This month’s part of the month comes to you reluctantly. For the past three months, I’ve been supposed to be the person picking a part to highlight. I’ve been putting it off, much to the chagrin of Katie, Purple’s Marketing Coordinator, who’s responsible for the Part of the Month schedule.
Here’s the thing: I’ve worked at Purple for nearly five years, and about twice a month I look at a part on our shelves and thing to myself, “Wow, I have literally never seen this before.”
With that in mind, I’m picking more than one part to highlight this month. (Sorry, Katie!)
SAF Ball
First up, we have a complex SAF ball, that I first saw and fell in love with when Alec Logeman, Stratasys Applications Engineer, visited Purple for an H350 themed Open House event. The ball features interloping knots, that would be impossible to make with traditional manufacturing. The ball is mesmerizing to look at.
The version Alec brought was made from polypropylene, the version we printed in-house is made from PA11. Both versions are very satisfying to bounce – this was my only judgement criteria.
If we go beyond my “Part of the Month” requirements, the part is a great example of one of the many areas where the H350 shines: complex, impact resistant parts.
Fabrix Flowers
Next, we have the best part that I’ve ever nabbed for my desk: a Fabrix part featuring an array of roses. Every Fabrix part I’ve seen, I’ve been impressed by. The color and tones in this one warm my soul.
If I was a car guy, I’d call out how the Fabrix printer is being used for car interior models, if I was more creative, I’d call out how the printer can enable consumer goods product designers to further distinguish and upscale their products. If I was being technical, I’d say something about how strong the parts are – they’re machine washable, you know. But, I am me, and I like flowers, and I adore this part.
Whirligig
Lastly, we have a whirligig-thingymabob, printed in FDM, whose proper name I still don’t know. Hand plane spinning thing? Here’s how it works:
You hold the base in between your hands, rub them back and forth until the propeller is a blur, then you slide your hands, letting the “whirligig-thingymabob” fly.
There’s a way to do it – either with your right hand pushed out, or your left hand pushed out – where the part just flies. I never remember which way to do it. As a result, there has been at least one time where the part flies high above my cubical, crashing into someone’s desk on the next aisle over. The response is typical: the “whirligig-thingymabob” comes flying back.
Compared to our other giveaway parts, it’s less clever than the clacker, less practical than our business card electronics enclosure, less fun to fidget with than our SLA platypus coin; but, it’s pure fun.
There are a few more honorable mention parts, that really should have been included in this post. They are as follows:
- The tiny PolyJet car – It’s so small, and the wheels move, the doors open. And it is so small.
- The PolyJet gargoyle who lives on my desk – He’s odd looking, kind of scary (if I’m being honest), but he’s charming, and a good reminder of how far 3D printing has come.
- The DLP handle – The detail! The texture!
- The huge SLA flower – I mean, c’mon. It’s a hard part to beat.
- The FDM table – It’s a normal table. It’s the size of the F900’s build platform. And it is a table-sized table.
There are at least 75 more parts that I could list. But, if I did so, Katie probably wouldn’t let me write another blog post for a while.
I’ll leave you with this: If you haven’t had the chance to visit our showroom, I highly encourage you to do so. We have an array of parts on display, each highlighting a different application and use case for additive. And although I’m sure my blog post was riveting, it isn’t nearly as impressive or impactful as seeing the parts in-person.
Meet Talena Weingartner
Meet Marketing Manager, Talena Weingartner. Talena is responsible for our online presence, print and digital marketing, open house events and trade shows, as well as managing our incredible marketing team. Her favorite part about working at Purple is the culture.
Outside of the office, Talena enjoys listening to audiobooks, a good cup of tea, and going to baseball games. If you haven’t met Talena yet, be sure to connect with her on LinkedIn.
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