Rapid Ready Roundup: Stratasys/Objet Merger News, Precious Metals, AM Hits New Milestone and a Trip to the Museum

In the course of my diligent efforts to keep you good people up to date on the state of additive manufacturing, I come across many interesting news items. I’ll gather them up once every few weeks and present them in a Rapid Ready Roundup (like this one). You can find the last Roundup here.

The Stratasys and Objet merger keeps inching toward completion. (Read previous Rapid Ready coverage here.) June 5 saw the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division waive the waiting period required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. More recently, Stratasys announced it had filed preliminary proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We are pleased with the progress we are making as we move forward with the combination of our two companies, creating a leader within the high-growth 3D printing and direct digital manufacturing industry,” said Scott Crump, chief executive officer and chairman of Stratasys. “We are confident that this transaction will build significant long-term value for all stakeholders of both companies, including stockholders, channel partners, customers, and employees.”

Next, EOS and Cookson Precious Metals (CPM) have inked a deal to, “… introduce and further develop precious metal-based applications to the jewelry and watch industry.” Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is the process of choice for this new collaboration. New precious metal materials will be developed with DMLS in mind. The strategic partnership will begin with delivering 18-carat yellow gold for the build process.

“With EOS, we now join forces with the market and quality leader in AM. With the EOS technology, 3D bespoke jewellery and watch components can be created from CAD files," said Stella Layton, global vice president at Cookson Precious Metals. “This takes us on an exciting journey, permitting the creation of highly complex and intricate designs that weren’t thinkable before. The particular beauty of this technology is that it can be used to produce both one-off pieces as well as large scale production, eliminating many process steps and tooling costs we see today.”

In other news, Terry Wohlers has reported that additive manufacturing (AM) has hit a new market high of $1.7 billion in worldwide sales. The 2011 numbers show a 29.4% growth. Direct manufacturing has had become a bigger part of the picture as well, contributing to around 24% of the industry’s total revenues in 2011.

Finally, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York played host to art lovers armed with scanners. Members of the MakerBot community took digital scans of 34 different sculptures, producing CAD files that allow users to recreate the works of art. This use of 3D printing is one way AM can bring art into the home or into the classroom.

Below you’ll find a Kickstarter video about a new start-up hoping to create a universal extruder head.

Sources: Stratasys, EOS, Plastics News, Discover Magazine