TriMech Blog

Stratasys GrabCAD Print is a sophisticated 3D printing app that allows designers and engineers to prepare, schedule and monitor 3D printing jobs. Since its release, GrabCAD has continued to make exciting updates to this software; and we will be updating you every other month on its new features – in this set of release notes we will be looking at versions 1.32, 1.33, and the just-released 1.34.

In April of 2019, Stratasys announced that their J735 and J750 PolyJet machines successfully passed the rigorous requirements needed to make it the world’s first and only PANTONE-validated 3D printers. This was a huge hit and manufacturers around the world were rejoicing. In October of the same year Stratasys added two other members to its J-series of printers, the J835 and J850, which are also PANTONE-validated and include even more material options. This changes the game for 3D printing as design and prototype colors can now be matched with 100% specificity, making the process from concept to final product even more accurate. 

Over the past year, we at TriMech have been able to make some fantastic full-color PolyJet models using the Stratasys J750, but as we close in on 2020, Stratasys has just announced the newest addition to their J-series of PolyJet 3D printers, the J850. To celebrate, and also to prepare for Halloween, we’re taking full advantage of what the J-series can do by making some incredible full-color rigid and flexible semi-translucent TriMech lollipops!

Many people’s dream is to travel the world and experience new adventures. But this might not always be the case because of natural disasters, over-tourism or even human-motivated vandalism. To document these at-risk landmarks and relics, 3D technologies, such as laser scanning, drones and photogrammetry are used to capture the detailed images of these places and objects. While heritage preservation has played an important role in encouraging more cultural exploration, there is a whole new use of 3D technology which could cause awareness and appreciation nationwide over the next decade from the comfort of our own homes.

Stratasys offers multiple 3D printing options to help your designs come to life. FDM printers use production-grade thermoplastics to create parts that are designed to be durable, easily replicated and stable over time. PolyJet printers provide unmatched realism with multi-colored prints and textures. Stratasys has taken them a step further with these new material additions.

The new J835 and J850 PolyJet 3D printers from Stratasys are the latest machines in their popular and expanding J-series. These PANTONE Validated™ 3D printers have the capacity to print color critical parts with incredible accuracy and realism. This new addition to the PolyJet portfolio builds on the previous printer platform and allows you to create models and prototypes with more material options, more realistic finishes and draft projects up to 2x faster than before.

Stratasys announces the newest member to their J-series of PolyJet 3D printers: the Stratasys J750 Digital Anatomy Printer (DAP). This latest addition combines the outstanding realism of the popular J750 with anatomical simulation that is so life-like it can replace actual cadaver parts for practice and study. With hundreds of anatomical presets to choose from, this advancement allows you to practice procedures at 70% of the cost of cadavers and other medical models. The J750 DAP is the only printer today able to produce full-color, multi-material, textured models in a single print on a production scale. 

Do you work with living hinges? If you’re in the consumer products space, it's likely that’s a “yes.” A living hinge is simply a one-piece hinge—just a thin, flexible piece made from the same material as the rigid components it connects. Living hinges are found in plastic packaging, dispensing caps, thermoformed clam shell packaging and more. Manufacturing guidelines are easy to obtain for a variety of use cases.

Manufacturing Day is celebrated every year on the first Friday of October, this year falling on October 4^th. It is a day to boast the amazing and valuable work that is created in America’s manufacturing and fabrication sectors and to change the public perspective on what it means to have a career in manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing continues to be an asset in developing products in many industries due to the quick turnaround for creating prototypes which saves both time and money. Universities are also using additive manufacturing in the classroom to better prepare students for their future careers. We've looked at several schools and institutions that are using this technology to create a culture of innovation and accountability where students can explore their design solutions through trial and error with physical prototypes to test. 

Stratasys PolyJet 3D printers and specialty dental materials create multi-color dental models with unmatched accuracy that can mimic gum textures and print complex geometries. These multi-material models enable a variety of applications including orthodontic models, implantology case planning and cast partial frames. This additive manufacturing technology can empower you with more cost-effective interventions, enhanced efficiency, fewer risks and optimized patient outcomes.

The Stratasys J750 is capable of all sorts of amazing things, as we’ve seen recently with our articles involving the application of real-to-life textures and eyewear prototyping. An amazing new application for the Stratasys J series of printers that I’ve been running into quite a bit is the creation of full-color topographical maps that display visual data on top of satellite imagery, similar to how GIS software overlays data onto a two-dimensional map, but with the bonus of being able to quickly display elevation as well! What we’ve found in our initial studies of this application is that these three-dimensional maps are great at displaying data in a way that can’t quickly be understood when looking at a two-dimensional variant, such as census data regarding population density in relation to mountains and valleys. To get a good idea of what goes into this process, we’re going to overlay street data for the area surrounding Boston onto a topographical map of Eastern Massachusetts.