If you watch our weekly TOP 5 videos each Sunday, then you will already be familiar with Steelcase, the largest office furniture company in the world who has incorporated 3D printing into the heart of their designs; bringing their creations and imagination to life. With their already innovative company, they are now pushing creativity to the max thanks to MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab who have partnered up to help potentially change the future of furniture design and creation.
Due to time and sometimes lack of print quality, many manufacturers have put the adoption of 3D printing on hold. But, those at MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab believe that they have found the solution to this issue, and it’s as simple as a tub of gel and a long tube. Using a new technique called “Rapid Liquid Printing”, the two partners are hoping to create a product that is more refined with faster creation time than the traditional methods and processes seen today
The processes uses a gel with a long tube.
This new printing process can create pieces of furniture and other products in only minutes using rubber, foam, plastic and other industrial liquid material. Using a long tube, it injects hard plastic or flexible rubber into a tub of gel that suspends and supports the structures as they are being printed. Through this new printing process, the prints are printed without the use of layers, post processes or dissolving/breaking off of supports. This means that the final stage only requires you to simply remove the part from the gel and wash it with water.
Because this new process is still in it’s early stages, we won’t be seeing in new 3D printed furniture using this process hitting stores anytime soon. However, we do think it is safe to say that the future of 3D printing furniture is right around the corner and we are excited to see all the future developments made thanks to Steelcase and MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab!
To see the Rapid Liquid Printing process in action, check out the video below:
To find out more about Steelcase and MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab, check out their websites here and here.
What do you think of this new 3D printing process? Would you like to own a set of 3D printed furniture? Let us know in a comment below or on our Facebook or Twitter page.