Snow Business is the world leader in snow and winter effects. The company develops falling snow machines for the film and television industries, as well as for Christmas
exhibitions and other live events.
They use Ultimaker 3D printers for prototyping, functional testing, and manufacturing final parts for their snow machines. In-house 3D printing significantly speeds up their
iterative design process and saves a great deal of cost throughout.
As they collaborate with large production companies, there's a chance you've seen their snow in movies. They've produced snow for films such as James Bond 007, Kingsman,
Bridget Jones's Diary, and many others. Paul Denney is the Head of Research at Snow Business, responsible for designing snow machines.
Most of the R&D focus is on the machine's nozzle, which is where the machine mixes air with fluid to create the falling snow effect.
Iterative R&D Process
Paul explains that the nozzles have complex air and fluid flow geometries, which makes them unsuitable for injection molding. He says that the only way to create new nozzles is through
3D printing. New nozzles are developed through a process of printing, continuous attempts, and model adjustments, often undergoing numerous modifications before reaching the high-quality standards set by the company.
Snow Business uses Ultimaker for 3D printing the final nozzles. The development of new nozzles is conducted through an iterative process, often involving multiple modifications.
Outsourcing
Before the company started collaborating with Ultimaker, they outsourced the production of nozzles to an SLS service bureau. Paul explained, "The parts provided by the supplier were of good quality,
but slow and expensive."
Whenever he needed to change a design, he had to place a new order of at least £125 and then wait 7 days for delivery.
This significantly hampered the R&D cycle, so the company began looking for an in-house solution that could speed up the iterative design process.
"What I really needed was a technology I could use myself, to get my hands on. So we bought our first Ultimaker."
Desktop 3D Printer
Paul acquired an Ultimaker 2+ for prototyping and manufacturing new nozzles for the snow machines. In stark contrast to the outsourced solution, he could print new parts in just a few hours,
at a very low cost (only the cost of some filament). While he still uses SLS services, the in-house solution is more cost-effective in the long run.
In fact, Paul estimates that the first printer they purchased for the company paid for itself in just 2 weeks.
Freedom of Design with Ultimaker 3
On the Ultimaker 2+, the nozzles were printed in ABS. Paul used to split the model into two parts and glue them together after printing. The reason for this was that when printed together,
the support structures on ABS would leave marks on the final part. Recently, the company's Ultimaker 3D printer range has expanded to include the
Ultimaker 3.
Now, Paul can print single nozzles using Nylon and water-soluble PVA supports, which leaves no marks on the finished product and saves time on post-printing assembly.
Thanks to the cost savings from Ultimaker, the price of the first printer is estimated to have been recovered within 2 weeks.
3D Printing in Engineering
Paul hopes that 3D printing will produce "very huge" objects in the future, as it enters the automotive and aerospace sectors, among others. As he says, "This is the best printer
in the world."
He is very excited to start using this technology.
In-house desktop 3D printers can revolutionize how businesses develop and produce parts. Snow Business uses Ultimaker at different stages of product development,
including prototyping, functional testing, and final use parts.
For more industrial 3D printing case studies, please check our website content.
Original Source:https://ultimaker.com/en/stories/50488-snow-business-3d-printing-final-parts-for-high-value-snow-machines