Fabrication Friday

About a year ago, we posted a similar podcast which discussed the relatively new concept of Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). Today, as we are one year wiser and with that many more print hours logged, these design techniques are ever more relevant as we take on new feasibility projects, new 3D printer manufacturers enter the market or current entities release new machines, and more people have begun their 3D printing journey.With all the buzz around AI these days, I figured I would ask ChatGPT the question: "How should I design a part to be 3D printed?"....here is a snippet of its response: "Designing a part for 3D printing requires thoughtful consideration of the printer, material, and intended use of the part. [DfAM] opens up opportunities for complex geometries, lightweight structures, and customization but also requires addressing unique constraints such as layer adhesion, anisotropy, and support requirements." It then went on to provide me with a, "step-by-step guide to help you design effectively for additive manufacturing." (I'll later include a link here to a blog-type post on our website including the rest of ChatGPT's response.)Speaking of anisotropy, my esteemed guest today is Fedor Antonov, the CTO of Anisoprint - a continuous carbon fiber 3D printing company who's tagline is: Stop metal thinking, start anisoprinting. Fedor and I enthusiastically dived into all of the considerations of DfAM in this podcast and highlighted the fact that 3D printers are far from magic boxes which produce parts effortlessly on the first try. I hope that you can take a few nuggets of information out of this podcast and start applying them to your own additive manufacturing projects!Anisoprint: https://anisoprint.com/Fedor Antonov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fedor-antonov/We hope you enjoy this episode, if you have any suggestions for topics I should cover, or would like to be a guest on the podcast yourself, feel free to reach out over email or through LinkedIn! You can also learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online.Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/YouTube: @ascentfabInstagram: @ascentfab

Continuous carbon fiber additive manufacturing...it looks space-age because it IS space-age! On this technical episode of Fabrication Friday I dive deep into the nuances of continuous fiber fabrication (CFF) with Jacob Smith from Continuous Composites (which they also call CF3D®). Jacob is an Application Engineer who is well versed in the DfAM techniques for non-planar CFF and discusses some of these thought provoking considerations which result in impactful applications for this unique 3D printing method, such as in the aerospace industry.Jacob Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobdsmith193/Continuous Composites: https://www.continuouscomposites.com/We hope you enjoy this episode, if you have any suggestions for topics I should cover, or would like to be a guest on the podcast yourself, feel free to reach out over email or through LinkedIn! You can also learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online. Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/YouTube: @ascentfabInstagram: @ascentfab

What does it actually take to implement additive manufacturing within your business? Are you using AM for your own needs, or otherwise marketing a product B2B or B2C? There is a lot to think about when you initially want to source the most effective 3D printer, materials, and software for your application. Today I'm speaking with Bryan Craft who has been involved with a couple companies attempting to leverage additive manufacturing for medical applications. Bryan has a front row seat to the day-in day-out roller coaster of marketing and selling additive manufacturing workflows and products to clinicians and end users. Bryan Craft LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryancraft/Bryan Craft YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Accessible3DDisclaimer - Bryan Craft is an Application Specialist for Spentys - an Orthotics and Prosthetics software company. This interview does not in any way reflect the views of Spentys and Bryan's words here are his personal opinions. We hope you enjoy this episode, if you have any suggestions for topics I should cover, or would like to be a guest on the podcast yourself, feel free to reach out over email or through LinkedIn! You can also learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online. Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/YouTube: @ascentfabInstagram: @ascentfab

This week on the Fabrication Friday podcast we spent some time chatting with the awesome and dedicated crew at the Victoria Hand Project - a Canadian non-profit looking to make an impact for upper extremity amputees around the world. Ascent Fabrication has a long history with the VHP crew, with Joe having been to Port-Au-Prince Haiti with their early team members back in 2016, to provide upper extremity prostheses to amputees as well as train the local professionals how to 3D scan, design, and 3D print them locally. The VHP team has been most recently involved with the efforts in Ukraine and we are also supporting them now in the US. If you are an amputee and think you could benefit from their device, please don't hesitate to reach out!Victoria Hand Project: https://www.victoriahandproject.com/We hope you enjoy this episode, if you have any suggestions for topics I should cover, or would like to be a guest on the podcast yourself, feel free to reach out over email or through LinkedIn! You can also learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online.Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/YouTube: @ascentfabInstagram: @ascentfabTikTok: @ascentfab

We are back at it this week after Joe was struck down by some brief illness, and ready to share with you this wonderful conversation with Bert Habets, CEO of colorFabb. colorFabb - an environmentally-mindful 3D printing filament company out of The Netherlands is a strong player in the additive manufacturing industry. Their innovative mindset toward introducing brand new materials to the market, and their B2B collaborations make them stand out from the rest. If you haven't printed with their varioShore TPU yet - you HAVE to try it! Coming in several different colors, this TPU has a chemical in its composition which allows it to foam more as you print in higher temperatures, and results in lightweight parts with interesting cushioning properties. If you'd like to source their filament directly from the US, Ascent Fabrication has the widest range of their materials in our shop: www.ascentfab.com/shopBert Habets: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bert-habets-92a30b15/colorFabb: https://colorfabb.com/I hope you enjoy this episode, if you have any suggestions for topics I should cover, or would like to be a guest on the podcast yourself, feel free to reach out over email or through LinkedIn! You can also learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online.Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/YouTube: @ascentfabInstagram: @ascentfabTikTok: @ascentfab

So what exactly does "high speed" and "industrial FDM 3D printing" look like these days? On this episode of Fabrication Friday, I sat down with Nirup Nagabandi, Vice President of Materials and Process Engineering at Essentium, who helped me conceptualize what FDM can really look like at the industrial level. Implementing what they term as, High-Speed Extrusion, at "5-15x faster than their competition" the HSE 280i HT, HSE 180, and HSE 240 HT make up their fleet of industrial 3D printer offerings. They also boast a wide range of engineering grade materials which were manufactured with the operator of the printer and the end user in mind. We also geeked out pretty hard about carbon nanotubes and applying microwaves as a post processing tool for an FDM print, so that was really fun!Essentium: https://essentium.com/Nirup Nagabandi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirupnagabandi/I hope you enjoy this episode, if you have any suggestions for topics I should cover, or would like to be a guest on the podcast yourself, feel free to reach out over email or through LinkedIn! You can also learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online.Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/YouTube: @ascentfabInstagram: @ascentfabTikTok: @ascentfab

Quick catch up today on what is new and exciting at Ascent Fab - like our budding partnership with Rapid Liquid Print (RLP)! RLP is involved with silicone 3D printing as a service bureau as well as manufacturing their own proprietary silicone 3D printing system. Can't wait to get into this sector of the AM industry with them!Ascent Fab is also embarking on a mission to create a digital platform where designers, makers, businesses, and consumers can all be connected to leverage 3D printing within our everyday lives. This platform, called Arachnid3D, empowers intuitive designers and meticulous makers. Our mission is to weave a web of impactful collaborations via additive manufacturing. Arachnid3D is a new-age marketplace and diverse web of digital collaboration which utilizes Additive Manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D Printing, as the main pathway for providing an intuitively useful product or service to a consumer. Our network of talented freelancers and professional businesses offer CAD and 3D printing services to fulfill these orders in the most efficient ways possible. This intricate web of connections provides everyday objects to everyday people, while simultaneously encouraging product development between talented designers and companies looking to push the boundaries of 3D printing. Furthermore, we can support the adoption of digital workflows within several industries such as medical, construction, transportation, art, and fashion by offering skilled designers to those companies who are eager to adopt and leverage additive manufacturing within their current operations.​Our web of services includes:Connecting skilled designers and reliable printing partners to specialized industries which are adopting additive manufacturing.Providing premium 3D printing services directly to consumers for prototyping, scaling production, and everyday use products.Empowering freelancers to provide their bespoke CAD designs globally.Introducing consumers to 3D printed products for everyday use at reasonable prices.Are you ready to begin weaving your web? Check out www.Arachnid3D.com!Learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online!Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comInstagram: @ascentfabTikTok: @ascentfabYouTube: @ascentfabLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/

So what even is Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM)? When we think about how we want to design a certain part, component, or assembly for a particular manufacturing process, there are certain constraints that we need to consider in order to achieve the highest quality result. Whether it's additive manufacturing (3D Printing), CNC milling, or injection molding, the part design and the process of going from the original CAD design to an end product includes several steps which many people may not be aware of. For instance, with DfAM, we think about: how this part will be used, what material does it need to be made out of, what print orientation will achieve the strongest structural integrity, how we can limit the amount of post processing needed, and how to achieve the best surface finish quality. This episode will certainly stir some ideas within your mind as to how you will go about designing your next project for additive manufacturing.Learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online!Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comInstagram: @ascentfabYouTube: @ascentfabLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/

Further expanding on our previous episode regarding 3D printed foot orthotics, today I am joined by Niels den Otter, Co-Founder and CEO of LutraCAD. LutraCAD is an intuitive software for designing foot orthotics/insoles for 3D printing or CNC milling, as well as shoe lasts to build shoes over the top of. Niels explains how LutraCAD takes the design side of things one step further and actually has slicer settings built into the backend of the software so that you can seamlessly go from design to printing knowing that they have tested those settings on a particular printer with a particular material. This is a big step toward assisting the adoption of 3D printing within the medical field, as these clinicians who might be more comfortable with the designing, do not feel as comfortable with the slicing. Being able to download a .gcode direct from different design software is something fairly scarce right now, and LutraCAD is leading the charge on this front. To that we say well done!LutraCAD: https://www.lutracad.com/Niels den Otter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niels-den-otter/Learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online!Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comInstagram: @ascentfabYouTube: @ascentfabLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/

Being able to 3D print a prosthetic or orthotic device for a patient which is equal in structural integrity to its traditionally fabricated alternative, at a reduced cost, and with less labor time has enormous benefits for people all over the world. With the specialized knowledge it takes to operate a 3D printer, 3D scanner, and the applicable software, the method of implementation and the shipping logistics over the long term become the biggest barriers to entry for those interested in places like Haiti, Syria, Nigeria, Kenya, and places of similar economies. Companies like ours at Ascent Fab, as well as vBionic - a prosthetics manufacturer via 3D printing from Poland, are trying to help this initiative by collaborating virtually with interested individuals who have the financial resources to get themselves started. Today I am joined by Bartosz Rajewski, CEO of vBionic, who has developed some very elegant upper extremity prosthetic devices, namely the TOLKA Hand. They collaborate with us on our custom prosthetic silicone liners, and make a number of other custom silicone solutions as well. I hope you enjoy this conversation of his journey into the 3D printing industry as he began building them himself, and the evolution of vBionic's global impact.Bartosz Rajewski: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartosz-rajewski/Learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online!Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comInstagram: @ascentfabYouTube: @ascentfabLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/

How nice would it be if you walk away from your 3D printer on a Friday, you go have yourself a nice relaxing weekend, and then you return on Monday to find north of 20 prints all nicely stacked in a storage cart? Mosaic Manufacturing is doing just that with their new nearly fully automated 3D printing solution, the Array. Mitch Debora, Co-Founder and CEO of Mosaic joins me today as we chat about the use cases of his original product, Palette - a full color 3D printing accessory which could be outfitted to just about any printer, and how that evolved into the even more automated Array. This 3D printing solution exhibits true production status, boasting the capabilities of its four Element FDM 3D printers, material management through Palette, a storage cart with a 40 print bed capacity, and an intuitive slicing and management software - Canvas. We are really excited to see the applications for this impressive machine!Mitch Debora: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitch-debora-46334557/Mosaic Array: https://www.mosaicmfg.com/products/arrayLearn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online!Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comInstagram: @ascentfabLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/

3D scanning has been around for a while in its application to foot orthotics, or "shoe insoles". From this 3D scan, typically they have been CNC milled out of polypropylene or single/trilam foam. Moving away from subtractive manufacturing though has several benefits, mostly around the drastic reduction in wasted material due to this fabrication process. Joining us today is Bryan Kentner, DPM, Podiatrist and CEO of The Printed Foot. Bryan has a strong passion for bringing 3D printing to the forefront of how podiatrists and other certified clinicians/orthotists produce their foot orthoses, either in-clinic, or through a manufacturing partner. The software he has co-developed is a very streamlined digital workflow for taking a 3D scan of a crush box impression, cast, or direct from the patient's foot to a foot orthosis modified and ready to print in less than 5 minutes. Very useful templates will help minimize the time you actually spend designing the foot orthosis, so you can continue to see more patients and increase your efficiency with less labor overhead and time spent.Bryan Kentner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkentner/Learn more about what we do at Ascent Fabrication by checking us out online!Website: www.ascentfab.comEmail: joe@ascentfab.comInstagram: @ascentfabLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkfairley3rd/