Two-dimensional printing is sooo 20thCentury. In today’s world, 3D printing is a growing industry, producing prototypes and molds for products ranging from dental crowns and bridges to jewelry, consumer electronics, toys, parts for medical devices, and aerospace and automotive components. The two industry leaders are 3D Systems in South Carolina and Stratasys, the parent company of Merrimack-based Solidscape Inc.
Solidscape sells hundreds of 3D printers annually, along with wax material (the 3D version of ink) and software to make 3D printing possible. The staff has grown from 43 two years ago to 60 now, and it plans to hire 10 more people by the end of the year. Stratasys acquired Solidscape in 2011 and saw its net income jump 119 percent from $9.4 million in 2010 to $20.6 million in 2011. “There are geometries that are extremely complicated to make by hand,” says President Fabio Esposito. “We shorten the whole process from weeks or months down to days. We are growing on a quarterly basis and a yearly basis.”
The company focuses on the additive manufacturing segment of the industry. Its printers use CAD files (electronic models of the object) to print molds up to 6 in. by 6 in. by 4 in. high, laying hundreds and sometimes thousands of layers atop one another—each 6 microns high. (That is finer than a razor’s edge and dramatically thinner than a human hair.) The wax material used to produce the molds is put into the machine cold in stick form, melted to high temperatures and cool to the touch once the mold is finished. “There is a lot of chemistry and physics and magic in the process,” Esposito says, holding a wax figure of a ring—jewelry is the company’s biggest industry—and the head of an action figure, detailed down to eyebrow creases.
Customers use the molds to cast products using a process called lost wax casting. Once the casting material hardens around the wax, the wax can be melted away without any residue or need for refining, creating customized pieces.
Last summer, Solidscape introduced the 3Z line of printers with wax materials that are 23 percent stronger than the previous version. The three models were designed for three main markets: 3ZStudio (custom retailers including jewelry), 3ZLab (dental products) and 3ZPro (general purpose direct manufacturing including automotive and aerospace). Printers cost between $25,000 and $45,000 and are sold through 50 resellers in 80 countries. The majority of printers are sold in the United States, Turkey and Russia. After jewelry, the second largest U.S. market for the company is universities. It counts among its education customers Harvard University in Massachusetts and California Institute of Technology.
“Everywhere you need specific things, you need to manufacture it,” Esposito says, adding the company is changing the face of manufacturing.
For more information visit solid-scape.com.
Current Issue - May 2024