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38
Case Studies
Compact 3D Printer Expands
Development Firm’s Horizons
For a company that had been using conventional methods of modelling
prototypes, the versatile rapid prototyping capabilities of Objet Geometries’
office-friendly Eden250 open up ‘a whole new world of opportunities.’
An Eden250 3D printing
system from Objet Geometries,
installed at the UK injection
moulding facility of Ison Products
Ltd., is being successfully deployed
to accelerate time-to-market for a
number of the engineering company’s
high-profile projects. High
Wycombe–based Ison is an established
name in both OEM and
subcontract product design and
development. The enterprise will
tackle any project, regardless of
complexity.
The office-friendly Eden250 is
designed to bring high-accuracy
rapid prototyping capabilities
within reach for the
design or production
department of
nearly any company.
The prototyping
operation is based
on Objet Geometries’
innovative
PolyJet technology,
which enables
the generation of horizontal layers
as thin as 16 μm and part walls
down to 0.6 mm thick, and allows
typical tolerances of 0.1 mm. The
easy-to-use machine employs a
clean process that involves no
special electrical, ventilation, or
material storage requirements.
Objet’s UK distributor, OPS Ltd.,
installed the Ison machine.
Modernizing
Prototyping
“Before acquiring the Eden, we
were modelling prototypes using
fairly conventionalmethods.”
The person
speaking
is Ison Products’managing
director
Paul Isaacs. “Furthermore, traditional
toolmaking can take days
or even weeks and doesn’t come
cheap. The idea of achieving both
reduced lead time and reduced
costs made me think seriously
about installing an in-house 3D
printing resource.”
Isaacs first considered a desktop
3D printer offered by another
manufacturer, but component trials
did not live up to the brochure’s
promises, and excessive
hand finishing was required following
part build. Meanwhile,
he had contacted OPS, who rec-
ommended the Eden250. “I was
blown away by what it could do,”
Isaacs remembers. “There was no
doubt in my mind that it was the
right machine for Ison.”
Ison uses SolidWorks 3D CAD
software and saves files in STL format
for transfer to the Eden250,
Isaacs explains. Using Objet’s 3D
Studio software, the company
selects a preferred part orientation
and then lets the machine do the
rest. The Eden250 automatically
decides which position on the build
platform is best for a particular part.
Since installation, the printer has
been producing a vast range of
proto types for Ison and its customers
in diverse industry sectors.
The printer can generate one
large model or multiple smaller
models within its 250 x 250 x
200-mm build envelope, all in a
European Tool & Mould Making | May 2011 | www.etmm-online.com