing centers that use WASP technology, to create an incredible shared print, one of the largest in the world.
This project is an international work that really explains innovation, versatility, speed and precision of the WASP printers.
700 printed forms.
Single module printing time: 80 minutes
Material: PLA
Design & additive manufacturing are the keyword to create new form and realize new creation forms, to apply also to the industrial sector and not only to the digital craftsmanship.
Conifera project is a 3D printed installation created with Delta WASP 3MT Industrial
using PLA Designed by Arthur Mamou-Mani
THE NEW INDUSTRIAL LINE 4.0
WASP ANNOUNCES THE NEW INDUSTRIAL 4.0 LINE
“Your material, your dimension, our mission”
Versatility, ease of use, productivity. These are the concepts that have guided the development of WASP 3D printers since the beginning and which characterize even more clearly the new Delta WASP INDUSTRIAL Line 4.0.
It is not easy to combine versatility and ease of use, but this is the request coming from an increasingly demanding market and it is a challenge that WASP has accepted to face, ensuring on the one hand the possibility of using more and more technical materials and printing larger and larger sizes, on the other hand WASP has paid much attention to the user, introducing a series of product features that make the new printers even more user-friendly and intuitive: touch screen, on-board video tutorials, self-calibration, family feeling, remote assistance.
A novelty of the new line compared to the previous industrial line is the entry of the smallest printer, the Delta WASP 2040 INDUSTRIAL 4.0 into the family. It goes alongside with the Delta WASP 4070 INDUSTRIAL 4.0 and the Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0.
The new User interface allows a better user experience across the entire WASP product line; the Video tutorial on board guides the user as a sort of assistant coach on board of the machine; the Wifi module for remote control of the printer and for compatibility with Industry 4.0 allows you to manage the entire printing process from your computer; the Live view camera allows remote inspection of the current print and time-laps; the Multicore automatic extruder recognition is a system that recognizes which extruder is mounted on the printer and automatically makes the setting; the Auto calibration system is a function of the extrusion system chosen and installed on the printer. Finally, the new WASP machines allow a printing Via Usb, not only with Sd Card.
As for the third driving factor of the new INDUSTRIAL 4.0 line, that is productivity, the WASP printers continue to offer to the market essential characteristics like: high printing speeds, high reliability, high quality and the possibility of using technical materials. Of course, the highly appreciated rescue system of the work done, remains in all the machines: End-filament sensor, Free-Z-System(cc), Resurrection System(cc).
HOT & COLD Technology - cc
Hot & Cold Technology is the new system of active controlling the printing thermal conditions.
Thanks to an efficient way of heating by two internal heat sources, it is possible to ensure work temperatures up to 80 °C, without burdening the mechanical parts of the machine.
The innovative air cooling system allows keeping the temperatures below the critical threshold of cladding materials.
The opening scenarios are extremely interesting on the light of raising request of technical materials and application ever different. WASP takes this challenge, supporting the user in the choice of extrusion systems and offering specific solutions to meet the needs of different customers.
Creative Commons License
We stress on declaring that Hot & Cold Technology, protected by Creative Commons, is now relieved.
We declare this as being a technological innovation, a useful project; Wasp states the know-how sharing. We trust on unwritten but world-wide shared Makers rules . The approach which better corresponds to our vision is Creative Commons, because it foresees the publication of assimilated knowledge reducing like that the exploitation from a commercial point of view.
Hot & Cold Technology is distribuited with License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.
Simplify3D® compatible with all the WASP's 3D printers
Improve your print quality with the most powerful 3D printing software available. Simplify3D® provides complete control over your print settings, making it easier than ever to create high-quality 3D prints.
Start up quickly with pre-configured settings optimized for WASP 3D printers, review a simulation of your build sequence in the Preview Mode, and begin your 3D print with confidence. Total control means amazing 3D prints!
Simplify3D® Software is now available in our shop
- The product is an electronic download that is emailed following your purchase.
- The software is cross platform and can be installed on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux systems.
- The software is viewable in English, German, Spanish, Japanese, French or Italian.
- System Requirements: Intel Pentium 4 or higher processor, 2GB or more of RAM. Windows XP or greater, Mac OS X 10.6 or greater, Ubuntu Linux 12.10 or greater. OpenGL 2.0 capable system. An internet connection is required for the installation and continued use of the software.
Simplify3D® Software and Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0
Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0 and Simplify3D® is a perfect match! The Simplify3D license is included with the purchase of our Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL 4.0 3D printer.
Expand your printing options with Simplify3D®, the powerful 3D printing software that gives you total control for amazing 3D prints.
3D printed Mannequins at FAB14
3D printed mannequins at the main event of FAB14
At FAB14 2018, WASP Hub Madrid, in collaboration with FABRICADEMY, presents the first series of mannequins 3D printed with the Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL using the pellet extruder, a technology that could print a single mannequin just in 3 hours.
3D printing at WASP Hub in Madrid
Digital manufacturing and innovation. Fab14 is the international event during which every year over 1200 FabLab, coming from various parts of the world, meet to discuss and share the results achieved so far thanks to their research and their experiments. It is also an opportunity to create important collaborations for the future.
Esp0sizione a Parigi photo credits FABRICADEMY
After the opening event held in Paris, the FabCitySummit, this year Fab14, unfolds in different stages and locations in France, which have been chosen according to the issues addressed: agriculture and food, ecology, economy, education, energy , mobility, science and research, solidarity, until the "main event" in Toulouse, from 16 to 22 July, which will be dedicated to digital manufacturing.
The mannequins with the FABRICADEMY's leaders are exhibited both at the inaugural event in Paris and at the closing event in Toulouse, where on July 20 and 21, Gianluca Pugliese of WASP Iberia will be present.
The Delta WASP 3 MT is a multi-tools printer that allows you to create objects in complete freedom. It can be equipped with several extruders and in this specific case, the pellet extruder (the one which prints directly from granes) was used
For information: info@wasp3d.es
WASP hub Madrid in collaboration with
Bikechair
3D printed postural sitting
The Eni Versalis project, in collaboration with WASP, highlights the possibilities that the large scale-3D printing offers.
For this project, materials optimized for pellet printing, thermoplastic material in grains supplied by Eni Versalis have been printed with the Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL.
A joint experimentation that gave birth to Bikechair, a postural sitting for passive gymnastics signed “Gurioli Design“, printed in ABS. The installation combines it to a table 3D printed in HDPE .
The use of these performing materials and the dedicated design confirm that 3D printing is the digital manufacturing heart, as it’s able to transform a design project into a finished product in scale 1:1
During PLAST fair 2018 in Milan, the Bikechairs were presented in Eni stand.
Bikechair
Print time: 10 hours
Layer height: 1mm
Material: ABS
Design and additive manufacturing are the terms for new processing and new shapes. This is one of the concept about Maker Economy.
Bikechair is a postural sitting 3D printed
by Delta WASP 3MT Industrial
with ABS pellet material
Designed by Giorgio Gurioli
The first 3d printed Scenography
WASP has printed the scenery of the play "Fra Diavolo", of the “Opera” Theater in Roma.
3d Printing at “Opera” Theatre in Rome
A 3d printed scenography for a theatre play. Perhaps it's the first time it happens; for sure there are no similar examples in the other national theater fittings: 3d printing has been used to create masks and furniture components, never an impressive scenic stage. It happens in Rome, for the Daniel Auber's "Fra Diavolo" play, directed by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, conductor Rory McDonald, on stage at the Opera Theater on October 8, 2017, in replica until 21: WASP is proud to be a technology partner of this event.
https://youtu.be/vrKxwH8JZZc
WASP has mounted a Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL next to the entrance of the Roman Opera. The big printer will be there working until the "first" Sunday of October (8th) , and the WASP engineers will feature in the 3D printing of a statue representing the Fra Diavolo character (on a scale 1:1).
When Art generates job and products further to Industry inspiration
"We are sure," said Carlo Fuortes, "that what we experienced for the first time how to performe a scene in the technique of the future: 3d print. Moreover, the story of theatrical performance has always been a story of inventions and experimentation of techniques and materials. Today 3d printing is already present in all design work but also in building elements in various productive areas. Here, for the first time, thanks to WASP's commitment and work, it is employed to build the scenery of a lyric".
"The challenge presented to us by the Opera Theater was a very risky-one - said Massimo Moretti, WASP founder, during the conference - It had never happened that 3d printing was applied to such a large size project. The plastic we normally use to print has a huge cost when used to produce the 1500 Kg of the scenery. So we decided to turn to a cheaper material, one that, when the scenery will no longer be used, can be easily recycled, shredded and reused for a new and different work. For this job at first we rented a shed near our home, now this shed is ours and we are the only 3d printing company able to produce very large objects. This is the case of Fra Diavolo, where art is dragging the industry and opening up new creations and new job opportunities. "
The first 3d printed scenography
When asked to make the scene of the work, the WASP team was surprised, but as it always happens, it immediately accepted the challenge. The works started in mid-April and have ended in mid-July, with the delivery of the scenic components to the Roman Theater.
The venture started when the scenographer gave Wasp a 3d printed model of two deformed historic buildings, two large facades with windows and terraces, similar to a Dalí picture: the deformed perception of reality is a central element of the work, which necessarily reflects also in its scenographic structure. The director, supported by Rome's Superintendent, Carlo Fuortes, who is deeply confident in using 3d printing for studio and stage design, has chosen the 3d printing as the best possible solutions to achieve the desired result.
The 3d model was a unit block, and it had to be subdivided into 223 pieces that could fit into the Delta WASP 3MT print size, which is a 1 meter x 1 meter cylinder. The material used is PLA colored of white pigment. To tackle the work, the WASP team has used 5 printers, working at full speed during the last three months in the new warehouse where this out of the ordinary project, has been planned and realised.
The biggest challenge was not to overtake the deadline. Thanks to a good work planning and to the speed of the WASP machines, the result came without any special problems at the set deadline: in mid-July the warehouse-floor was completely filled with pieces of the scenography, ready to be sent to Rome.
In the capital, within the spaces of the Opera House, the components were assembled and fixed on a wooden carrying structure. A few small inaccuracies did not compromise the outcome, on the contrary they emphasized the craftsmanship and the special character of the work, and the director welcomed the final result with great satisfaction. It was a test, an experiment, and a successful achievement that could pave the way for new future collaboration between theatre and 3d printing industry.
Giorgio Barbiero Corsetti interview:
WASP AT TECHNOLOGY HUB
Industrial Quality 4.0, big size printing doubled speed, Spitfire extrusion System
WASP is introducing the industrial line of 3D printers at Technology Hub in Milan. Many are the latest products: 1000 x 1000 mm high resolution printer, Delta Turbo2 with double Kinematics power thanks to a new 32bit industrial board, compatible to industrial wi fi 4.0 connection, new machines compatible with warm room and with an internal ventilation system, air filtering, full metal setting extruder or high ease of movement, self stabilizing double-extruder.
The right extruder for any need: SPITFIRE SYSTEM
Spitfire takes its name from the famous Second World War airplane. It's an innovative system, that throught several configurations, allows to reply to the several printing needs. It's a guarantee of high quality and sturdy printed pieces, it can be heated up to a 350°C temperature and according to the several needs it can be assembled in 3 different sizes: 0,4; 0,7; 1,2 mm. All the exchange or configuration operations are safe and quick thanks to the Spitfire System. It can print Pla, Petg, Flex, Abs, Pa, HiPs, Asa, Carbon, Plexiglass, Burdened materials, Polypropylene.
The new extruder in the variants Spitfire Black and Spitfire Red can be adjusted on the whole 3D-printers DeltaWASP line.
The Double extruder: ZEN EXTRUDER
Led by the new generation boards, the double extruder can be attributed to materials with different melting temperature or different drop diameters.
Speed and size
DeltaWASP 40 70 IndustrialPrinting big size requires high speed printing in addition to reliable high power extrusion systems. WASP has faced these topics re-planning the machines and the printers electronics. At Technology Hub WASP is introducing the new DeltaWASP 40 70 Industrial with a configuration, which can double the speed of a traditional 40 70 and with mechanics suitable for warm room working.
The DeltaWASP 20 40 Turbo2 has improved led by the turbo2 double power motor.
This is just a preview of how WASP is “getting up its sleeve”. For more detaild information please visit our stand from 20th to 22nd April (Fieramilanocity, Pad. MiCO/Stand G22).
The usual Gnome
It was the faraway 2014 when DeltaWASP was taking its first steps. “Sorry? Did I hear well “faraway 2014”? It’s only 3 years ago!”. Yes it’s true but they were 3 years so full of new discovers and developments that they look like thirty!
So we were in the “faraway” 2014 and to test the good quality of our new machine 3dprintings, we thought to print the mythical Rocket Gnome from Makerbot, a symbol of that period. Since then, every time that WASP makes a new extruder or a new 3d printer, someone from Wasp’s team has suggested: “Let’s print the gnome”.
How many gnomes have been realized and seen? Thousands: Nice and well done, or ugly, failures and collapses or successful results, pla gnomes but also in abs, chocolate, pastry and clay – very little gnomes or giant one, even hacker gnomes… But none of them had astonished us like the last one.
A few days ago we had just finished our smart new DeltaWASP 3MT Industrial, it was ready for being introduced to the coming exhibition: Mecspe in Parma. A very big machine. Three hundred kilos of steel to print up to 1 cbm of stuff, in a temperate room, a 3d printer able to move an extruder with a 10 kilos material load; 3 arms for each parallel kinematics, able to absorb vibrations and weights.
Wouldn’t anybody think about printing the gnome? So: “Come on, let’s print the gnome!”. “Yes, why not a little 3 cm gnome for a 3m machine…”. “Right then, and t it costs nothing? The only thing to do it to adjust the 0,4 mm extruder and load the g-code used with the DeltaWASP 2040, and it’s done… it takes us 5 minutes”. “With such long arms and with 6 m. long belts it will result horrible. It’s better not to waste time: the fair starts tomorrow”.
But the outcome of the discussion could be only one because curiosity is an essential characteristic of Wasp’s team, so at the end: ”Let’s print the gnome with the DeltaWASP 3MT and the 0.4mm extruder. Then, at the exhibition, we will decide to print whatever comes into our mind at that moment”.
So the printing gets started. And while the object takes shape, we can’t believe to what we see. A parade takes place: “Look! Look how the 3 m. is printing!!! Everyone is knelt in front of the printer as if it were the Mecca, just to admire astonished the very little gnome. A collective euphoria makes us say: “it’s really a great printer!!!”( great!!!!)
Once the print is finished we take the printed -piece off: it’s perfect in each detail. We are wondering how it can be possible that the direction changes, the rod end bearings, the belt stretches can succeed in expressing the hundredths of millimeter ? Evidently it is possible! In conclusion the usual gnome has not finished to surprise us yet!
New paths for Industrial 3D printer
WASP draws the Italian way for 4.0 industry at Mecspe
From 23rd to 25th March WASP latest products will be introduced at Mecspe 2017 in Parma. MECSPE is the manufacturing industry reference Exhibition giving a panning shot on the materials, on the machines and innovative technologies. Wasp has chosen this opportunity to introduce 5 latest products.
The new Delta WASP 2040 TURBO2
This is a revised and improved version of the standard Delta WASP 2040 TURBO, a more and more accurated and reliable 3D printer. With a new integrated 32bit board of industrial technology. It is presented with a supply system which can support 2 high power extruders. The new Delta WASP 2040 TURBO2 introduces a new carriage-sliding system improved in speed and accuracy. The room has been better insulated to reach temperature suitable with the printing of technical materials – furthermore it has a cool system for the engines and the boards and a kinematics for high temperature. It's introduced with the second optional extruder.
New line 3D Industrial printers
Delta WASP 4070 INDUSTRIAL
The standard model has been revised, its is fully realized in metal, with a heated room at forced ventilation , insulated by the outside from temperature and noise. The new Delta WASP 4070 INDUSTRIAL It has been provided with new integrated system and new mechanics able to work in warm room. It allows the printing of technical materials printable only in warm room.
Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL
It's the industrial interpretation of the Delta WASP 3MT, with an acoustic and thermal insulated room. Its metallic body is completely closed in order to avoid any vibration during the printing process. The new Delta WASP 3MT INDUSTRIAL reaches high quality outward printings equivalent to those of little size printers but with a printing area risen to the cube. A pellet extruder can be adjusted on this machine to print big size products with nozzles of even 3 mm diam. On the other hand you can use also filaments with extruders of 0,4; 0,7; 1,2mm diameter.
New Extruders
For the filament printing WASP introduces two new extruders at Mecspe.
Spitfire, able to lay up to 30m wire per hour. A very accurated extruder to print from little to big products very quickly.
Zen Extruder, a double extruder essential for the multi materials printing, equipped with a cleaning system and a nozzle-variable-hight-system, controlled directly by the machine movement.
WASP is waiting for you at Pad.6 Stand K032, in Parma Fair, from 9:00 to 17:30 and on Saturday from 9,00 to 17:00.