Prototyping news
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3-D printers offer new opportunities for product design and small-run manufacturing
Within hours in a 3-D printer, a flat drawing of a lamp can morph,
layer by gooey layer, into a plastic object you can hold in your
hands.
Over the last decade, 3-D printing technology has become cheaper and
more widely available across the country, offering new opportunities
for small-run manufacturing. New opportunities, also, for a small
but increasing number of Portland-area startups that cater to
manufacturing, engineering or design companies.
Certain products no longer have to be made by the tens of thousands
in a factory. Instead, toys, tools and sculptures can be "printed"
start-to-finish in special shops, and, with some simpler printers
the size of a toaster oven, even at home.
The technology is cracking open a door for entrepreneurs, artists
and product developers willing to experiment with new shapes and
materials.
Maybe one day, people will be able to print a pizza at home, like
the scene from the sci-fi movie "Back to the Future." Or, on a
larger, more complex scale, entire houses could be printed in a day,
providing quick shelter during disaster-relief operations, according
to
research
at the University of Southern California.
"It's a massive paradigm shift of how we view material," said John
Leahy, shop manager of the University
of Oregon's Fabrication Lab in Portland.
There are two main types of 3-D printers: One whittles away the base
material, like a wood carver, and the second oozes out resin or
plastic from the ground up, building layers like sediment.
Sophisticated models can make intricate shapes, such as prosthetics
and motorcycle parts, for example, out of metal, rubber, starches
and chocolate.
The
bronze piece on the right was cast from a mold made using the
3-D-printed prototype on the left.
For many years, engineers and large manufacturers used the 3-D
printing technology, also called rapid prototyping, to test new
models before going into mass production. A master mold for a part
could cost up to $100,000, which meant a company had to sell
thousands of parts to cover the startup cost, said Jim Arnold, an
industrial design teacher at The
Art Institute of Portland.
The price only recently decreased, as 3-D printing became more
mainstream.
"For the small-business scale, this technology enables a very
complex and intricate part to be made for not very much, for
relatively lower costs," Arnold said. "The tooling for traditional
molding processes is really rather expensive."
Businesses that offer or make use of 3-D printing services fill a
particular niche within Portland's manufacturing industry.
When the economy tumbled, some people created their own jobs through
handiwork and craftsmanship, said Kelley Roy, owner of ADX
Portland, a
Southeast Portland workshop space and small business incubator.
"They're creating this new local manufacturing economy in Portland
just by being a community," Roy said.
This undercurrent of people, part of the "maker" movement, combined
with 3-D printing technology, offers a different approach for a
manufacturing industry that has shed thousands of jobs over the past
decade. The manufacturing workforce in the Portland area was at its
peak in 2006-07, with 128,000 workers, had sunk to 105,000 workers
in 2010, and is now on a slow upward trend, according
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
ADX Portland provides tools, including a laser cutter and 3-D
printing, for people who are working toward designs that can sell,
such as furniture or custom bikes.
The organization tries to fill the niche for small-run production.
With a smaller inventory, startups can more easily test the product
without a huge investment, Roy said.
"Most manufacturers require a minimum order of 10,000," Roy said.
"So we're between a boutique type of product developer and a mass
product developer."
The small-production model is a new wave in manufacturing, said
Patrick Barrett, owner of Sherpa
Design,
which offers 3-D printing services in North Portland.
"There are new materials that are a lot cheaper, so you can
prototype early and prototype often now," Barrett said.
Matt Kennedy, 30, wants to make 3-D printing affordable and
available to the public, too.
Kennedy, a former University of Oregon student, applied for a small
business grant from Mercy
Corps to
start his own design shop. Digital
Craft,
based in Clackamas, offers similar tools to ADX Portland and will
soon have a 3-D printer, Kennedy said.
He's willing to experiment with creative projects, such as 3-D
printed ceramics or molds for glass blowing, and take small orders.
"If someone is getting close to a lamp design, we actually want to
make it," Kennedy said.
More Portland entrepreneurs are beginning to see the full potential
of 3-D printing technology by creating new ways to merge it with
art, craft and design.
Chris Jorgensen, a game developer and computer engineer, used ADX
Portland's 3-D printing service to make his first prototype. He and
a business partner, Andi Greisel, raised $57,000 on Kickstarter
to make the GameDock,
which can connect an iPhone to video game controllers to play retro
game apps.
College students, too, have found ways to experiment with machines.
At the back of the UO's Fabrication Lab, a sleek $30,000 commercial
3-D printer made an art sculpture and an architectural grid, which
lay nearby.
It's a unique space for architecture, product design and digital
arts students to play with new techniques, Leahy said. He teaches a
"Made In-House" course that explores how these new manufacturing
models might affect consumers at home.
For example, Leahy said, the MakerBot can print objects at home,
nicknamed a "cupcake" printer.
"People want to print out toys for kids or a part they could use to
fix something," Leahy said. "Maybe an heirloom that's precious and
that they want to reproduce."
One day, Leahy said, as with most technologies, the price will come
down and the printers will be faster, more accurate and more
sophisticated for the average consumer. More 3-D printing files
could also be open-source and free to download. Much like the recent
development and proliferation of phone apps, those files could
create a forum for new business ideas, Leahy said.
"It's about how do I adapt, how do I transform," Leahy said. "That's
how you be a leader."
Dominique
Fong, source