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Additive manufacturing (3D Printing) is widely used in industrial design. Its perfect for rapid, iterative development and testing. 3D printers come in a couple different shapes and sizes. The most common of which are FDM printers, they extrude thermoplastic fillaments precisley out of a nozzle, layer by layer. SLA printers cure thermosetting liquid resin using a laser, leading to more precise and intricate capabilities. SLS printers work similar to SLA but instead of resin

Overview Aluminium is one of the few materials that can be recycled virtually infinitely without degrading significantly in performance . With fairly low melting temperatures (about 660°C), so it is easily reformed into a sheet, billet or cast, making it highly suitable for closed loop recycling systems (The Aluminium Association, 2021). Aluminium is a useful, versatile, corrosion resistant and highly versatile material, when these properties are combined with its recyclabili

Sheet metal forming is a manufacturing process where flat metal sheets are deformed using force, typically using dies, rollers, presses or manual tools. Bending A box pan bending machine is commonly used in workshops and is a simple way to bend along a straight line. These machines are ideal for prototyping and small batch work. Box pan bending is limited to a relatively fixed bend radius. It also is difficult to repeat the same bend accurately and consistently. Image: (ADH

Intro In this article I will runover the basics of CNC, and then I will dive into some of the specifics. A CNC machine is a form of Subtractive manufacturing, meaning you will start with a solid stock of material. Then remove stock with a spinning cutter, which is controlled by some high torque motors. (MachiningToday, 2023) Core Components of CNC machine The material being cut is known as the workpiece , it is normally held down with fixtures or clamps. (12 Types of CNC Mac

Bamboo is brilliant as it grows very quickly, and is faster renewable alternative to wood (International Bamboo and Rattan Organization, n.d.). However its often difficult to get consistent material from due to its natural varying sizes and thicknesses. Turning it into ply gives it a uniform shape which makes it a lot easier to work with. (Sharma et al., 2015) Image: (Northwest bamboo, 2022) How Bamboo Ply is made (ANOS® Bamboo Decking Factory, Manufacturer, Supplier, 2023)

Intro Shape-Memory Alloys are materials which can be deformed at lower temperatures but return to their original shape after being heated. ( Works , 2025) The most common type of shape memory alloy is nickel-titanium, which is also known as Nitinol. Other types are usually copper or iron based which sometimes have better, more specific use cases. ( Works , 2025) Shape memory alloys have been adopted in aerospace, automotive, robotics, and biomedical engineering due to their

Globally, only 14-18%  of plastic waste is recycled. (Simon et al., 2021) But is plastic the villain? — Or is it our systems? Overview In this post I will be talking about recycled plastics relating both to consumer and industry waste. Plastics are often misunderstood, they can be built to last, beautiful and sustainable. Making plastic uses up a lot of oil and fossil fuel based energy (Simon et al., 2021), recycling sustainable as it avoids the process of producing the plast