Barnett’s Pearls. Envitrum. Not_available. Evolution Beach: 3D Models of Moai. Ceramic Cement Corporation (C3) - Home. Sculpture through Rapid Prototyping. Affordable Options: Ceramics Meets 3D Printing by Desktop Engineering. Making do with less has become a recurrent theme that has surfaced as a result of the global economy. Yet University of Washington (UW) mechanical engineering professor and longtime practitioner of 3D printing, Mark Ganter, has been addressing the high cost of commercial materials and experimenting with his own material formulas for some time now.
Five years ago, with the help of his graduate students, he developed a home brewed material, using a mix of artists’ ceramic powder blended with sugar and maltodextrin, a food additive. "Normally these supplies cost $30 to $50 a pound. Our materials cost less than a dollar a pound," said Ganter. For the past 15 years, Ganter has taught an engineering course that introduces students to rapid prototyping, attracting not only engineering students but those from art and architecture as well.
"When powders are $30 a pound, I can't let students try something new or experimental," Ganter said. From this work, ceramic (i.e. alumina) printing derived. Digital Fabrication at Alfred. A RepRap Breeding Program.