Vatican's Swiss Guard Trades In Metal Helmets for 3D Printed Ones

Source: 3DPRINT.COM

by Clare Scott

5/7/2018

Vatican's Swiss Guard
[Image: Franco Origlia/Getty Images]

The Swiss Guard has been in existence for centuries, serving as the Vatican’s private army. They have served over 40 popes and are steeped in tradition, including the red, blue and yellow Gala Uniform they wear – the colors of the Medici family. The uniform includes a helmet stamped with the crest of Pope Julius II, known as the “mercenary pope,” who founded the small army in 1506. Made from sheet steel, the helmet bears a feathered crest for formal occasions.

However, some of the guards had complained of burns from the steel helmets heating up in the sun. So it was time for a change, and the Swiss Guard recently announced that it would be replacing the metal helmets with plastic ones, 3D printed from an impact-resistant, weather-resistant PVC plastic. The material will keep the guards’ heads cool on sunny days, not only because of the lighter, less heat-attractive material but because ventilation channels have been integrated inside the helmets’ shells. Swiss Guard spokesman Sgt. Urs Breitenmoser noted that the ceremonial helmets, which serve no defensive purpose, are intended to be worn for papal masses and state visits.

The helmets were designed using a 3D scan of the original 16th century design, then 3D printed in one piece. Each helmet costs about €880, half the price of the original metal versions. Production time is greatly shortened, too – it took about 100 hours to make the traditional forged version of a helmet, while the 3D printed versions take only about 14 hours.

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3D Printing Set to Revolutionize Mainstream Manufacturing

Source: Huffington Post

By Vala Afshar, Contributor

12/11/2017 04:31 pm ET

Getty

According to Gartner, 3D printing has great potential. Total spending is predicted to grow at a 66.5% CAGR to $17.7 billion in 2020, with over 6.5 million printer sales. Gartner also predicts that “by 2020, 75% of manufacturing operations worldwide will use 3D-printed tools, jigs and fixtures made in-house or by a service bureau to produce finished goods. Also, 3D printing will reduce new product introduction timelines by 25%.” Enterprise 3D printer shipments is also expected to grow 57.4% CAGR through 2020.

The top priorities related to 3D printing include accelerated product development, offering customized products and limited series and increasing production flexibility. Here are additional 3D printing market forecasts:

57% of all 3D printing work done is in the first phases of the new product development
55% of companies predict they will be spending more in 3D printing services and solutions in 2017
47% of companies surveyed have seen a greater ROI on their 3D printing investments in 2017 compared to 2016

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Jabil Prints Parts for HP’s 3D Printer

Source: Plastics News

By Clare Goldsberry

December 11, 2017

Using a 3D printer to produce parts for a 3D printer is just one example of how far the additive manufacturing industry has come over the past three decades. That’s what manufacturing solutions provider Jabil (St. Petersburg, FL) is doing for HP Inc. (Palo Alto, CA), which is rapidly scaling its 3D printer business. The primary benefit of 3D printing is faster time to market and a dramatic cost reduction in parts, which includes the cost of having to build molds and perform multiple design iterations.

HP Multi Jet Fusion system HP's Multi Jet Fusion 3-D printing system.

Jabil currently uses HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) 3D-printing technology to produce 50 tested and validated parts for HP printers. This has enabled the company to achieve break-even points at up to 40,000 units on some parts, while completing 18 design iterations in the time it normally takes to make one prototype. Production 3D printing of plastic components is the goal for many OEMs, but Jabil and HP seem to be making major headway in this effort.

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HP Goes After Injection Molding with Boosted Efforts in 3D Printing

Source: Plastics News

By Audrey Laforest

December 4, 2017

HP Inc. has boosted its presence in additive manu-
facturing by expanding its portfolio of 3D printers.

Detroit — Can 3D printing compete on the same manufacturing level as injection molding? HP Inc.'s David Woodlock thinks it can — eventually.

Woodlock, who handles market development for 3D printing at the company's offices in Vancouver, Wash., spoke Nov. 8 at the 2017 Design in Plastics conference about HP's ongoing efforts to grow additive manufacturing into a $12 trillion manufacturing market.

"How do we get out of [3D printing] being 'I can make one part and two parts' into 'I can make 1,000 parts. I can make 10,000 parts. I can make a million parts?'" he asked the audience.

Woodlock said it is something HP and other industry stakeholders are going to have to figure out because "it's not really happening today."

"The way we're figuring it out is we are trying, we are learning," he said. "We're failing a lot, but really, most importantly, we're learning from our customers."

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Introducing the NEW HP Metal Jet 3D Printer

Part Ordering available in first half of 2019, Units available for early customers in 2020, General Availability 2021

HP Metal Jet's combination of speed with strength and physical properties changes all the rules. Parts that were previously impossible to create by machining or molding techniques are now possible. The ability to quickly produce quantities of real working parts and even part assemblies is a total game-changer.

HP Metal Jet 3D Printers