CPT International 02/2019

3-D-PRINTING
are hardly any limits to the ideas, but
you still need to develop them yourself,“
says Peter Mühlhäußer, product
line manager at Strassacker. “The same
way you have to know where the application
of technology makes sense and
where it doesn’t. Our technicians, designers
and 3-D modelling experts are the
right people to talk to, in order to
define the right technological execution.”
Strassacker can offer its customers
both manual and digital manufacturing
processes. If required, they can even
combine the two together in a hybrid
approach.
Examples
“Wachsende Steine” (“Growing Stones”)
by Timm Ulrichs. A stone, in its
natural form, was used as the initial
model. At Strassacker it was 3-D
scanned, digitized, scaled to the desired
size and then printed in several parts by
voxeljet. The larger stones, made from
several individually printed PMMA
parts, were manually assembled and
then prepared for casting by hand. The
PMMA models were cast like conventional
wax models and then individually
patinated by hand. Finally, the bronze
casts were airbrushed to look like the
natural model and painted by hand.
Another project are the bronze
reconstructions of the “Boxer at Rest”
and the “Hellenistic Prince” sculptures
by Prof. Dr. Vinzenz Brinkmann, which
were originally handmade between the
4th and 1st centuries BC and rediscovered
on the Quirinal in Rome in 1885.
The original sculptures were
3-D-scanned, digitized and printed as
PMMA patterns by voxeljet in their service
center in Friedberg, Bavaria. Finally,
the patterns were cast by Strassacker,
chiselled by hand, partially restored and
patinated. The finishing touches were
made by experts at the Liebieghaus
sculpture museum in Frankfurt.
Unpacking of the PMMA part,
which is then dipped into ceramic
and burnt out.
Printed and wax-infiltrated
PMMA part “KAS”.
Two other more current examples of
the collaboration between Strassacker
and voxeljet can be seen in the sculpture
“KAS”, an in-house project by
artist Peter Simon Mühlhäußer, and the
sculpture “Infiniala” by designer Sergej
Ehret.
“KAS” stands for “Kinetic Assembly
Structure” and reflects the materialization
of a digital thought process. This
also served as inspiration for the seat
„Infiniala“. A closer look at the numerous
contours of the seat reveals that
the lines always form an endless loop.
„KAS“ and „Infiniala“ show the
unique possibilities in the realization of
3-D printing gives
artists the opportunity
to make
fantastic changes.
For this reason,
3-D printing is
already firmly
established in the
repertoire of
sculptural artists
and will gain
further market
share.
ABOUT STRASSACKER
Ernst Strassacker GmbH & Co. KG was founded in Süßen, Germany, in 1919,
and today is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in artistic casting.
Since 2001, Edith Strassacker has been at the head of the family business in
its fourth generation. Their workshop creates ambitions sculptures, modern
architectural elements, sacred art and large-scale sculptures for public spaces.
Various processes are used, including the lost wax process and ceramic, fire
clay, vacuum and sand casting. The main focus is on preserving and encouraging
craftwork skills. Their customer base includes renowned artists, designers
and architects from all over the world. The company employs around 300
people at the headquarters in Süßen and their French branch in Heimsbrunn.
They also have sales offices in the USA and Saudi Arabia.
highly complex, digitally created works
of art.
The complex nested geometries can
only be realized by the use of additive
processes, such as binder jetting from
voxeljet. It would be impossible to produce
these casting models using conventional
molding processes.
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