3D PRINTING
More New Technologies on Display Three-D printing is just one technique that innovative designers are using to expand their creativity and showcase new designs to the public. Laser and water-jet cutting, as well as computer numerical controlled (CNC) milling, are a few techniques also being highlighted at this year’s fair. These laser-cut pendant lamps, fabricated by Graypants, are made of repurposed cardboard.
Also exhibiting at ICFF is Netherlands designer Dirk Vander Kooij, who is using 3-D printing on a larger scale — think hangers, a rocking chair or a dining chair. His system involves a large robot that is similar to the MakerBot but uses a head to dispense plastic and print larger furnishings for the home. Vander Kooij uses recycled plastic from old refrigerators to print his products. The image on the wall shows the large robot 3-D printer printing a chair.
The MakerBot Replicator 2 printer uses a moving head to lay down layer upon layer of melted filament plastic to generate the object. The plastic filament is available in a number of colors and finishes, including matte, translucent, shimmery and metallic. Other types of 3-D printers emit layers of powder and resin.
"Only in the last few years has the ability to 3-D print metals come into play, changing the notion of the 3-D printer as a prototyping machine, thus opening the door for printing final products," says Nervous System's production and retail manager, Lia Beauchemin, who has a background in jewelry design. “With the 3-D printing, there are no repeats. Everything is 100 percent unique, which is something that really attracts people to us,” she says. "That uniqueness and customization is at the core of the 3-D printing boom. It brings up questions like, Who is the designer?"
Nervous System is interested not in simply designing products for people to buy, but also in releasing its work online as a series of interactive applets that customers can use to craft their own personalized products. The booth shows off unique home products like Orb lamps ($169 to $200) made with 3-D printing techniques. “We started in 2-D using tools like laser cutters and water jet,” says Louis-Rosenberg, "but making forms like these were intricate and difficult using traditional methods.”
Lighting designer Tom Dixon's booth has a pop-up manufacturing unit featuring Trumpf and Brooklyn-based fabricator Kammetal. Visitors can watch the live assembly of laser-cut faceted spheres made of brushed steel. These more accessible tools allow Dixon and others to efficiently create unique products for individual customers, rather than having to go through bigger companies heavily invested in industrialized production.
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