Office metal is a pioneer in the emerging global metal binder spray production market. Forust, a company that we were the first medium to bring to market last year, is formed by pioneers in the AM industry who use the binder jet to make durable wood products. It seems “natural” for the two companies to team up to bring Forust to market as a new process for the sustainable production of end-use functional wood parts using AM’s patented one-pass binder jet technology. The Forust process recovers by-products from wood manufacturing (cellulose dust) and paper industry (lignin) and re-materializes functional wood parts through high-speed 3D printing, including digital grain throughout the room.

Desktop Metal’s high-speed 3D printing technology offers architects, designers and manufacturers a new path to produce luxurious custom wood parts for interior design, interiors, transportation and architectural design with a superior environmental footprint, from new geometries and a quality unavailable by subtractive wood manufacturing technology. Starting today, businesses and consumers can visit the Forust website, to order custom wood samples and designs, and manufacturers can engage with Forust to develop unique wood pieces for their products. end-use products.

According to William McDonough, architect, globally recognized leader in sustainability and design, and pioneer of the concepts of Cradle to Cradle, the circular economy and the circular carbon economy, “Forust technology allows us to take something that was previously waste wood and re-materialize it into things of exquisite and useful beauty. We honor the cellulose and lignin of trees by re-articulating them into active ingredients for present and future generations. By allowing millions of trees to stay put in their forests, Forust is launching highly evolved technology for the circular technosphere that supports and celebrates the stewardship of the natural, regenerative and diverse biosphere, making it not only smart, but wise. . This is a historical and material opportunity in the history of design and object making that reminds me of the famous quote from Arthur C. Clarke, “All sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. As a lover of woods and forests, I find Forust indistinguishable from magic. 3D printing of wood from waste natural materials is a game-changer. We have only started to explore its beneficial potentials, but it is clear that they are immense. ”

Recycling of wood by-products with AM

Forust started with a vision to transform wood by-products, including sawdust and lignin, into finished wood products, combining both amazing design and functionality. Led by industry veteran and ceramic 3D printing pioneer Andrew Jeffery who was previously President of Boston Ceramics, the Forust team brings decades of collective experience in additive manufacturing, materials research. and computer aided design to solve the challenge of durability in finished wood. rooms. Jeffery is joined by co-inventors and creative consultants in industrial design, Virginia San Fratello, director of the design department at San Jose State University, and Ronald Rael, professor and director of the architecture department of the University of California at Berkeley, both of which are also founding partners of a 3D printing company, Emerging objects.

“The inspiration for Forust was to start with sawdust and end with forests,” Jeffery said. “Our process is based on extensive research carried out over the past decade in the field of hardwood lumber, resulting in complex and elegant finished structures. Using advanced CAD software, proprietary materials, and Desktop Metal binder-jet mass production platforms, we can now manufacture beautiful, functional and innovative wood products for a variety of architectural, interior and exterior applications. household products from recycled wood by-products.

A greener future with AM of Wood

At the heart of this innovation is the Forust process, which combines two waste streams from traditional wood production, sawdust and lignin, to sustainably produce high strength isotropic wood parts. Depending on the size of the parts, Forust can manufacture wood products using the Shop SystemTM or a custom version of the new RAM 336TM 3D printer, which supports prints up to two cubic meters in volume. at speeds greater than 100 liters of parts per hour. During the printing process, layers of specially treated sawdust are spread and selectively bonded with a non-toxic, biodegradable binder. Digital grain is printed on each layer and parts can then be sanded, stained, polished, stained, coated and touched up in the same way as traditionally crafted wood components.

“Forust offers almost limitless design flexibility,” Jeffery said. “From exotic grain structures to grainless wood, we can digitally replicate wood textures and a myriad of grain types. And, because they are made from a compound of wood and bioresin, these parts exhibit the functionality and rigidity in line with conventional wood. Our finished pieces are no different from the traditionally crafted wood products you will find in a store. The additive manufacturing process literally becomes invisible. ”

Rationalization of the production of complex wood products

Because Forust additively produces parts layer by layer without the need for supports, designers have the freedom to create intricate features and iconic designs that would be difficult if not impossible to produce with traditional woodworking methods.

Unlike particle board or laminate, Forust produces a wood piece with digital grain that flows throughout the room that can be sanded and refinished. The software has the ability to digitally reproduce almost any grain of wood, including rosewood, ash, zebrano, ebony, and mahogany, among others. The parts will also support a variety of wood stains at launch, including natural, oak, ash, and walnut.

Forust’s process and materials are designed to provide easy access to a sustainable end-to-end manufacturing solution. Manufacturers and designers can submit their own custom designs for printing, order samples, or pursue high volume partnerships to produce custom 3D printed volume wood pieces for use in their products. Additive manufacturing enables digital production on demand, which minimizes wasted materials, in-store inventory and transportation pollution while delivering artisanal quality at an affordable price.

“We want to make it easy for designers to explore new, complex geometries for a wide variety of products and applications using age-old material,” Jeffery said. “At the end of the life of the wood product, we would like customers to have two choices: throw it away and it will biodegrade over time like any wood product, or shred it and reuse it in future parts.” via Forust. Our vision is a true circular manufacturing process. ”

A collection by designer Yves Béhar

The global finished wood products market is expected to reach $ 1.8 trillion by 20272. From common household items to high-end architectural details, Forust can create functional parts for virtually any wood application with a dramatic environmental footprint. improved over conventional manufacturing. Architects, interior and industrial designers, manufacturers and even consumers can visit www.forust.com to download and order custom designed wood pieces, such as architectural accents, including unique decorative panels, Custom wood inlays and panels, tiles, hardware and more.

Applications expand to include luxury interior components in a wide range of finishes and materials, including rare and exotic grain structures, for high-end vehicles, yachts and homes; and even furniture, including cabinet doors, chairs, accents, tables, and designs with 3D geometry previously difficult or impossible to fabricate by conventional woodworking methods. Possible products for the home range from flower pots, bowls and photo frames to textured blocks, bathroom accessories, desk accessories, sculptures, tiles and more.

A range of consumer home items designed by Forust and others in collaboration with talented independent designers and brands are now available for purchase. Among the first designer products available on the Forust online store is a collection created by industrial designer and founder of fuseproject, Yves Béhar. The Vine collection, which includes a container, bowl, basket and tray, honors the warmth and familiarity of the wood material with curved organic shapes that extrude from a singular point and twist into a repeating pattern.

“As a designer I use a lot of wood and being able to use a product made from sawdust and lignin is an incredible resource,” said Béhar. “The future of design and production really depends on the arrival of new technologies and allowing designers to approach materials and manufacturing in a sustainable way, in a low carbon footprint way, so as to use waste at the same time. instead of cutting down more trees or extracting more oil from the soil. Design is not just something that stays the same all the time. This new technology allows us to really solve some of the critical environmental and global warming issues we face.

“The applications for Forust’s wood parts are truly limitless,” said Ric Fulop, Founder and CEO of Desktop Metal. “There are many applications where polymers and plastics are used today where you can now cost-effectively replace them with sustainably manufactured wooden parts – luxurious and high-end components in interiors, large electronics. public, instruments, aviation, boats, household items and possibly floor coverings. and exterior roofing applications. For the first time, we are able to produce beautiful pieces with the same durability and characteristics as traditionally manufactured wood, but printed using recycled materials that do not require cutting or harvesting trees. With Forust, we have the opportunity to have a significant impact on sustainability, climate change and the waste issues that we as humanity have brought to the planet. For every tree saved, we reduce the carbon footprint by one tonne over its lifetime. ”