An editorial read from the Channel archive, kept in the relaunch for its coverage of 3d printing.
LUXeXceL recently 3D printed two pairs of eyeglasses for the Dutch king and queen. They were printed out in one go, including the frame and lenses and wholely skipping the dusting and cleaning process afterwards, thanks to Dutch LUXeXceL's innovations in laser sintering. The lenses can be colored and textured or left blank and smooth. The lasers follow a specific procedure to ensure the even texture. "In the Printoptical process, transparent droplets of the polymer are jetted and cured by powerful ultraviolet (UV) lamps integrated into the print head. . . Delaying the time elapsed between when the polymer droplets are jetted and when the UV light is applied gives the droplets enough time to lose their shape and flow together, resulting in a smooth surface." The industrial process LUXeXceL uses makes for efficient production of larger volumes of 3D-printed goods than most 3D printing technology can support. This is perfect for rapid prototyping and testing small batches of product.