# About Me - 27, Power Systems Analytics - Mostly SCCAF for Data Centers - 3D Printing and Electronics Hobby - Thereminator, Noise Toaster, Rat Rig, etc. - ~$25k in revenue over the last 2 years - Small Batch Printing & Assembly - Neon Vision Signs - Interested in this line of work - PDS, Prototyping, R&D Contracting, etc. - Found your team via an instagram ad, enjoyed talking to Kate # My Position **The way I see it there are three progressive pathways I can take with this project:** - 0 - Do Nothing - **1 - DIY Machine/MVP Build** (Moderate Development Cost) - **2 - Enthusiast Build Kit** (Medium Skill, Low Price, High Development Cost) - **3 - Economy Machine** (Low Skill, Low Price, High Development Cost) - 1 enables 2 enables 3 and so on. **I'm not entirely convinced there's an underserved market for these machines, even if they were more accessible** - I also don't know what I would need to see that would convince me of the idea's merit or how to look - e.g. Market Research, Consumer Demand, etc. **My Vision for AVCs:** - Printers are now widespread, and finally capable of high quality, high speed, high reliability. - In a world where 3D Printers and Post-Processors come hand-in-hand as Washers & Dryers, the printers can optimize for further increases in speed at the expense of visual quality, since minor surface inconsistencies wash away in post-processing. - The result is faster production of parts that are both stronger and visually improved - We can finally get rid of the layer lines look **This project is interesting, but ultimately a nice-to-have** - The original motivation was to open two new offers as a print farm: - Large Format, High Strength Props - Post-Processed/High Performance Small Batch Production - I'm still interested in developing the DIY version either way since I personally want access to both of these. - If I can prove there are a significant/meaningful amount of customers for post-processed small batch and can reasonably expect to capture their business I don't see any reason not to commit to at least doing #1. **I don't know that I'm interested in committing to developing this for commercial release.** - I have personal enthusiasm for the product, just not enough to pursue it without some expectation of return. - It feels just a bit too far out of my depth for how much it would time & capital it would cost to develop - I would need a lot of help with both design & commercialization **Several Shortcuts if Non-Commercial** - No extended dry cycle, hanging racks, trays, etc. - increases throughput dramatically - My personal experience is that this works best as a "flash process" where the prints are exposed to the solvent vapors under high heat and high pressure/saturation for a very short time. - In my case, I don't fully cycle out the Acetone vapors in between each parts - I keep vapor generation constant and constantly open the chamber and exchange parts. # My Design Questions - Why can't I find something like this for less than $4k retail? - How unreasonable is it to set 500x500x500 as a target chamber? - All Specs - Price, Complexity, Saturation & Clearing Time, Power Draw - PostPro indicates they're collecting feedback data on surface roughness to optimize the solvent cycle - What kind of sensor? LiDAR or something? Interesting Calibration Problem - Is there any real reason not to give the machine a tank of acetone over the proprietary cartridge system? - Unclear if you could just dump more into the PostPro machine - Design topics out of my depth - mostly thermal/mechanical - No experience: - Designing precision quantity pump systems - Designing heaters for both fluid distribution and chamber heating - Designing sealed containers & internal circulation filtration - Misting anything & quantifying gas/VOC saturation - How to design a hermetically sealed box and quantify the quality of the seal - How to pump a controlled amount of acetone through a distribution system - How to heat and mist the acetone into the process chamber - How to safely and efficiently heat the process chamber & circulate vapors - How to safely and efficiently manage the dry cycle - Safely filter out the ASA-Acetone Gas Mix (bad) - Filter out the Acetone Saturation - Lower the temperature - Ensure the chamber air is dry, clean of VOCs, and clean of particulates for curing # Major Design Areas - Hermetically Sealed Process Chamber - Vapor Cycle - Heat internals - Gently circulate air - Distribute heated acetone vapor via misters in controlled quantities - Closed feedback loop quantifying saturation level over time - Dry Cycle - Evacuate & Filter ASA-Acetone Gas mixture - Exchange warm, dry, clean air for curing - Cool down - Injection System - Acetone Tank - Precision Quantity Pump - Distribution pathways, heaters, sprayers - Solvent level sensors, Solvent gas saturation sensors, Solvent temperature sensors - Used-Solvent Recovery - - Acetone vapor condenses onto the print surface, drips off onto chamber floor - ASA-Acetone Mixture collected via runoff tray for recycling - Recycling: Evaporative separation of acetone, precipitating dissolved plastics - Consumable discard tray for waste plastic precipitate (evil goop) # Zortrax Apoller SVS Device - $6,199 USD - 300x250x250 https://store.zortrax.com/post-processing/zortrax-apoller ![[Pasted image 20241205051347.png]] # AMT PostPro - Cheapest model around $10k USD, premium around $20k - 190x320x190mm #### AMT PostPro Specs 1 ![[Pasted image 20241205051656.png]] #### AMT PostPro Specs 2 ![[Pasted image 20241205051708.png]] #### Patent Numbers off Spec Sheet: ![[Pasted image 20241205051419.png]] #### System Block Diagram ![[Pasted image 20241205051444.png]] # DIY Solution https://www.instructables.com/Ultrasonic-Misting-3D-Printing-Vapor-Polisher/ Basically just a humidifier, a bucket, and a timer. ![[FT1ZEIAI95GVSAD.webp]]