Re: Three Dimensional Inkjet Printing As I lived it

From: Jim McMahon <jim_at_layergrownmodel.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2016 03:46:13 -0500

The winter of 1994 was no colder than normal, as I recall. I had back
surgery and gave notice to Howtek, Inc that I was going to work for Roy
Sanders at Sanders Prototype,Inc in Wilton, NH. I was a service manage for
Howtek, and my chosen job was to keep the old Pixelmaster Inkjet printers
working for the customers who bought them. This 32 jet rotary head
drop-on-demand full color 2D printer was on it's death bed after the
company let it drop off the radar screen and changed it's course to build
scanners 5 years before. The printers were a bear to maintain with 32
inkjets and Thermoplastic 125C phase change ink that made millions of color
images and perfect letter quality text. On more than one occasion the
printers over printed and relief characters appeared on the paper. This
happened also in 1980 at Exxon Office Systems when printing with wax inks.
This observation by key employee's was shown to others in Howtek in 1989
and it was suggested to be an opportunity in the investment casting
industry. No one spoke much about it until a patent on two material three
dimensional models was issued. Later a few of those involved with the
printer product met offsite to discuss a new company and a new printer was
to be manufactured but it never did. Then rumors started that a new printer
business was started that was using the inkjets and materials that would
make three dimensional models in Wilton. As the inkjet specialist, I was
asked for advice about keeping these jets running. I was asked many times
to join them and finally did in March 1994. I became the first service
manager and was assigned to the first customer of the product in Milford,
NH who was making various production auto parts and golf clubs. These were
printed in thermoplastic and investment cast on 'trees" in metal very
successfully in 1994. It would be fun to see which cars still have them.
The three dimensional printer, Modelmaker 6pro had many features that made
it the quite amazing to customers. It used software to prep the files
(virtually from any CAD package in 1994) to build single or multiple copies
of models at layer thicknesses down to 0.0005 inches. Printing model files
could be edited as they were being built, adjustments to jet outputs to
perk up the model and the model could even be recovered if power failed.
Every layer was precisely milled to always maintain exact Z height. The two
jets on the machine had software to verify operation after programmed
layers were completed and the model was 100% supported with a wax material
that could be cleaned off at the end of cycle. Jewelers picked up on this
product and still brag about it today as being the best printer for quality
models with a almost ash free material.
I look back at this printer and question if the features on this machine
were the core features one should expect from any 3D printer today. I look
at the other 3D printers of the period and think they did not have some of
the features of this product. I currently have most of these printers today
in a collection spanning from Howtek to the final 3D printer made by Roy
Sanders before he went out of business. This includes inkjets built in 1986
that found their way on the Modelmaker 6Pro and still work today. That's 30
years of inkjet life that spans 2D to 3D printers in two different
companies. My only patent was in 1979 for an improved inkjet printing
system using the Steve Zoltan inkjet technology that is still very much
alive today in 3D printers but this fact is seldom published or discussed
in any three dimensional printer history.

On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 10:17 PM, Jim McMahon <jim_at_layergrownmodel.com>
wrote:

> The winter of 1994 was no colder than normal, as I recall. I had back
> surgery and gave notice to Howtek, Inc that I was going to work for Roy
> Sanders at Sanders Prototype,Inc in Wilton, NH. I was a service manage for
> Howtek, and my chosen job was to keep the old Pixelmaster Inkjet printers
> working for the customers who bought them. This 32 jet rotary head
> drop-on-demand full color 2D printer was on it's death bed after the
> company let it drop off the radar screen and changed it's course to build
> scanners 5 years before. The printers were a bear to maintain with 32
> inkjets and Thermoplastic 125C phase change ink that made millions of color
> images and perfect letter quality text. On more than one occasion the
> printers over printed and relief characters appeared on the paper. This
> happened also in 1980 at Exxon Office Systems when printing with wax inks.
> This observation by key employee's was shown to others in Howtek in 1989
> and it was suggested to be an opportunity in the investment casting
> industry. No one spoke much about it until a patent on two material three
> dimensional models was issued. Later a few of those involved with the
> printer product met offsite to discuss a new company and a new printer was
> to be manufactured but it never did. Then rumors started that a new printer
> business was started that was using the inkjets and materials that would
> make three dimensional models in Wilton. As the inkjet specialist, I was
> asked for advice about keeping these jets running. I was asked many times
> to join them and finally did in March 1994. I became the first service
> manager and was assigned to the first customer of the product in Milford,
> NH who was making various production auto parts and golf clubs. These were
> printed in thermoplastic and investment cast on 'trees" in metal very
> successfully in 1994. It would be fun to see which cars still have them.
> The three dimensional printer, Modelmaker 6pro had many features that made
> it the quite amazing to customers. It used software to prep the files
> (virtually from any CAD package in 1994) to build single or multiple copies
> of models at layer thicknesses down to 0.0005 inches. Printing model files
> could be edited as they were being built, adjustments to jet outputs to
> perk up the model and the model could even be recovered if power failed.
> Every layer was precisely milled to always maintain exact Z height. The two
> jets on the machine had software to verify operation after programmed
> layers were completed and the model was 100% supported with a wax material
> that could be cleaned off at the end of cycle. Jewelers picked up on this
> product and still brag about it today as being the best printer for quality
> models with a almost ash free material.
> I look back at this printer and question if the features on this machine
> were the core features one should expect from any 3D printer today. I look
> at the other 3D printers of the period and think they did not have some of
> the features of this product. I currently have most of these printers today
> in a collection spanning from Howtek to the final 3D printer made by Roy
> Sanders before he went out of business. This includes inkjets built in 1986
> that found their way on the Modelmaker 6Pro and still work today. That's 30
> years of inkjet life that spans 2D to 3D printers in two different
> companies. My only patent was in 1979 for an improved inkjet printing
> system using the Steve Zoltan inkjet technology that is still very much
> alive today in 3D printers but this fact is seldom published or discussed
> in any three dimensional printer history.
>
Received on Sun Dec 04 2016 - 10:46:41 EET

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