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Formlabs Year in Review: Top Blog Posts of 2020

2020 rattled everyone to the core. The COVID-19 pandemic upended our lives--death tolls rose, hospitals were overwhelmed with patients and faced PPE shortages, and entire industries were decimated. Furthermore, the United States reeled from a tumultuous political year. 

Despite this turbulent year, our customers made the best of the situation. From healthcare to entertainment, our customers had a productive year and devised creative solutions to pressing problems. In this blog post, we highlight some of our top reads from 2020.

Behind the Scenes: “Raised by Wolves” 3D Printed Props and Prosthetics

“Raised by Wolves” is a science fiction TV show about two androids tasked with the responsibility of raising children on another planet after Earth was destroyed by a great war. The show premiered on HBO Max on Sept. 3. Bringing fictional worlds to the screen is a huge challenge, even with advancements in CGI and digital technology. Jaco Snyman, founder of Dreamsmith and lead prosthetics designer of the series, leveraged 3D printing to produce props. Snyman used 3D printing for rapid prototyping, mold making, and manufacturing final parts. “Before the 3D printing era, we would sculpt something like this in clay for example, make a mold and then cast it in plastic, clean it up and paint it. It could take ages. Now I can just print it out, clean it and paint it,” Snyman said.

How Black Diamond Prototypes Crowd-Pleasing Gear on the Form 3L

Black Diamond Equipment is known for high performance climbing, skiing, and mountain gear. To produce full-size prototypes without outsourcing, Black Diamond brought prototyping in-house with the Formlabs Form 3L 3D printer

In addition to reducing costs, the team was also able to decrease turnaround time with our large format stereolithography 3D printer. “We have reduced our costs on full-size prototypes from $425 a print to $70 a print. With that savings, Form 3L would pay for itself in only three months,” said Matt Tetzl, R+D technician at Black Diamond.

How Precision ADM Became the Largest Producer of 3D Printed Medical Devices

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Canadian additive manufacturing company Precision ADM didn’t hesitate to find a way to help. They transformed their business to 3D print the CANSWAB™, their Health Canada-approved nasopharyngeal test swab. Using more than 100 Form 3B printers, the company pivoted their business model and worked with Formlabs to create a custom 3D printing solution tailored to their new goal.

How 3D Printing Enabled a Life-Saving Surgery on a Complex Spinal Sarcoma

Pre-operative planning is crucial to delivering successful surgery, thereby delivering optimum patient outcomes. The arrival of 3D printed anatomical models has revolutionized how surgeons obtain the critical insights that are needed before performing complex surgical procedures, leading to better outcomes for patients. With the help of Formlabs and Axial 3D, Mr. Alistair Irwin was able to successfully remove a tumor from a young patient.

Novus Applications Improves Injection Molding Process With Rigid 10K Resin

Injection molding is a common and versatile manufacturing process used to produce a high volume of parts. Novus Applications, a product development company focused on consumer goods, takes injection molding to the next level by incorporating 3D printing into the workflow to speed up the process. Learn how Novus used Formlabs’ Rigid 10K Resin to create 3D printed injection molds to design faster and save time and costs.