We should probably just tag posts like these “Rise of the Machines” for as frequently as we’re noticing them. It appears as though Harvard, artists and now Eindhoven designer Olivier van Herpt are on the cusp of a new technological era of ceramics manufacturing. Van Herpt is using 3D printing to produce competent, useful ceramic objects.
3D Printing has been getting a lot of hype over the last few years, but as Olivier tells us in his description of the project, it’s still lacking. First, the scale at which most 3D printed objects are created is usually too small to be of use to people. Second, while (expensive) industrial 3D printers can produce functional tableware designs, most 3D printers which can be purchased by the masses use material that melts at a low heat — bad news if you’re trying to serve food on it.
Van Herpt tells us that, as he attempted to solve both the problems of scale and function, he decided to apply 3D printing to ceramics. He built his own extruder and experimented with different types of clay, eventually settling on a material that doesn’t use as much water. Prior to making this switch, the designer had to deal with many of his forms collapsing within the machine.
He’s now able to produce objects up to 80 cm tall with a diameter of 42 cm. He’s experimenting with detail as well and reports that one can only tell the object was made by a machine by looking at it up close.
More of Olivier van Herpt’s process photographs follow.
Above image: Olivier van Herpt’s experiments with 3D ceramic printing. Photographs courtesy of the designer.
Olivier van Herpt’s experiments with 3D ceramic printing. Photographs courtesy of the designer.
I currently work at an R&D lab doing ceramic stereolithography (the laser sintering described above). Scale is certainly an issue as the laser has to slowly scan the entire surface of each layer. There are new technologies and machines coming out that we are looking into to speed up the process. Basically, we are filling a plastic resin with ceramic powder and burn out all the organic compounds after building. However, it can be very difficult to properly disperse actual flat, disc clay particles. Ive heard the biggest problem with the extrusion technique is getting the final product to have a reasonable low porosity. Even though it takes a lot of work to get here, 3d printing is just another tool that can help you with your bigger concept. I’m a trained artist currently working with engineers.
3D laser sintering for ceramic pieces is another remarkable way to explore clay with technology. Scale is an issue, but there are shapes that cannot be made by hand alone, that’s why we use so many tools on clay. Think of 3D computer modeling as another hand tool that can produce results no other tool in your studio can match. I’m doing it all in plastic at first. Expect to graduate to clay in the near future.