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Rapid3D is a prototyping business in Milton Keynes. It has just bought its fifth UnionTech SLA printer from Europac3D, an RSPro 600. It joins three Pilot 450 machines and a Pilot 250, and the five printers run five different resins.
For Fraser Watson, part owner of Rapid3D, choosing an SLA printer means looking past the specification sheet. His machines have to make accurate, well-finished parts across a varied workload, and give his team the control to get the best from each material. UnionTech's build quality, its reliability and its open approach to resins are why he keeps coming back.
Built around demanding customers
Rapid3D works for Formula One teams, aerospace, defence, electronics and product development, as well as independent designers and model makers. Beyond printing, it offers vacuum casting, metal plating and finished appearance models. So its parts range from engineering prototypes to models that must look and feel like the finished product.
Its work with IrisGuard shows how fast that can need to happen. Rapid3D has supported the development of IrisGuard's iris-recognition payment technology with accurate SLA models and fully finished prototypes, sometimes made and delivered on the same day. That lets the customer test and refine a design before paying for hard tooling.
With turnarounds like that, a dependable printer matters as much as capacity.
It became apparent very quickly that this was going to be a reliable printer. We liked its simplicity, ease of use.
Fraser Watson on UnionTech
We filmed Fraser in the Rapid3D workshop beside his UnionTech printers.
Freedom to choose
As Rapid3D grew, Watson wanted printers that gave high-quality results at a cost he could manage over their life. The purchase price counted, but so did servicing, material costs and the freedom to decide how each machine is used.
UnionTech's sturdy build, reliable running and open approach to materials won him over. Rapid3D picks its resins to suit each customer, and can refine the processing settings for every one of them.
For a bureau, that control pays. A clear visualisation model, a tough working assembly and a rigid composite part each need different properties. A free choice of resin lets the team match them more closely.
Five machines, five materials
| UnionTech machine | Resin it runs |
|---|---|
| RSPro 600 | SR9 UV9400 |
| Pilot 450 | Accura HPC |
| Pilot 450 | Somos Taurus |
| Pilot 450 | Accura Phoenix |
| Pilot 250 | Accura Xtreme White 200 |
SR9 UV9400 on the RSPro 600. A general-purpose, ABS-like resin for concept models, working prototypes and master patterns.
Accura HPC on a Pilot 450. High rigidity for wind-tunnel models, jigs, fixtures and tooling.
Somos Taurus on a Pilot 450. Tough, durable functional prototypes with a charcoal-grey finish and thermoplastic-like performance.
Accura Phoenix on a Pilot 450. Clear and heat resistant, for parts where engineers need to see inside or watch fluid flow.
Accura Xtreme White 200 on the Pilot 250. A tough white resin for assemblies, snap fits and master patterns for vacuum casting.
Together they give Rapid3D a wide spread of properties from one make of printer. Watson can keep the resins that work for his customers and bring in new ones as new jobs need them.
Fine-tuning each machine
Choosing the resin is only the start. Watson can also adjust each machine's processing parameters. He tunes a setup, checks the parts and refines the settings until he is happy with that machine and material together. His experience goes straight into the process, and the settings are built around the quality his customers expect.
That matters for a business that moves between very different jobs. Material, detail and surface finish all decide whether a prototype does what it has to. UnionTech lets Watson work through that himself, on machines whose build and reliability he trusts.
Confidence built through use
The RSPro 600 adds capacity. Its 600 × 600 × 500 mm build gives more room than the Pilot machines, for larger single parts or batches of smaller ones.
The purchase also rests on what the existing UnionTech printers have shown in the workshop: their reliability, the quality of their parts and their value day to day. With five machines now bought from Europac3D, UnionTech is an established part of Rapid3D. For Watson the appeal is simple: well-built machines that make high-quality parts, the freedom to choose materials and the control to run them his way.
Thinking about industrial SLA?
We supply, install and support the full UnionTech range in the UK, from the Pilot series to the large-format RSPro series. Read how AME-3D grew its build volume eight-fold with two RSPro printers, or book a demonstration.
