Product category:
Rapid Prototyping
News Release from: Moog FCS | Subject: Amethyst SL
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 14 October 2003
SL material rings the changes
Amethyst SL is a new specialised stereolithography material formulated to meet the specific needs of today's jewellery manufacturers.
Amethyst SL is a new specialised stereolithography material formulated to meet the specific needs of today's jewellery manufacturers The Amethyst SL material will allow manufacturers worldwide to produce design models and patterns for rubber and silicon moulding and direct casting of unparalleled quality in hours rather than days, thereby speeding up time to market and lowering costs
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 20 Jun 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Viper Pro SLA System manufactures parts with exceptional feature details, accuracy, surface finish and large part size that are ordinarily associated with CNC machining.
The contrast-rich amethyst colour not only makes visual inspection easier but also simplifies demoulding for rubber moulding applications.
Patterns made with the Amethyst SL material can also be direct investment-cast in precious metals, such as gold, to produce customised jewellery, one-of-a-kind jewellery, and can eliminate wax models entirely for small series production.
The new material allows designers to produce accurate models with exact wall thicknesses and maximum scooping so that the use of precious metals is minimised in the final version.
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The Sinterstation Pro 230 SLS System has the ability, within hours, to build large, complex parts, reducing development time and optimising final designs.
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The Sinterstation Pro 230 SLS system transforms computer-aided design (CAD) data into ready-to-use, accurate and durable three-dimensional plastic parts.
It is also capable of producing identical designs of different weights and sizes, and of recreating accurate, repeatable dimensions for stone settings.
The superior resolution and surface finish of even the finest detail designs means that the models can be used as samples for aesthetic assessment, as masters for rubber and silicone moulds or as direct casting patterns.
The Amethyst SL material has been developed to work with 3D Systems' Viper SLA system, which creates the models by building up a series of ultrathin 25um resin layers, producing models with unequalled surface finish, feature resolution and quality.
This advanced digital manufacturing (ADM) solution is compatible with CAD software used commonly in the jewellery industry, such as Rhino and Alias Wavefront, and is extremely user-friendly.
"The jewellery industry is advancing quickly in its use of new technologies", says Mervyn Rudgley, Senior Director of Product Management.
"Time saved in production is a key advantage as competition grows.
By complementing traditional working methods the Amethyst material and the Viper system enable the jewellery industry to progress to advanced digital manufacturing".
The Viper si2 SLA system allows a maximum build volume of 250 x 250 x 250mm in standard mode and 125 x 125 x 140mm in high-resolution mode.
The built time for 44 rings, as in the example, is 11h 10min.
The rings can all be of the same or of different design.
This gives an overall production time of 15min 24s per ring.
The Viper si2 is the only system today that manufactures not only rings but complete sets of jewellery including necklaces, bangles, paired earrings, brooches and rings simultaneously.
The Amethyst SL material also has great potential for use in other highly detailed applications in manufacturing, such as the biomedical and electronics industries.
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