LED Backhaul Project Engineer Blog

# Technology to support development Outsourced 3D printing service

Last Update: Jul 27th, 2021

Introduction

Although 3D printers seem to have gone out of fashion, we have been using both outsourced services and our own 3D printers to study and verify the external shape of the LED Backhaul product since the early stage of its development. As a person who owns a thermal lamination 3D printer and uses it on average once a week, it would be convenient to have one in the office, but I feel that the fact that it remains in the realm of a "machine tool" that does not work without human intervention makes it difficult for beginners to handle. In particular, the fact that the 3D printer requires craftsmanship based on the experience of the operator to adjust the 3D printer itself and the objects to be formed is a very heavy burden to bear. As a user who uses 3D printers for product development and verification, I would like to introduce some ideas on how to utilize them in your work. In the first article of this series, I will write about the process of using an outsourced 3D printing service, in order to enjoy the convenient aspects of 3D printers without touching the printer itself, which is difficult to handle.

The flow of outsourcing 3D printing services

When it comes to outsourcing 3D printing services that are easy to use for both corporations and individuals, DMM.make is famous and many of you may have heard of it. In this article, I will describe the order process based on DMM.make, but please understand that I cannot describe it in detail because it is a service of another company.

First of all, no matter what kind of 3D printing service you use, you need to have a 3D model to create. 3D models are created using software such as 3DCAD, which is designed based on precise dimensions, or 3DCG, which is good at organic modeling. Both of them should be able to export "STL files", so choose the one that suits your purpose, budget, and personal preference. In our department, we use Autodesk Fusion360 for 3DCAD and Blender for 3DCG. If it is difficult for you to create 3D data on your own, you can download and use data from platforms that distribute 3D data created by various users. Make sure to check the terms of use, and only ask for 3D data that you have no problem entrusting to an outsourcing service.

Once the 3D data is ready, send the STL file to the 3D printing service. The data will be checked automatically or manually, and if there are no flaws in the data you sent, you can proceed to the molding process. Some of the most common flaws are that the faces of the 3D model are not closed, or that small parts are below the minimum dimensions that the printer can produce. If you find any flaws, go back to the 3D model creation tool to fix them.

The next step is to select the material and modeling method. Nylon is the easiest material to work with in terms of price, accuracy, and size. The following are three typical molding methods, and the powder sintering method in particular is a large and expensive 3D printer, so there are probably few people who have seen the actual device. (I have never seen one either).

Thermo-melting lamination method, in which a material melted by a heater is squeezed by a nozzle and piled up for modeling
Optical molding method: a liquid tank filled with a liquid resin that hardens with ultraviolet light is irradiated with ultraviolet light.
powder sintering method, in which a powder bed is laid down one layer at a time and irradiated with a laser to solidify it.

Acrylic material, which places importance on transparency, is formed using the optical molding method, while ABS, a general-purpose engineering plastic, is formed using the hot-melt lamination method. Other materials such as metal and rubber are also available, and the user only needs to select the material that best suits the environment, purpose, and budget of the object to be sculpted, and the object will be sculpted using the method appropriate for each material. Once you have decided on the 3D model and material, you can finalize the order. For nylon, it usually takes about two weeks to receive the product.

Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing

When you use your own equipment, you are often asked to make minor adjustments to each part of the model, so it is very easy to leave all of that work to them. However, since it takes time for the product to arrive, you need to allow for lead time when doing rapid prototyping, which is one of the advantages of 3D printers. For prototyping for product development, even if there is a lead time, outsourcing has the advantage of using high-precision equipment and materials that are close to the production environment, but for small items that are used around the house, I think it is better to use your own equipment to create prototypes and improvements with a light heart.

Appearance of the outsourced modeling

I'll conclude this article with a photo of an optical wireless communication device housing (DMM.make nylon material, dyed by myself) that I made for an exhibition.