What are the advantages of cDLM™ 3D printing Technology? (continuous Digital Light Manufacturing)

cDLM™ — Just Call It Super-Fast.

The Micro Plus cDLM™ is the first 3D printer to print 3D models for direct investment casting, for the jewelry industry, in minutes rather than hours.
Using the patented, high speed continuous Digital Light Manufacturing technology, the Micro Plus cDLM™, builds casting-ready models in the industry standard 3D print casting material PIC 100. The Micro Plus cDLM™ will also print even faster in QView, a design verification material, for fit and design models ready to show to a customer in minutes. See this video of castable rings being printed in 15 minutes using the Micro Plus cDLM™.

“The addition of cDLM™ technology to EnvisionTEC’s Micro Plus 3D printer is a game changer for the jewelry industry,” said EnvisionTEC CEO Al Siblani, “Traditionally, 3D printing castable materials such as our PIC 100 would take hours to build. With cDLM™, bridal and fashion rings can be designed, grown, and ready for investment casting the same day, which is a huge advantage for the jewelry market.”

The Micro Plus cDLM™ has average build speeds of 10-20 minutes per 2.54 cm in Z for the full build envelope, depending on the material used, and a build size of 45 x 28 x 75 mm.

“EnvisionTEC has a long history of innovation, with a focus on 3D printing parts that are made to matter. Providing real solutions to real application problems has become the hallmark of our research and development team’s efforts. Adding the speed of cDLM™ to our professional grade jewelry 3D printing lineup will provide our customers with unprecedented manufacturing turnaround times,” added Siblani.

Here’s a summary of the continuous Digital Light Manufacturing 3D printing technology.

• A layerless part with no stair stepping caused by starting and stopping build platform.
• Parts built as the platform moves continuously without separation, which leads to a drastic reduction in the building time.
• A drastic reduction in separation, forces delivery of highly accurate parts, with detailed feature resolution.
• A drastic reduction in number of supports required, thereby delivering a near scare free model, with minimal or no time required for support removal and almost zero time finishing.
• Better castability, as the wax based resin is cured twice as much during the build process, when compared to building using non continuous traditional DLP 3D printers. This delivers a porosity free casting from Envisiontec zero ash castable materials.

Details on the casting material PIC 100 C

EnvisionTEC PIC100 C resin has been developed specifically for use on the Micro Plus cDLM’s patented continuous technology. Like the best-selling PIC 100 for EnvisionTEC’s Perfactory and Micro families of 3D printers, PIC 100 C’s application is for the direct investment casting of products for the jewelry market. With a crisp, hard surface finish, PIC 100 C is ideal for fine detail items such as micro pave and pierced filigrees. It offers excellent burn out properties and evaporates at moderate burn out temperatures without reacting with your investment. It offers an extremely low thermal expansion and is optimally suitable for producing precious metal castings.
The burn out process is ash free, allowing for a casting which is free from porosity, a problem which is a result of the ash residue when burning a polymer based material.
Highest quality details, a standard burn out procedure, and exceptionally high speed building with EnvisionTEC’s Micro cDLM™ distinguish PIC100 C resin as the top choice for producing high quality jewelry parts for production capacity direct investment casting.