3D printers

 

 

 

 

A fundamental part of the new world-class manufacturing standards in many industries, besides the software, is obviously a 3D printer, but…what type of printer is the most suitable for our particular business?

In this blog we talk exclusively about 3d jewelry printing; despite this evident constraint, tremendous worldwide competition of manufacturers of these printers has brought an offer of hundreds of models to the market. Such a wide variety of different characteristics has made it quite perplexing to determine which is the most appropriate for each company.

There are Internet pages that actually try to draw a comparison between different brands and models, and these lists seem to be endless – there are hundreds of factors to take into account!  They are divided into categories according to the technology they apply, which constantly changes and grows, e.g.:

 

• Extrusion (FFF, FDM…)
• Material Jetting
• Binder Jetting
• Lamination
• Resin (SLA, DLP…)
• Directed Energy Deposition
• Powder (SLS, SLM…)
• 3D Bioprinting

 

When it comes to jewelry, exactly which factors should we take into consideration when selecting an appropriate type of printer?

 

Firstly, the type of manufacturing and technology available in our workshops. For example, it is essential to know if the technology of casting we have allows the new types of polymers, making their way on the market, some of which haven’t yet reached the level of wax, so widely used in recent years.

Prototyping machines using wax (with soluble support), despite being the most expensive, remain the ones leaving you with no headache when it comes to melting, since they do not leave any type of residue whatsoever and possess relatively high definition (below 50 microns), resulting in a really smooth and detailed surface of jewelry pieces.

 

 

 

 

Prototyping machines using stereolithography process (SLA) prefer liquid resin solidified under the effect of UV light as their printing material.

There are polymers or resins evolving and improving at an incredible speed, so that with the help of certain casting techniques the can provide similar to wax results.

Some companies have opted for creation of molds at room temperature, using pieces of polymer of good definition, usually followed by injections of wax.

 

 

 

 

It is essential to understand that for high quality jewelry pieces our printer must have some characteristics to provide us with a really detailed finish or printing speed adequate for our needs.

Here are some of the main elements to consider:

1) The cost of the printer.

2) The resolution: it is fundamental; the best results are always achieved with printers that are below 50 microns.

4) The size of the printing tray: some machines of a moderate cost have a tray that hardly accepts the impression of more than just 5-7 rings of standard size each time.

5) The speed of printing, like the size of the tray, is directly related to the production needs of each company. It is clear, that a store’s production need is lower than that of a large factory.

6) The cost of polymer-resin or wax and its soluble support. There are many classes at various prices.

7) Installation: not all 3d printers are “plug and play”. In some cases presence of a professional is necessary for its calibration; this may add an extra cost for installation and method of use.

8) Maintenance and spare parts: it is also necessary to know at least the type of maintenance and the most common spare parts and their cost.

 

We are faced with a huge offer of 3d machinery but only gathering information and consulting professionals in the jewelry industry we can choose a printer that best suits our needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hope this brief review is useful to all professionals in the sector and our visitors at 3dcustomjewel.com. We look forward to our collaboration, willing to contribute our experience so that together we can travel this exciting path of technological change.