The well-known benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) include geometric complexity and reduced lead time, but Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) is advancing a potential benefit that is less well known. That is, AM can provide an efficient and accessible means of making tiny parts — parts that are so small it might take a microscope to see them clearly.

A 3D printed electrical connector provides an example. Making the part through injection molding is challenging because of the expertise needed to make a microscale mold, while producing the part on BMF’s fine-resolution 3D printer is straightforward by comparison. On this episode, we talk about AM as an alternative to micromolding and micromachining.

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