Yesterday, my two brothers (Jonathan and Caleb) and I attended the Design 2 Part trade show in Santa Clara. Design 2 part is an annually hosted trade show mostly aimed at connecting suppliers for parts and manufacturing.
Whether it was CNC, 3D printing, EDM, or casting, they had a ton of different vendors that offered manufacturing services. In a wide variety of other manufacturing industries, including medical, aerospace engineering, and general manufacturing,
While I did not make it to every booth, I was still able to see a couple of different manufacturers’ booths. The most interesting booths were the EDM (not Electronic Dance Music) parts and the metal 3D-printed objects.
One of the booths showcased a couple of different manufacturing methods, including metal FDM, which I had little prior knowledge of besides some more hobbyist methods of mixing tough fibers with regular ABS or similar materials.
However, seeing a “legit” FDM printer print metal objects was really neat, as it still had the imperfections that one might find on any hobbyist-grade printer, complete with its slightly staggering layer lines and slightly imperfect build plate finish.
images courtesy of Jellypipe
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