Fabrication Friday

The Fabrication Friday podcast is BACK after a long reprieve and we didn't waste any time providing you with an awesome episode. Rob Ortiz, National Sales Director at Formlabs joins Joe today for a very in-depth interview on what SLA (Stereolithography) 3D printing is all about. In this episode we discuss a printing project that the Ascent Fab team worked on to reverse engineer an automotive compo...

About a year ago, we posted a similar podcast which discussed the relatively new concept of Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). Today, as we are one year wiser and with that many more print hours logged, these design techniques are ever more relevant as we take on new feasibility projects, new 3D printer manufacturers enter the market or current entities release new machines, and more people...

Ecovate 3D is a budding small business in Raleigh, NC that is led by a wonderful fellow 3D printing enthusiast, Beverly Tan. Beverly's retail store in Raleigh boasts ready-to-pick up filament of all colors of the rainbow and a select offering of desktop 3D printers for entry-level and soon-to-be expert users. She prides herself on her focus of educating young individuals on all of the possibilitie...

Continuous carbon fiber additive manufacturing...it looks space-age because it IS space-age! On this technical episode of Fabrication Friday I dive deep into the nuances of continuous fiber fabrication (CFF) with Jacob Smith from Continuous Composites (which they also call CF3D®). Jacob is an Application Engineer who is well versed in the DfAM techniques for non-planar CFF and discusses some of th...

The phrase "cutting edge" hardly begins to describe the innovative forms of and applications for additive manufacturing that is going on at the Rochester Institute of Technology AMPrint Center - Center for Additive Manufacturing and Multifunctional Printing. My good friend Jade Myers is a Research Development Specialist at the AMPrint Center and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to DfAM techn...

What does it actually take to implement additive manufacturing within your business? Are you using AM for your own needs, or otherwise marketing a product B2B or B2C? There is a lot to think about when you initially want to source the most effective 3D printer, materials, and software for your application. Today I'm speaking with Bryan Craft who has been involved with a couple companies attempting...

The Fabrication Friday podcast is back after a short hiatus and ready to bring you enriching content from the 3D printing industry! Today we are joined by Alex Parton of Parton Prints - a family-run 3D printing business out of Atlanta, GA focusing on consumer products from cosplay to custom lighting. Their filament brand, FilaFi, offers high quality PLA in a wide variety of vibrant colors and offe...

This week on the Fabrication Friday podcast we spent some time chatting with the awesome and dedicated crew at the Victoria Hand Project - a Canadian non-profit looking to make an impact for upper extremity amputees around the world. Ascent Fabrication has a long history with the VHP crew, with Joe having been to Port-Au-Prince Haiti with their early team members back in 2016, to provide upper ext...

Today I'll challenge you to look around your house for a plastic object and think - can I 3D print that? Most of the time, the answer is yes! With reverse engineering and Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) techniques, we can pair the right material with the right printing process and print a lot more objects/products than you might think. On this episode, John Kappel, owner of Innosek of Buf...

We are back at it this week after Joe was struck down by some brief illness, and ready to share with you this wonderful conversation with Bert Habets, CEO of colorFabb. colorFabb - an environmentally-mindful 3D printing filament company out of The Netherlands is a strong player in the additive manufacturing industry. Their innovative mindset toward introducing brand new materials to the market, an...

From Indianapolis, IN to Charleston, SC - Ascent Fabrication has been on the move lately! Not to mention a new 3D printer install this week - the Blackbelt! Check out the unboxing video to be posted next week! Now, getting into the nitty gritty of this episode... What is Direct Prosthetic Care (DPxC) you ask? As an amputee, imagine that you no longer have to jump through numerous hoops and wait an...

So what exactly does "high speed" and "industrial FDM 3D printing" look like these days? On this episode of Fabrication Friday, I sat down with Nirup Nagabandi, Vice President of Materials and Process Engineering at Essentium, who helped me conceptualize what FDM can really look like at the industrial level. Implementing what they term as, High-Speed Extrusion, at "5-15x faster than their competit...

So you 3D print with one nozzle, maybe two? How about SEVEN?! Liqtra's new FX-7 Pro is an impressive feat of FDM technology, boasting seven simultaneous printing nozzles at 0.6mm each, a large build volume at 425x305x500mm, and specialized slicing software. Joscha Krieglsteiner Co-Founder of Liqtra joined me today to chat about their innovative solution to printing faster, stronger, and in multi-m...

Quick catch up today on what is new and exciting at Ascent Fab - like our budding partnership with Rapid Liquid Print (RLP)! RLP is involved with silicone 3D printing as a service bureau as well as manufacturing their own proprietary silicone 3D printing system. Can't wait to get into this sector of the AM industry with them! Ascent Fab is also embarking on a mission to create a digital platform w...

This Fabrication Friday was too much fun! Zach Burhop of Austin, TX shared with me his journey into the additive manufacturing industry and opened my eyes to what could be possible in...SPACE! He shares my thoughts of how we can make 3D printing even more accessible to the masses, and the unquenchable thirst to print something even cooler the next time. If you have any technical questions about en...

So what even is Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM)? When we think about how we want to design a certain part, component, or assembly for a particular manufacturing process, there are certain constraints that we need to consider in order to achieve the highest quality result. Whether it's additive manufacturing (3D Printing), CNC milling, or injection molding, the part design and the process...

This week Joe had a special opportunity to be a guest on the We're Not Stumped podcast, hosted by Mike Bolland - nonprofit founder, speaker and advocate for those living with limb loss. The amputee community has several outlets for support, but the majority either don't take advantage of them or simply just don't know about them. We appreciate what Mike is doing to help support this community and...

Further expanding on our previous episode regarding 3D printed foot orthotics, today I am joined by Niels den Otter, Co-Founder and CEO of LutraCAD. LutraCAD is an intuitive software for designing foot orthotics/insoles for 3D printing or CNC milling, as well as shoe lasts to build shoes over the top of. Niels explains how LutraCAD takes the design side of things one step further and actually has...

Ascent Fabrication is your additive manufacturing operational partner, by means of product development, training, and a diverse ecosystem of innovative equipment and materials. We run the full gambit of FDM 3D Printing by offering CAD design and 3D printing services, personalized training sessions, as well as being a supportive partner for 3D printer and filament manufacturers worldwide. Aside fro...

Being able to 3D print a prosthetic or orthotic device for a patient which is equal in structural integrity to its traditionally fabricated alternative, at a reduced cost, and with less labor time has enormous benefits for people all over the world. With the specialized knowledge it takes to operate a 3D printer, 3D scanner, and the applicable software, the method of implementation and the shippin...

Newly introducing Fabrication Friday's Print of the Week and our Tech Tip of the Week! We will be highlighting an impressive or otherwise noteworthy print each week and discuss some of the details that make it interesting. We are also giving helpful 3D printing tips which may influence your own journey into the additive manufacturing industry. Today, Joe discusses the evolution of his own path int...

How nice would it be if you walk away from your 3D printer on a Friday, you go have yourself a nice relaxing weekend, and then you return on Monday to find north of 20 prints all nicely stacked in a storage cart? Mosaic Manufacturing is doing just that with their new nearly fully automated 3D printing solution, the Array. Mitch Debora, Co-Founder and CEO of Mosaic joins me today as we chat about t...

3D printing has made leaps and bounds in just the last 3 years, let alone the last 8 years that I have been involved in the additive manufacturing industry. Today I am joined by another fellow Certified Prosthetist Orthotist who has also had a similar journey in learning all of the nuances of 3D printing patient end-use devices. Mike Nadata, CPO and Owner of NY Rehab has tried it all - from design...

3D scanning has been around for a while in its application to foot orthotics, or "shoe insoles". From this 3D scan, typically they have been CNC milled out of polypropylene or single/trilam foam. Moving away from subtractive manufacturing though has several benefits, mostly around the drastic reduction in wasted material due to this fabrication process. Joining us today is Bryan Kentner, DPM, Podi...

Markforged is one company making huge strides in the additive manufacturing field, with Metal Fused Filament Fabrication and Continuous Fiber Fabrication. In today's episode I talked with Nicki Chamberlain-Simon, Certified Prosthetist Orthotist and a good friend who has worked with me on a project that involved the Markforged Mark Two 3D Printer. What started as a chance encounter at Northwestern'...