SolidManufacturing brings first wood-powder 3D printer to Italy

SolidManufacturing, the business unit of Solid World Group, will begin distribution in Italy of the first 3D printer that uses wood powder as an additive material. This 3D printer, “Shop System Forust Edition“, is produced by the US company Desktop Metal and is the world’s first 3D printer that can use wood powder derived from the combination of two by-products of the wood industry, namely lignin and sawdust. The machine can produce isotropic and sustainable wooden parts from waste materials derived from trees used, for example, in the construction of houses and for furniture components. Not only construction and furniture, major areas of use include the automotive industry, where the 3D printer can produce wooden car interior parts. The 3D printer can also be used to produce objects or components in the fields of consumer goods, interior design, furniture and musical instruments.

The management and design of the print through Desktop Metal’s “Shop System Forust Edition” is digitised: the software owned by SolidWorld Group allows both the design of the parts to be printed and the management of the additive manufacturing process, giving “…freedom to the user to create the part and make it according to their needs“. The first company to use this innovative 3D printer in Italy, on free loan, is Trentino Sviluppo, a system company of the Autonomous Province of Trento for business support, innovation and territorial marketing. Forust will be used within the ProM Facility laboratories, the prototype development centre at the Mechatronics Pole in Rovereto, for industrial research and innovation activities, as well as for the prototyping of components.
The printer is currently being installed and will be operational by early summer.