Symmons Blog

3D Printing Technology: Child’s Play for Serious Designers

3D printing technology for serious designers

What some have termed the future is already a way of life at Symmons. Two of our Symmons’ team members, Paul Zimmermann and Cliff Cobb, tell us that 3D printing technology is not only a revolutionary business concept that aids the design process, but also a high-tech adventure, allowing them to “have fun” with serious concepts and to create new products with ease.

The benefits of 3D printing accrue from the ability to quickly visualize a product, produce its form, test its functionality, and demonstrate its value — all without spending a great deal of money to tool up and perfect a design. It is the immediacy of 3D printing capabilities that excite Zimmermann, a Senior Industrial Designer who first started “playing” with 3D printers a decade ago as a student.

At the time, he recalls, the process seemed complicated and cumbersome. But, in the intervening years, he has witnessed the great strides made in the development of new printers, and believes that the availability of newer and more adaptable materials has brought 3D printing into the mainstream of design, both at Symmons and elsewhere. In fact, he is such a believer in the technology that he now owns three 3D printers of his own, “with varied build sizes and capabilities.” Although he says that he employs the printers for professional duties on a routine basis, he also has “designed and printed things like replacement parts for broken drawers and kitchen appliances, toys, X-Box accessories, and even Olympic style medals for family events.”

Project Engineer Cobb also believes that 3D printing “is pretty much part of my daily life both at Symmons and with my home business.” Cobb is a small business owner who creates 3D printed lighting products. He notes that the ability to quickly replicate and test a faucet design by actually running water through it “takes the guesswork out of it,” and facilitates his development of new Symmons products that will perform to standard and satisfy the customer. He, too, notes the rapid evolution of 3D printing technology since he was introduced to it almost 20 years ago.

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Image: Paul Zimmerman

Both team members talk about the “old days” of printing with powder-based medium versus newer, exciting materials that include nylon, polycarbonate, wood and metal blends, food safe bioplastics, carbon fiber, and plastics “derived from used coffee grounds and spent beer brewing ingredients!”

Symmons® Design Studio™ is proud to have embraced 3D printing as one of the innovative tools available to our customers. We believe that an exciting future has arrived—one that allows us to easily, quickly and cost-effectively explore new design possibilities with, and for our clients.

Because we have been at the forefront of quality design and craftsmanship in our field for so long, we think this ability is just another step along a familiar path. We are pleased that our designers embrace the technology of 3D printing and recognize the benefits it offers.

As Cliff Cobb expresses it, “In my opinion, 3D printing will one day be almost as common as a computer in a home.”

If you’re interested in seeing some of Paul and Cliff’s work, take a look at their sites below:

Paul Zimmermann: etsy.com/shop/Tapp3dDesign

Cliff Cobb: icaruslighting.com/gallery/

 

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