A local company has been set up to offer 3D printing to a wide variety of industries, using the latest technology.
Although 3D printers have been around for decades, it is only in the past few years that they have been used widely by industry, which has in turn driven down prices. There are now a few hundred 3D printing centres around the world, and although there are a few companies that offer 3D printing in Malta, Full Circle 3D claims to be the first walk-in 3D Printing Fab Lab.
“We are located near the University of Malta, and have already become very popular with students – engineering students with a model or architecture students with a design. We can also do fun stuff, like scanning a bride and groom and recreating an accurate 3D printed model made from non-toxic materials to put on a wedding cake,” founder Issam Bahloul said.
Although there are hundreds of designs freely available on the internet, the former medical technologist said that the scope went well beyond novelties and student models.
“Industry requires prototypes to create a mould, and then require tooling, which is extremely expensive. A 3D model could save them time and cost for this process. Prints are accurate from 20 mircons to 120 microns, depending on the chosen material.
“3D printing is also ideal for firms that only want a limited number of items, as usually manufacturers impose a large minimum order to cover their costs,”Mr Bahloul added.
3D printing is ideal for firms that only want a limited number of items
Full Circle 3D Ltd has invested in several machines that can create 3D models in plastic from designs created on computers, using single or dual colours. The machines can use different types of plastic, ranging from biodegradable to HIPS (high impact polystyrene) and polycarbonate.
Materials come in a variety of colours and textures, which have different properties that can be applied depending on the requirement. Translucents and glow-in-the-dark filaments can also be used. The way in which it is built up also means that you can create items within items, such as ball bearings inside a housing, or a rotating wheel axle in a toy car chassis.
“An item can be reverse engineered by either building a 3D model from scratch or scanning the item with an 80 micron accuracy to in turn reproduce a 3D printed replica,” he said.
Mr Bahloul and his partners also invested in a €50,000 machine which uses high-performance composite powder to create extremely tough objects either in monochrome or full colour. A You Tube video shows how a torque wrench was made, which was strong enough to tighten metal bolts.
“This is amazing technology. The printers can actually print their own replacement parts,” he said.
Full Circle 3D is now reaching out to industry representatives to showcase its services and will be holding an open day on March 13 at 2pm.
“We are inviting them to bring in a part or a CAD file so that we can show them how feasible 3D printing would be for them.”
Those interested are encouraged to make an appointment via e-mail to fablab@fullcircle3d.com.