HP’s new Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers are available through HP’s extensive partner network, sometimes called Resellers. The benefits to using a reseller network are not always clear, and there can be some confusion as to where the reseller fits in.

Similar to other large OEMs, HP specializes in the design and manufacturing of their technology, and leaves the sales, installation, training, and service to local experts. At MasterGraphics, we are one of those local experts.

Every market is different. Industries can be heavily located in one region over another. A local team of salesman and engineers typically has a much better understanding of their own regions. Take for example medical devices in Minnesota, or the automotive industry in Detroit. Having an understanding of the products, companies, and general “way of business” in your region is hugely beneficial throughout the sales process. Plus it cuts down on travel time and remote communication, allowing more face to face and on-site visits.

The sales, training, and service are all performed by a local team of experts. HP’s machines have next business day service, which is only possible because of the trained technicians in every state (or country) Since HP is a worldwide company, it would not be practical for HP to train and hire technicians in every location a machine is installed. The entire process of install and training can take up to a week, followed by extra training or troubleshooting, on an as-need basis. Once again, this is all possible because of the local engineers and technicians.

Many times, we speak with companies to insist on working only directly with the OEM. While this may work in other industries, it is not practical in the professional additive machine market. As mentioned, companies like HP do not have the local resources in every possible region. The HP MJF 3D printers are complex machines that require serious effort and education to run smoothly and cost effectively. This is only made possible by the local presence of certified partners in each region.

Orders are processed and fulfilled by the local reseller, but regional HP managers stay involved throughout sales processes. As a reseller, we stay in constant communication with managers and engineers from HP to stay up to date on the latest technical advancements, pricing, promotions, and future outlook of HP additive technology.

HP released their Multi-Jet Fusion technology about 4 years ago and have shipped a handful of machine configurations. These various machine configurations come with different hardware price tags, operating costs, and yearly maintenance costs. It can be overwhelming for someone new to the technology, or who needs a “ballpark” price range.

The goal of this article is to provide a high level overview of the costs associated with HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers. There are three families of machines that we’ll look at.

Printer Family #1 – HP 300 / 500 Series

HP has 4 machines in their 300 / 500 series lineup. The printer functionalities differ by two variables – build volume and color capabilities.

HP 340:  White parts only              10 x 7.5 x 9.8 inch build volume

HP 380:  Color parts                         10 x 7.5 x 9.8 inch build volume

HP 540:  White parts only              13.1 x 7.5 x 9.8 inch build volume

HP 580:  Color parts                         13.1 x 7.5 x 9.8 inch build volume

The cost range of hardware across these machines is $57,000 - $110,000, with the HP 340 at the low end and the HP 580 at the high end.

The variable operating costs across the 300/500 series are all the same. We classify “variable costs” as all the consumables required for a build; powder, agents, cleaning roll, lamps, and filters.  The variable cost per cubic inch of printed part ranges from $4 to $8 depending on build height and packing density. A tall build with a high packing density has a lower $/in³ than a short build with low packing density.

The yearly maintenance ranges from $10,000 - $15,000 per year. This includes remote problem diagnosis and support, onsite hardware support with all parts and labor included, and all firmware updates.

Printer Family #2 – HP 4200 Series

The original line of machines HP released is the 4200 series, which includes the HP 4200, HP 4210, and HP 4210B. Each of these machines has the same printer capabilities and specifications. The primary difference is in the material delivery method.

The HP 4200 uses 300L boxes of powder, while the HP 4210B uses large 1400L bins to deliver the powder. The reason this is important is that the cost of consumables is lower on the HP 4210B, which accepts material in bulk. (Similar to an HP paper printer, where small ink cartridges are priced higher on a per unit basis than industrial printers buying ink in bulk)

The hardware price range for the 4200 series is $270,000 - $430,000. Because this is a higher end machine than the 300/500 series, your cost to print is less expensive. The 4200 series can achieve $2 - $4 per cubic inch of printed part. Once again, this includes all variable costs such as powder, agents, filters, lamps, and cleaning rolls. The yearly maintenance is dependent on the exact hardware configuration (number of build units, printers, and processing stations), but typically runs between $35,000 and $43,000 per year. Remember, this includes remote diagnosis and support, next business day on site repair, and all updates.

Printer Family #3 – HP 5200 Series

The HP 5200 series of machines is the latest advancements in HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology. These machines are aimed at true production work. The hardware costs are higher, but the reliability, accuracy, and low cost per part are unrivaled in the industry.

The 5200 machine ranges from $350,000 to $500,000. With optimized builds, we can achieve a cost per cubic inch under $1 including all variable costs. The yearly maintenance for this high end production printer is $35,000 - $53,000.

Conclusion

The Multi Jet Fusion additive technology from HP is raising the bar for both prototyping and production 3D printing. Whatever the needs are, HP likely has a solution whether it be an R&D lab, a university, a tool room, or a production line. The machines with a lower up front hardware investment typically have a higher cost of operation. Conversely, the higher cost machines will have a much lower cost of operation for higher quantity production runs.

For specific pricing details or information, get in touch with one of our additive manufacturing experts.

3D printing is touching many industries. Here are four key industries that are taking advantage of what additive manufacturing has to offer, and how it is impacting their business.

Automotive Industry

The automotive industry has invested heavily in additive manufacturing for a long time and has been a leader in leveraging 3D printing for product development. Some of the areas that the automotive industry is using additive manufacturing include:

1 Rapid Prototyping: Traditionally where 3D printing has been used in automotive is to develop new products and automobiles. They have utilized 3D printing to make faster design changes, be more cost effective and create less waste. They have truly leveraged AM to reduce design cycles and speed time to market.

2 Spare Part Replacement:  This is a relatively new application where the industry is printing parts for older models on demand. This saves money on stocking costs, warehouse space, and avoiding the need to order thousands of parts from an outside vendor to make it cost effective to have needed parts on hand. 

3 Tooling and Fixtures: Parts are being printed for usage on the assembly line. In the past if the line had a fixture or tooling failure and the plant did not have a spare part, it could take days or weeks to get that line back up and running. Often this would cost the company money in labor expenses and lost vehicle production. Now the company can often print a replacement tool or fixture on demand.

4 End Use Parts:  This is probably the most recent utilization as automotive manufacturers and suppliers are printing parts used in final assembly. Over the past 12 months there has been a big investment (not only from the OEM vendors but the 3D printer suppliers) to develop, certify, and produce end use parts. 

Aerospace Industry

Much like the automotive industry, the aerospace industry has been a leader in leveraging 3D printing.  GE Aerospace being one of the most well-known users of leveraging Additive Manufacturing. Engineers are taking advantage of the new freedom for design concepts that 3D printers offer to explore new designs.  For example, they are working with lattice structures to make parts stronger and lighter than traditional manufacturing would allow and this lighter weight leads to reduce cost of operating planes.   3D printing also allows them to make design changes quickly. Engineers can now produce highly complex parts in low volume, and if a replacement part is needed, it can be printed from the file on demand.

3D printing is changing the supply chain for the aerospace industry as well; for example, if a part is needed for an aircraft for the military or on the space station, the file could be sent to that location and printed onsite saving time and money.

Medical/Dental

3D printing has had a big impact on the Medical and Dental fields.

In the Medical field, 3D printing is used for everything from surgical preparation to actual implementation into the body. The Doctor can now use a 3D scan of the patient’s heart or joint to 3D print the model and show the patient how the surgery is going to take place. This gives the patient a complete understanding of the procedure. It also helps the doctor to understand how to proceed with the surgery for the best outcome for the patient.

One step further is joint replacements, such as knees, are being printed in metal to replicate the existing joints structure. This not only improves fit but increases the success rate of joint replacement.

Prosthetics is another area where 3D printing is making a big impact. In the past, prosthetics have been expensive and uncomfortable. Now with 3D scanners and 3D printing, doctors can print custom fitted prosthetics at a more affordable price with a custom fit. This is making prosthetics more accessible to the rest of the world.

In the dental field, dentists are now able to 3D scan and print a 3D model of a patient’s teeth and jaw. The 3D scan is sent to the dental labs where they can create a customized 3D print for the patient’s orthodontics, crown, cap, bridge or dentures faster and more accurately. The needs of the patient are met with a more comfortable piece, while also reduces the cost. 

Manufacturing

All manufacturers are looking for ways to produce their products faster, less expensive and reduce costs and 3D printing is the perfect tool to accomplish addressing these challenges. As an example: To help reduce costs, manufacturers are 3D printing customized fixtures, grips, tooling and jigs which helps reduce cost and eliminate excessive waste. 3D printing will only use the minimal material needed to create the part versus traditional subtractive methods that create a large amount of wasted material.

 Additive manufacturing is also helping manufacturing companies get their product to market faster.  In traditional manufacturing, a company would create a prototype of the product using traditional manufacturing processes. These prototypes would often take key resources, extended time, and high costs.  If the part was not right?  The process would start all over again and delays ensued. 3D printing has changed all of that; what would take weeks or months is now down to days saving the company time and money.

Some companies avoid getting into short run production of products because of the cost.  Setting up tooling and molds often is not cost effective to do short runs. Additive manufacturing gives these companies the ability to do short runs in a cost-effective way and quickly.

I have talked about four key industries that are using additive manufacture today in this post. However, it must also be noted that other areas are starting to leverage additive manufacturing such as jewelers, architects, education, and the military to name a few.

In this episode Kevin Carr, President of MasterGraphics shares his view on the Evolution of 3D Print & Additive manufacturing over the past 30 years.

A manufacturing process needs to be predictable if it is to be trusted with “money making” parts. True manufacturing has stricter requirements than prototyping in terms of predictability. This is one (of many) reasons 3D printing has struggled to break into the production space. HP’s new MJF 5200 3D printer is a new and improved version of their MJF 4200, which launched about 3 years ago. Most of the improvements in the 5200 are directly targeting production work by addressing print speed, part cost, part quality, and machine reliability.

This article takes a look at how the HP MJF 5200 improves on both part quality and machine reliability to achieve greater manufacturing predictability. When we say “part quality”, we are referring to all aspects of the final printed part; accuracy, repeatability, surface finish, strength, uniformity. When we say “machine reliability”, we are referring to the printer itself. How will one build differ from the next? How often will it break down or have a failed build? Can the machine be relied on 24/7/365 to sustain a business?

Improvements in Part Quality
The HP 5200 can achieve IT=13 tolerances (accuracy) with a CpK of 1.33 (repeatability). This is comparable to soft mold tooling.

These improvements primarily come from HP’s new “Process Control Software”. The new software takes into account machine specific parameters when processing the build file. It uses calibration data specific to the printer to scale and compensate part geometry accordingly. The 5200 now processes and “slices” the build file internally, instead of with external “one size fits all” software.

The HP 5200 also has a much higher resolution thermal camera and a greater number of heating lamps, both of which are located centrally above the build volume on the hood of the printer. After each layer the camera takes a thermal snapshot of the surface temperature. It uses this as feedback for the lamps to deliver the proper amount of energy to each specific “heating zone”. The HP 5200 has 5120 pixel thermal camera resolution vs. 992 pixel resolution on the HP 4200 (5x improvement). This gives the printer the ability to detect more minute temperature variations.

The thermal camera is surrounded by 22 heating lamps with 14 distinct control zones (The HP 4200 only has 20 lamps with 12 control zones) This increased lamp and zone number tie in with the improved thermal camera resolution to carefully control the surface temperature of the build, layer-by-layer.

The MJF process is driven by temperature control and the amount of energy required to melt powder. This is why these improvements are so critical to achieving better tolerances and repeatable builds.

Improvements in Machine Reliability

When a machine goes down in a production environment, it is immediately costing the company money by not producing. The HP MJF 5200 has multiple design changes to improve overall reliability.

A third fusing lamp was added for redundancy. Only two are required at any time. If a lamp dies mid-print, the 3^rd lamp kicks in immediately and the build continues. Once the print is complete, the dead lamp needs to be replaced.

The heating lamps are also higher powered lamps. During normal operation, these are now running around 50% power, as opposed to near 100%. This allows more throttle-up and throttle down capability, and less on/off operation. This extends the overall life of the heating lamps.

Temperature control is a critical aspect in the Multi-Jet Fusion process. Because of this, the printer’s surrounding environment can play a role in build-to-build consistency. The 5200 printer has improved seals, fans, and sensors to prevent pressure/suction variations in the environment impacting the airflow and powder internally. The incoming air is also preheated to 40°C to further reduce potential failures or variability.

Finally, one area of manufacturing predictability we haven’t touched on, and may be the most important, is the cost of manufacturing.  The HP 5200 improvements in hardware and software lead to a more accurate picture of overall cost. Software can track consumable usage (variable costs) and the reliable machine can predictably build in the cost of maintenance items and service contracts (fixed costs) into your process.

The HP Multi-Jet Fusion 5200 3D printer is the latest advancement in additive manufacturing. It’s a great push in the right direction towards true production 3D printing. These improvements in part quality, machine reliability, and predictable cost structures will certainly open up more applications to use this technology.

What are the primary 3D plastic print technologies available and how does HP’s new multi jet fusion technology stack up?

Having worked in the 3D print industry in a part sales role and equipment sales role for 7 years, I have been asked many times by engineers and non-engineers what are the technologies used for 3D printing plastic type objects and what materials are used. Most recently, many people also ask me about HP’s technology since they are the largest player ever to enter the 3D print market.

In my opinion, the immediate challenge I see for newcomers to 3D printing is distinguishing between the different processes and materials available.

It can be pretty confusing. There are many different acronyms so the first thing to understand is that 3D printing is actually an umbrella term that encompasses a group of different 3D printing processes. It’s important to first understand the various technologies.

In this post we are going to look at what each primary type of 3D printing is such as: SLA, FDM, SLS, DLP, Material jetting and the newest technology MJF by HP.

SLA: Stereolithography Apparatus
I am beginning with this technology since SLA holds the historical distinction of being the world’s first 3D printing technology.  Chuck Hull is the inventor of SLA (1986) and founded 3D Systems one of the largest players in 3D printing. On a side note, I have had the pleasure of meeting Chuck Hull on several occasions and have to admit he is the humblest person I have ever met considering he is credited with starting the whole 3D print industry. 

I will try to put things in laymen’s terms, but this is a technical industry so there will be some technical terms and explanations used.

An SLA printer uses mirrors known as galvanometers or galvos, with one positioned on the X-axis and another on the Y-axis. These galvos rapidly aim a laser beam across a vat of resin, selectively curing and solidifying a cross-section of the object inside this build area, building it up layer by layer.

When the process starts, the laser “draws” the first layer of the print into the photosensitive resin. Wherever the laser hits, the liquid solidifies. The laser is directed to the appropriate coordinates by a computer-controlled mirror.

At this point, it’s worth mentioning that most desktop SLA printers work upside-down. That is, the laser is pointed up to the build platform, which starts low and is incrementally raised.

After the first layer, the platform is raised according to the layer thickness (typically about 0.1 mm) and the additional resin is allowed to flow below the already-printed portion. The laser then solidifies the next cross-section, and the process is repeated until the whole part is complete. The resin that is not touched by the laser remains in the vat and can be reused.

Post-Processing

After finishing the material polymerization, the platform rises out of the tank and the excess resin is drained. At the end of the process, the model is removed from the platform, washed of excess resin, and then placed in a UV oven for final curing. Post-print curing enables objects to reach the highest possible strength and become more stable.

FDM: Fused Deposition Modeling
This is also known generically as material extrusion and these devices are the most commonly available — and the cheapest — types of 3D printing technology in the world.

The way it works is that a spool of filament is loaded into the 3D printer and fed through to a printer nozzle in the extrusion head. The printer nozzle is heated to a desired temperature, whereupon a motor pushes the filament through the heated nozzle, causing it to melt.

The printer then moves the extrusion head along specified coordinates, laying down the molten material onto the build plate where it cools down and solidifies.

Once a layer is complete, the printer proceeds to lay down another layer. This process of printing cross-sections is repeated, building layer-upon-layer, until the object is fully formed.

Depending on the geometry of the object, it is sometimes necessary to add support structures, for example if a model has steep overhanging parts.

SLS:  Selective Laser Sintering or Powder Bed Fusion
Powder Bed Fusion is a 3D printing process where a thermal energy source will selectively induce fusion between powder particles inside a build area to create a solid object.

Many Powder Bed Fusion devices also employ a mechanism for applying and smoothing powder simultaneous to an object being fabricated, so that the final item is encased and supported in unused powder.

Creating an object with Powder Bed Fusion technology and polymer powder is generally known as Selective Laser Sintering (SLS).

How it works, again I am going to get technical.

First, a bin of polymer powder is heated to a temperature just below the polymer’s melting point. Next, a recoating blade or wiper deposits a very thin layer of the powdered material — typically 0.1 mm thick — onto a build platform.

A CO2 laser beam then begins to scan the surface. The laser will selectively sinter the powder and solidify a cross-section of the object. Just like SLA, the laser is focused on the correct location by a pair of galvos.

When the entire cross-section is scanned, the build platform will move down one-layer thickness in height. The recoating blade deposits a fresh layer of powder on top of the recently scanned layer, and the laser will sinter the next cross-section of the object onto the previously solidified cross-sections.

These steps are repeated until all objects are fully manufactured. Powder which hasn’t been sintered remains in place to support the object that has, which eliminates the need for support structures.

DLP: Digital Light Processing
Looking at Digital Light Processing machines, these types of 3D printing technology are almost the same as SLA. The key difference is that DLP uses a digital light projector to flash a single image of each layer all at once (or multiple flashes for larger parts).

Because the projector is a digital screen, the image of each layer is composed of square pixels, resulting in a layer formed from small rectangular blocks called voxels.

DLP can achieve faster print times compared to SLA. That’s because an entire layer is exposed all at once, rather than tracing the cross-sectional area with the point of a laser.

Light is projected onto the resin using light-emitting diode (LED) screens or a UV light source (lamp) that is directed to the build surface by a Digital Micro Mirror Device (DMD).

A DMD is an array of micro-mirrors that control where light is projected and generate the light-pattern on the build surface.

MJ: Material Jetting (commonly known also as Polyjet)
Material Jetting (MJ) works in a similar way to a standard inkjet printer. The key difference is that, instead of printing a single layer of ink, multiple layers are built upon each other to create a solid part.

The print head jets hundreds of tiny droplets of photopolymer and then cures/solidifies them using an ultraviolet (UV) light. After one layer has been deposited and cured, the build platform is lowered down one-layer thickness and the process is repeated to build up a 3D object.

MJ is different from other types of 3D printing technology that deposit, sinter or cure build material using point-wise deposition. Instead of using a single point to follow a path which outlines the cross-sectional area of a layer, MJ machines deposit build material in a rapid, line-wise fashion.

The advantage of line-wise deposition is that MJ printers are able to fabricate multiple objects in a single line with no impact on build speed. So long as models are correctly arranged, and the space within each build line is optimized, MJ is able to produce parts at a speedier pace than other types of 3D printer.

Objects made with MJ require support, which are printed simultaneously during the build from a dissolvable material that’s removed during the post-processing stage. MJ is one of the only types of 3D printing technology to offer objects made from multi-material printing and full-color.

MJF:    Multi Jet Fusion Technology
MJF does laser based powder bed printing one better and it’s a natural move for HP to improve on powder based printing with its heavy-duty 2D printing know-how. The new process has the speed and technologies of a printing press, as its print head and heater arms sweep across the full print area for each layer of the part.

Like binder jetting, MJF uses inkjet printing to define part geometry, but then it diverges in how it fuses the powder into a part. Each fraction of a millimeter layer is created with three steps:

1. A layer of powder is spread across the bed.
2. Inkjet print heads sweep across the powder, depositing millions of drops of light-absorbing ink called fusing agents. These define which voxels to keep and which will fall away as powder. Additional inks called detailing agents help mark a crisp part boundary and can provide other properties, including color.
3. An infrared heater sweeps across the bed. The ink-marked areas absorb enough of the IR energy to sinter to the underlying part, and the rest remains as full-color powder.

I have to admit having been in the industry since 2012, MJF is my personal favorite technology because it answers so many manufacturing needs from prototyping to production. It was introduced to the market about 3 years ago by Hewlett-Packard.  MJF is helping company’s cut their time to market and reduce product development costs.  Often it’s also utilized to reduce tooling cost.  No other technology offers the array or various advantages to that of MJF.

What are some of HP’s MJF Advantaged?

• Builds on the advantages of powder bed 3D printing for industrial use.
• Offers the lowest part cost of any 3D printing technology.
• Produces high-quality parts.
• Eliminates manual steps and scales for small production runs.
• Offers the flexibility of fusion and detailing agents to add new material properties.
• Brings the name recognition and manufacturing clout of HP to 3D printing.
• Introduces HP’s Open Platform for new material certification.

MJF is already supported by a range of printers. This includes the color-capable HP 300/500 series as well as the production-scale 4200 printer.  Recently HP introduced the injection mold quality 5200 series 3D printer. Lastly, with HP’s recent release of a binder jetting metal printer (Metal Jet) they are making it clear that MJF is part of larger HP strategy for additive manufacturing. The era of supposed 3D printing hype is over… the additive era of manufacturing is here.

Given that these machines are targeted at industries, it’s not unusual that you wouldn’t have access to one.  However, HP’s initial success has been with 3D print service providers who may offer what you need to get your production going.  Often a first step is to utilize a service provider before implementing a unit in house. 

The above are just some of the reasons why I believe HP’s MJF technology is my personal favorite 3D print technology.

When I hear a client say they are just not getting the quality parts they need from their 3D printer, I wonder how the 3D model was created, what resolution the model export was set at and what type of 3D printer the part was printed on.

Today I am going to talk about the STL file format and why resolution matters.

The STL file format is the most widely used file format for 3D printing. There is some debate on where STL extension came from - some sources say STL stands for Stereolithography and others say it stands for standard triangle language. What is important is that the STL file is the most commonly used format in 3D printing today. Another key point is most 3D CAD programs have the ability to export to a STL file. The STL format is the connection between the 3D model and your 3D printer.  An STL file eliminates the need for interpreting various CAD file formats and provides a consistent 3D print format for print manufacturers to work with. The STL file is imported into a 3D print manager software where the 3D model is sliced into hundreds or thousands of layers and sent to your 3D printer. You can think of the STL file as the interface between your 3D model and the 3D printer.

Why is the STL file resolution so important in producing a good 3D printed part?

The STL file is a data format file that uses linked triangles to create a surface geometry of a solid model. The higher the resolution, the smaller the triangles, meaning more triangles will be used to create the surface of your 3D model showing greater detail. Too low of a resolution will mean larger triangles creating less detail on the surface of your model.  

Two things to consider when exporting to a STL file:

1. Too high of a resolution will create a large file size making it hard to upload and send to others on your team. It can also create such fine detail that your 3D printer cannot print (remember more triangles create a larger file).
2. Too low of a resolution will lead to your 3D part not printing a smooth surface, good angels or clean curves. We often find clients think their printer is not outputting fine enough detail when in fact, it’s the print file resolution.

Beyond resolution, there are other things to look at when exporting your 3D modeling software to a STL file are:

1. Cord Height: The maximum distance from the surface of the original 3D model to the STL Mesh.
2. Wall thickness: This is the distance between one surface of your model and its opposite side surface.
3. Angle tolerance: sets the angle between the normal's of adjacent triangles.

It is also important to know what type of 3D printer you are going to be sending the file to; for example, FDM, SLA, SLS or MJF to name a few. Know your technology and what type of detail and smoothness it has the ability to print.  This will help determine your resolution choice.

In conclusion it is important to set the right resolution of the STL file for your 3D printer. If the STL file resolution is sent too high or too low, it could result in the 3D printed part not meeting your specification or needs.

To answer this question, I have to go back a few years when they first entered the Additive Manufacturing space.  I was working in the 3D print arena for a different 3D print manufacturer during the spring of 2016 when rumors were rampant of HP getting into the 3D print industry. The industry was speculating two things – one that they were going to buy an existing 3D print technology company or two they would develop their own 3D print technology based off of existing technologies. In the end, they actually developed their own new technology to take the 3D printer a huge step forward. The technology is known as Multi Jet Fusion (MJF).  During a large 3D print related trade show (rapid+tct), HP introduced MJF on a series of YouTube videos showing the process at work.  Did it cause a stir at rapid+tct?  The answer is yes it certainly did. And this from an industry that has seen its share of over hyped technologies.  It’s also important to remember the core technologies at the time were FDM, SLA, SLS and a few other jetting based technologies.  The common theme with all 3D print technologies at the time was one off, tracing type processes that produced good detailed parts but lacked the ability to run volume. 

Here is where HP changed the world of 3D printing: They had developed a process using a power bed system (eliminates support structures) using fusing agents to produce final use nylon parts (true fused and functional parts).   Although the powder bed concept was not new, several manufacturers were already using a powder bed system (namely SLS Selective Laser Sintering), the significant difference is HP is not using a laser.  Remember, as I mentioned before, the SLS process utilizes a laser tracing technology to solidify parts.  The laser can only go so fast – throughput is limited.   HP utilizes a one pass fusing system that jets fusing agents to form the parts in layers. The jetting agents are not used to form a chemical bonded part but to truly fuse parts.  The other critical advancement, HP developed a detailing agent (jetted in the same one pass) that stops the fusing process to limit thermal bleed.   Basically, the MJF process spreads powder in a thin layer, the fusing agent is laid down by HP’s patented print heads, an intense infrared light system activates the fusing agents to fuse the nylon plastic together.  With the detailing agent helping to create a crisp and definitive feature by stopping the fusing process.  The system prints one layer, one pass at a time to form very detailed and dense parts with no speed degradation no matter the volume of parts printed. 

This process also produces truly isotropic parts which means the part is as strong in the x and y as it is in the z. This jetting of fusing agents is ground breaking enough but when you look at the size of the print bed you will see that volume is another game changer.  The bed size of 13 inches in the x, 11.5 in the y and 15 inches in the z gives you a large volume to use. The print speed is approximately 1 inch per hour which allows fast complete builds.  Hundreds of parts can be produced all at the same time with precision accuracy – often this is 10-20X faster than previous technologies.  But that’s not all: HP recently introduced a new printer to their lineup that has the ability to print with a cpk level of 1.33 with an I.T. scale of 13. What does that mean? It means parts printed on an Hp 3D printer are equivalent to parts coming off soft steel injection mold tooling. 

Wow, that’s game changing.

I spend a lot of time calling on Machine shops and Manufacturers seeking to understand their thoughts on how 3D printing technology may be effecting their manufacturing workflows.  I will introduce myself and explain why I am calling which often leads to responses such as “I don’t see how we could use a 3D printer”, “we do not need a 3D printer’’, or “3D printing does not fit our processes”.   These are typical responses often based on past experiences with 3D printing when the technology was geared more towards prototyping versus final use parts.   Since I know often our clients past experience with additive manufacturing has been poor, I ask if they use fixtures or grips to focus more on the application, not 3D print technology.  Almost all of the time the answer is yes to one or the other. I then ask how they manufacture their fixtures or grips which leads to the traditional answers such as “we machine them in house “ or “we send out for them”.

Next I ask them how that process is working for them and I get responses such as “it ties up one of our CNC machines”, “it takes too long”, or “it is expensive”. This is a common theme – every business is now under pressure for faster time to market with less resources where utilization of equipment is at an all-time high. This is creating bottle necks and delays that impact their profitability. Fixtures and grips have traditionally been machined from steel or aluminum on CNC machines that take up valuable resources needed for production.  Many times these metal fixtures and grips are stronger than what they need to be, but using a CNC machine to manufacture the part was the easiest and most cost effective way to produce them.

This is where the conversation turns to 3D printers. Now I am not talking about hobby 3D printers. The printers I am talking about are commercial printers like Markforged, HP and Carbon to name a few. The plastics used in these printers are strong enough for most fixtures and/or grips and in some cases in-lay Carbon to add even more strength.  The real advantage of 3D print?  There is no machine set up or programming, just adding the print file to the build software and sending to the printer.  No question 3D printing is not for every application.  There are still advantages to traditional grips and fixtures such as material choices and strength. 

Here are a few advantages you should consider when looking at 3D printing fixtures and grips.

1. Costs of materials – This is one of the biggest ROI’s vs. machined part.
2. Reduce time to market - You can often cut the manufacturing time of fixtures down to hours versus days or a weeks to machine.
3. Design Flexibility - The ability to create new designs not able to be produced in traditional ways.
4. CNC Utilization - You can often free up your CNC machine for other projects.
5. Fast Redesign - Designers have the ability to make changes fast and resend the print file to the printer.
6. Reduced Waste - Less waste with 3D printing compared to machining a part.
7. Material Options have expanded - Use of a wide variety of materials like plastics, and fibers such as fiberglass and carbon fiber to choose from to meet your requirements.

So if you are looking to improve your process, and save time and money on your fixtures and grips, take a look at the new 3D printers and what they have to offer.  The technology has evolved, cost of operation has lowered, and applications are expanding.