Brad, my understanding was that the supports could be built from either the acrylic photopolymer or the gelatinous release/support structure material. For the supports for the key chains that they were building, (for those who weren't there, think of it as a small, shallow, upside down bowl shape), they built a solid support of the inside out of the acrylic photopolymer, then put in a layer of release/support material, then the part was built out of the acrylic photopolymer. After build the support structure could be "popped" out due to the release agent.
I asked about what to do with undercuts etc.. They said that their software would build the solid acrylic photopolymer base and then use all release/support material where there was an undercut. It was my understanding that you could also build the entire support structure out of the release/support material as well.
Two questions that I asked that remain to be seen are how much will the acrylic photopolymer cost. The answer I received was "comparable to current photopolymer costs". Supports could cost you more than the part since they are solid. Also, what is the support/release material? We asked if it could be removed with a water rinse. We were told it could but that there could be issues with washing it down the drain. So you might want to use a parts washer type system.
I know that this is still in beta and no hard prices/materials are set yet. Did anyone else get different views or better estimates of resin cost and support/release agent material is?
Thanks,
Tim
Tim Gornet Computer Aided Engineering Consultant
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>>> Brad Hauptmann <bhauptmann@rdtool.com> 04/17 10:00 AM >>>
I also saw the Objet at the RP Show in Chicago this past week and am amazed
at the combination of its speed and accuracy (and of course its price).
Especially its accuracy after noticing how much it rocks from side to side
during a build. However, a couple of things came to mind later...
1) A question I thought of on my way home from the show concerns its
support structure. First of all, I love how the support system works in
that there is no evidence of a support system on the part (i.e. support
marks). But I wonder how it would build internal features? For example, a
ketchup bottle with flat sides... I am sure you could build it in two
halves, but if you had to build it whole how would you get the support
structure out of the bottle?
2) Even a round bottle (beer bottle) may pose a problem. On an SLA
machine we can blow away the supports on the inside of these bottles and
the machine will stair step its way around. To me it seems that the Objet
would not be able to "suspend" liquid resin along the insides of an
internal curved part. (I hope I am explaining this in an understandable
way).
3) What about a quickcast part?
____________________
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