Usage of PLA Extrafill
in company Wibit Sports
Company Wibit prints 1:50 models of the water parks! How cool is this? We have interviewed Mr. Harrison, a Chef Designer in the company about his project of designing water parks.
WHAT WAS THE MAIN REASON YOU HAVE STARTED WITH 3D PRINTING?
When I started working with Wibit Sports there was no workshop so as Chef Designer it was imperative for me to realize my ideas and have them in the hand to show the sales team and the CEOs. I requested a small room for research and development purposes and looked into possible 3D printers. Fillamentum presents its filaments on their website so this was our first introduction to the range. The colors match perfectly to the Wibit product corporate identity, so it was a natural choice.
HAVE YOU SOLVED SOME PROBLEMS WITH THIS SOLUTION?
It wasn’t really a problem. More a means to an end. We develop all our products from first sketches with paper and markers and move quickly to 3D modelling. We use this initial data to make scale models of our products.
CAN YOU DEMONSTRATE ANY PARTICULAR 3D PRINTING PROJECT?
The 1:50 scale models we make came about as I thought it would be interesting to have all our products in this size – like a Lego set – so that we can try different park arrangements out. This is quicker than doing it in CAD and better for discussing internally and with clients at one time to discuss new arrangements and new layouts. I have devised a way of connecting the modular parts together with magnets, so it makes it possible to try out different arrangements quickly and easily. It’s great for showing our customers and planning our parks for different applications.
CAN WE SAY THAT IT´S PROTOTYPING? WOULD YOU SUGGEST SOME TIME-SAVING OR COST-SAVING?
It’s not really prototyping as such although we use the printers and Fillamentum products for other things as well which is more direction prototyping. I have worked with the Flexfill TPU material for prototyping silicon and rubber products. This works really well although I had to play with the settings on the printer to get the right results.
DO YOU LIKE PRINTING WITH OUR MATERIAL? WHAT WAS THE MAIN REASON THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN OUR FILAMENTS?
I think the quality of Fillamentum is unparalleled. I have tried three other manufacturers over the last 1.5 years but Fillamentum is my number one choice. You may call it brand loyalty but Fillamentum is super reliable at a great price – what more can you want?!
HAVE YOU PRINTED ONLY FROM PLA EXTRAFILL OR HAVE YOU USED SOME OTHER MATERIAL AS WELL?
We use mainly PLA Extrafillbut I have been experimenting with the transparent material – that’s really cool stuff! The color clarity of the neon range is also great. I want to try the wood materials and other product types from Fillamentum in the future. The idea of being able to print and then work into the materials is of great interest to me.
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