Can You 3D Print Clear Parts?

The modern world depends on many machining methods. Few are as well-known or versatile as 3D printing, which is just as commonly found in households as in industrial centers. It can create small, large, simple, and complicated parts, as well as opaque, translucent, or transparent components. The Challenge of Achieving Clarity The difference between translucent and transparent is the degree of clarity. Translucent items will let some light through, though that light may become warped or bent (refracted) and appear distorted. Yet something transparent allows light to pass freely through without causing any distortion. As may be expected, printing a translucent part is easier than printing a transparent one. The difficulty in achieving clarity is due to the fundamental fabricating process. 3D printing belongs to the family of “additive manufacturing,” meaning it creates by addition: stacking layer after layer of melted material until the desired workpiece is completed. Since a print may comprise multiple layers and small gaps or pockets throughout, light beams passing through and between them get scattered. The resultant photonic jumble detracts from the clarity of a build. Making wine has always required a mixture of art and science. While the characteristics of the grapes can vary greatly from year to year with seasonal changes in temperature, rainfall, and other environmental factors, consumers today expect bottle-to-bottle consistency. Achieving that requires superior technical control over every aspect of the winemaking process, from cultivation and fermentation to blending and bottling. One of the most advanced process control systems in the industry can be found at the Oxford Landing Estate Winery on the northern edge of Australia’s Barossa Valley. The operation is part of Yalumba, Australia’s oldest family-owned winery and one of the country’s largest wine exporters. With 650 acres under vine, Oxford Landing’s winemakers micro-manage them as separate ecosystems in 130 five-acre blocks, enabling each block of grapes to be given exactly what it needs to achieve optimum flavor. Techniques such as detailed pruning, canopy management and crop thinning provide the winery with ultimate control in expressing the individuality of each block.