Supernova
Assembly Line
Supernova to Drive New VLM 3D Printing Technology, A Strategic Spin-Off by BCN3D
VLM, or Viscous Lithography Manufacturing, is a completely different 3D printing process that doesn’t use a vat of resin, as most resin processes do. Instead VLM uses a transparent film to carry a single layer of resin to the build chamber. This process repeats to build entire objects. The advantage is that VLM can produce objects using vastly thicker resins, hence the “viscous” in the process name. They say the resins can be up to 100X more viscous than typical 3D print resins.
The benefit comes from the ability to infuse different additives into the resin that could not be used by non-viscous processes. This has opened up a very wide range of possible materials, which BCN3D could exploit in the future. VLM sounds very promising, yet it is utterly different from their traditional FFF process. The process is different, the materials are very different, the applications are different, and therefore the customers will be different. Because of this divergence from the FFF trajectory, BCN3D has decided to spin off their VLM business into an entirely new and separate entity, Supernova.