Have you ever considered custom 3D printing to make your big idea a reality?
You have an idea. It started in a dream, in a flash during your favorite song, in an aha! moment of conversation. It started to take shape in a napkin sketch, then in CAD.
Custom 3D printing seems to be the perfect solution to bring it into the world. And that’s where the but comes in: It’s a great idea, but is it feasible? It’s a sound design, but can it really be 3D printed today – and survive real-world conditions?
There are a lot of promises surrounding 3D printing. Complexity is free! Mass customization at the push of a button! Zero inventory, no waste! Production-ready, on-demand manufacturing! A lot of these are still just promises, and some “engineering-grade” materials end up creating anisotropic disappointments. So we wanted to do something about it all.
What if 3D printing actually worked?
We started by asking a big question: What if 3D printing actually worked?
We have been so frustrated by the unreliability of industrial 3D printing that we decided to dedicate our careers to fixing the problem. For 3D printing to actually live up to its promises, it has to deliver.
A new solution has to not only meet current expectations in manufacturing, but exceed them. For additive manufacturing to make sense, it has to be better than traditional options. Repeatability, durability, cost-effectiveness, quality, standards; we needed to tick every box.
The new generation of custom 3D printing
Our experienced team of chemists and engineers came up with a new grade of materials that we call COR: Cyclic Olefin Resins. The first available resin is COR Alpha, which enables 3D printed parts with lab-proven:
- High isotropy and Z-strength
- Biocompatibility as demonstrated by 10993-5 Grade 0 cytotoxicity
- Best-in-class thermomechanical performance
- High impact and tear Z-strength
- Extreme chemical resistance and weatherability
That’s all well and good, but where do you come into this with your idea?
Let’s custom 3D print your big idea
polySpectra parts are for designers, inventors, and engineers who have lost hope in polymer 3D printing. If you’d rather go from landfilling failed parts to building rugged products that are designed to last, even in challenging environments – we should talk.
COR Alpha parts are currently only available from polySpectra. We’re currently prioritizing customers with production additive manufacturing applications, so if you’re ready to make your idea come to life in all its complex, high-performance glory, let’s get started.
First we’ll make sure we’re a fit. If you’re happy with your current options in additive manufacturing, it might be best that you stick with those. If you want to challenge what you think is possible and go beyond brittle parts that take a lot of work to look how you want them to, COR Alpha may be for you.
Custom 3D printing made easy
The third major risk in moving toward digital manufacturing is design uncertainty. 3D printing is still new enough as a production technology (in the cases where it is actually a production technology) that design for additive manufacturing is a rare skill.
To fully leverage the benefits of additive manufacturing, DfAM (design for additive manufacturing) needs to be the mindset from the start. A designer needs to account for support structures, wall thickness requirements, anisotropy, overhang angles, layer lines, surface finish, and manufacturing tolerances – to name a few considerations.
Because 3D printing has been used for so long for rapid prototyping and rapid tooling, design skills there have evolved more organically. But truly designing for production additive manufacturing means rethinking everything.
What we learned the hard (and expensive) way is that the digital design piece is incredibly important – and incredibly expensive and, frankly, really hard.
We want this to be easy for you, so we have a short survey. It’ll take two minutes to fill in, and upload your design file. There you can let us know what you want to do and we can start to understand what you have in mind. If we’re a match, let’s do it – let’s make your idea real.
Once we receive your survey and your STL, our expert team will review your design and reach out to provide a quote and discuss your specific application requirements.
Designers, inventors, and engineers ready to fulfill their custom 3D printing work can get started here.
