Industries ranging from architecture, construction to furniture design, and fashion have been revolutionized with 3D print applications. In the COVID-19 pandemic, 3D print fabrication has helped in provided medical professionals, patients, and facilities with PPE.
With the continuous development of fabrication, a company based in Burlington, MA, has found a way and decided to turn upcycled wood byproducts into a promising new avenue dedicated to additive manufacturing.
An exclusively owned subsidiary of 3D printing called Forust and Desktop Metal, which is a rapid prototyping Massachusetts-based company has created what can be described as”high-volume additive manufacturing of end-use wood parts possible.” It was launched in 2021, “upcycles wood waste from the approximately 15 billion trees cut down each year1into luxurious, high-quality, end-use wood parts that can be used in a variety of industries, from consumer goods and furniture to home goods and automotive luxury interiors” is what the Forust system does.
Even though there have been improvements with 3D printing applications, a criticism that the fabrication tool has faced is the use of “standard” plastics like PLA, PET, and ABA. There has been a constant search for a sustainable material by the 3D fabrication specialists and research teams worldwide, materials such as hemp, mushrooms, and other biomaterials have also been used. It is true that wood-based filaments for printing are not a new application, but there what Forust does different is how it has developed a way to not only provide an affordable, reliable, and sustainable 3D printing option but also to control carbon emissions. As is explained by Forust, “We are applying these peed, precision and quality of binder jetting to produce strong, lightweight wood components derived from two wood waste streams-sawdust and lignin”.
Forust aims to change the cycle of wood waste as it is a company which is cautious of the environmental impacts of 3D printing. The company has designed a twofold approach which aims at reduce the amount of sawdust that is sent to be incinerated or sent to landfills by processing the material for 3D printing. Even though sawdust is biodegradable it can have harmful effects on the environment when it is in the landfills as is pointed out by Forust. When present in large quantities the burned wood waste contributes to additional air pollution. This is what Forust explains, “As it decomposes, sawdust releases high concentrations of lignin and fatty acids, which can contaminate water supplies, potentially poisoning wildlife and micro-organisms”.
Andrew Jeffery, who is the co-inventor and CEO of Forust, has said the following according to a statement in Business Wire, “The inspiration for Forust was to begin with sawdust and end with forests. Our process is based on extensive research conducted over the past decade in the field of hardwood lumber, leading to complex and elegant finished structures. Through advanced CAD software, proprietary materials, and Desktop Metal binder jetting mass production platforms, we can now manufacture beautiful, functional, and innovative wood products for a variety of architectural, interior, and home goods applications from upcycled wood byproducts.”
From consumer goods to luxury interiors application the 3D printing methods employed by Forust has a wide range of possibilities. The Vine collection is a collaborative product line which is created by renowned industrial designer Yves Béhar and Forust. With the Business Wire Béhar shared that, “As a designer, I use a lot of wood, and being able to use a product made from sawdust and lignin is an amazing resource.”
He also added saying, “The future of design and production really hinges on new technologies coming on and allowing designers to approach materials and manufacturing in ways that are sustainable, in ways that are low carbon footprint, in ways that we are using waste instead of cutting down more trees or extracting more oil out of the soil.”