Autodesk is not only selling the Ember 3D printer and releasing the plans to build your own Ember as open source, but also the 3D printing resin recipe. This week we at Autodesk released the Standard Clear Prototyping resin formula named affectionately as PR48.
In an effort to accelerate open for innovation the development of photosensitive resins for 3D printing. PR48’s formula has been published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. The Ember 3D printer is demonstration hardware for our vision for a common 3D printing using the Spark platform.
Eric Wilhelm, the founder of Instructables.com and head of Autodesk’s hardware group:
Ember's Resin is Now Open-Source
http://spark.autodesk.com/blog/embers-resin-now-open-source
"We’re open sourcing our resin for a couple of reasons: We have an open approach, and encourage the use of 3rd-party materials in our printer. We include 3rd-party materials in the defaults for Ember’s online model preparation and slicer, and are adding more as we optimize their settings for Ember: you can check them out at emberprinter.com. (You don’t actually need an Ember to use the site.) This Instructable describes how to test new resins. Autodesk is thinking differently about 3D printing, and sharing under an license reflects our commitment.
Open sourcing our resin formulation is only the first step in the journey of opening our 3D printer and our Spark 3D printing platform."
Autodesk Standard Clear Prototyping Resin (all percentages are wt/wt) This is not for making in your basement or kitchen so please read all warnings and documentation.
- Photoinitiator: 2,4,6-Trimethylbenzoyl-diphenyl-phosphineoxide (TPO) 0.40%
- UV blocker: 2,2’-(2,5-thiophenediyl)bis(5-tert-butylbenzoxazole) (OB+) 0.16 %
- Reactive diluent: Genomer 1122 19.89%
- Oligomer: Ebecryl 8210 39.78%, Sartomer SR 494 39.77%
As we’ve learned from Arduino, many RepRap start-ups, and other open source companies, publishing the source files for a product does not prevent it from being profitable. So, while anyone could make their own PR48 at home, Autodesk will also be selling it online in the near future. For those who would rather not dabble in chemical concocting, purchasing it from the company (or any enterprise that mixes some up and sells it for cheaper) may be the easiest way to get their hands on some. And opening up PR48’s recipe to the public will drive those with the skills to remix the material to improve PR48, develop new varieties, and so on.
Speaking of the Ember 3D Printer, I received mine last week but have been traveling and unable to open it and get it fired up and printing. I hope to open the boxes today.
Check out this great time lapse video of the Autodesk Ember 3D printer in action:
Cheers,
Shaan
