Part of the Month: Dumbbells

Double Dense – 14% Sparsity

Dense – 6% Sparsity

On this edition of Part of the Month (or should I say Parts of the Month), Porcupine Sales Representative, Saxon Swart, chose these two FDM dumbbells. He likes that he can work out at the office, but he mostly likes that he can show customers the difference in weight associated with the varied amounts of sparsity.

These took a few hours to print on the speedy Fortus 450mc, using ASA, a UV resistant ABS material. The white dumbbell is double dense (14%), meaning it is about twice as dense the black one (6%). A cool thing about using FDM technology is that you can designate sparsity, and it’s all automatic in the software. You can choose for the part to be fully solid or more of a lighter weight.

“Let’s say someone needs a very large part but they don’t want it to cost as much. We can manipulate the sparsity so that it fills up half of the space of the part. It won’t be solid but it will still be very strong,” says Saxon.

He explains, “For example, I have a customer that uses large parts for fit checks, and in their current process, their using end-use parts that can weigh up to a ton. Moving an object that heavy is very difficult, especially when moving it from one end of a facility to another.”

“So they came to Purple and we were able to print those same parts with a sparse interior, which significantly reduced the weight. This will save their team a lot of valuable time, meaning their staff can refocus on more important tasks.”

Sparsity is great for saving time and money when manufacturing parts, but may still come at a cost. Having a sparse part can reduce its strength and durability; that’s where FDM comes in. FDM allows you to designate which area of the part to make solid, let’s say around a hole, so the part can still be lightweight but structurally sound where it needs to be. Now it is saving cost, without compensating functionality.

To learn more about your printer or material options, stop by our office or give us a call at 949.474.9222.

Meet Saxon Swart

Meet Purple Porcupine Sales Representative, Saxon Swart. Saxon brings customer’s designs to life by finding the right additive solution for their project requirements. His favorite part about working at Purple is being able to find customers a unique solution to their projects by using additive manufacturing. Outside of the office, Saxon enjoys playing with his cat and going out to eat with friends. If you haven’t had the chance to meet Saxon, connect with him on LinkedIn or stop by the office and say hi!