Head-first design

By Meridee Walter, December 2, 2007 @ 5:59 am

Wonkavision now comes in colour—and it’s tuned to the rugby channel. Like Willy Wonka’s magic television, Auckland-based 3D Print can quickly produce a three-dimensional colour prototype to speed up the design and manufacture of new products.

The company worked with Canterbury headgear manufacturer Body Armour to take an idea for headgear from a 2D drawing to the finished product quicker than you can say Rokocoko. Body Armour was on deadline with the new design: the product had to be approved by the IRB before it could be used in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

3D Print uses an inkjet printer to spray a binder onto powder, building up the layers, and then hardening it with epoxy. Operations director Peter Dawson says the company can turn a 2D plan into a finished model in two days. Using a colour 3D printer allows them to incorporate labels on prototypes, so companies can see what the whole product will look like when it’s finished, including the company logo and printing the lining in Canterbury red.

While they only create models and prototypes now, Dawson says the future is in rapid manufacture and the possibility to build parts out of plastic and steel.

The printing helps customers to see their final product, but 3D Print suffers from the same problem it is trying to solve—it’s difficult to explain 3D models in two-dimensional formats. “That’s why you should get a model,” Dawson laughs.