But what about cost? When comparing the outcomes of 3D printing against what could be expected with injection molding, the results were financially comparable, with several benefits falling in 3D printing’s favor, aside from the viability of the product. The ability to rapidly produce a product in under a day, from design to completion, cannot be overstated. Additionally, printing allowed for 57.96 grams of material to be conserved. The final kicker was the lack of shipping time and cost—the Origin One is small enough to be kept in an office, instead of sending parts overseas or to a factory for creation, so the project could be completed locally.
While commercially available snowboard bindings are currently made with injection molding, 3D printing this binding part allowed for lighter weight, greater control components and better support where the rider needed it. The Origin One’s comprehensive— and growing—materials catalog also enabled the usage of the best material for the job, and the strong partnership between Stratasys and Henkel Loctite enabled world-class support of the designers throughout the process.
The real test? Breckenridge resort in Colorado. Taccioli was able to make his snowboard plans and try out the high backs on several courses; they performed exactly as desired.
“With additive manufacturing being where it is today, it’s possible to forecast that less hardware components or sizing adjustment features would need to be built into products in the future,” explains Taccioli. “Being able to plug in the mechanical properties of the material into parametric software allows us to simply tweak a few inputs to generate geometry for any type of difference in performance we are looking for, whether it be a casual day of riding or an intense powder day.”
Reach out to your Stratasys representative today to start shredding the competition.
Visit here and do the impossible, with the Stratasys Origin One.