Welcome to the first blog for BLACK ARTS DESIGN. It was a journey to develop a product line, launch the website and share the first blog. This journey was made possible with Additive Manufacturing. Mainly the category of Additive Manufacturing, known as 3D Printing. There are a plethora of 3D printing technologies and materials. The most commonly used 3D printing technology is known as FDM, or Fused Deposition Modeling. In FDM, a part is built up by extruding molten plastic through a nozzle, depositing it layer by layer on a build platform to form a 3-dimensional object. Obviously, a simplified explanation but that is basically all there is to it. Squirt out some plastic layer upon layer in a controlled pattern to create an object. But this simple process allows for incredibly complex items to be accurately produced.
3D printing creates opportunities to build objects with complex internal structures. For example, it is possible to print internal features which would either be impossible or extremely costly to machine or injection mold. This ability to build a complex internal structure can be seen in the image below.
This is a cross section of a component of the BLACK ARTS DESIGN SideView. The surfaces in red forms a pocket having an overhang which would be costly to create any other way. Machining would be challenging as the cutting tool would be need to cut a pocket approximately .75mm larger than its entry point. Injection molding this pocket would be possible but cost prohibitive. This type of internal structure is a simple task for 3D printing and presents the opportunity for the SideView’s living hinge design.
3D printing is not the solution to all challenges, but it opens significant opportunities. 3D printing and Additive Manufacturing as a whole, create opportunities subtractive manufacturing, i.e. CNC machining, is incapable of embracing. For example, subtractive manufacturing requires costly tooling, jigs, fixtures, and machinery. Evolving and modifying a production part is expensive and time consuming. 3D printing allows a production part to be modified seamlessly with no disruption to a production line. A part can be modified in CAD on day one, tested on day two, and put into the existing unmodified production line on day three. The evolution of an idea and the modification of the product can morph quickly based on customer feedback and a designer’s ‘AhHa’ moments. That is why BLACK ARTS DESIGN carries the motto, There is no such thing as “good enough”.
Thank you for visiting BLACK ARTS DESIGN and reading our first blog. Stay tuned for additional blogs discussing Additive Manufacturing!