Imagine working in 3D Printing since 1995. The technologies were new and possibilities huge. That’s the position I found myself in completely by accident, moving from a company with traditional drawing boards to one that had CAD.
I’ve been passionate in Additive Manufacturing hardware, software, materials and applications since then. I’ve also been very fortunate to have been able to help a wide variety of different companies and learn about their challenges.
Aside from the usual troubles of designing for the process and the steep learning curve needed to get the best from each technology. The next common problem I see, are parts not being fit for purpose. This is usually as simple as not understanding the application, before material selection.
While working in Formula One, my drive was to produce components that were strong, lightweight and would be fit for purpose. Watching a race on Sunday, then seeing your car break down is a terrible feeling. Imagine later finding out that it was due to a failed component you had produced. I never wanted to be in that situation, so while always looking for better materials and designs, I did so with a degree of caution.
Over the years, I have worked with many material manufacturers to beta test their products and give constructive feedback. I have also been able to test mechanical properties and check against the datasheets.
After some early failures trying to mix carbon fibre strands into SLA resin, I continued to experiment with different SLS powder blends. After hundreds of hours of R&D, we created a material that gave the strength and stiffness we were looking for. Our focus were the needs of Formula One, but it has also proved successful with high performance road cars.
SinterWorx C6.
SinterWorx is our material brand and C6 comes from the Carbon Atomic number.
We have had it mechanically tested at several F1 teams. The feedback we have received, is that it outperforms every other competitive material.
If you have a project in mind that needs high performance, get in touch for a free quotation or material sample.
See our ‘What you see is what you get’ article to learn more about our mechanical testing ethos and the SinterWorx C6 parts we built for the Bloodhound LSR project.
