We are happy to announce the arrival our newest family member, The Makerbot 5th Gen 3D Printer!
Weighing in at 16 KG [35.3 LBS], 52.8cm (20.8″) long.
All are doing well.
Love, the Whistle family 🙂
Ok, let’s be serious.
Prototyping is still such an important part of the product development process. With the onset of digital tools in our industry, nothing has come close to putting a real, tactile object into a client’s hands to evaluate form, size and function like prototyping. It’s critical in making a good product into a great one. We can’t speak highly enough of the importance of ergonomic evaluation throughout the design process. It’s one of the cornerstone fundamentals of “user-centric” design and its amazing how often it is overlooked and products make it onto shelves with uncomfortable handles or weird proportions.
Prototyping in-house
While we previously had to wait days to have parts made externally, bringing a 3D printer in-house means we can now churn out parts and form studies in hours. This is such a great advantage in our design process, and is one of those little things that helps get great products to market fast. We’ve already been running the machine almost non-stop. Lets be honest, they’re not all client parts, there’s a few little “test” prints in there too; toys, letters, gears, a “bat” symbol… this could get expensive!
The nitty gritty
For those curious folks, we settled on one of the newest Makerbot 5th Gen 3D Printers, which is a filament extrusion type machine (or FDM, fused deposition moulding). This type of machine layers up PLA 0.1mm at a time to make the parts. Oh, and PLA (Polylactic Acid) is derived from renewable resources like corn starch or sugar cane, which is a renewable source and totally biodegradable!
You can read more on these latest machines at https://www.makerbot.com