Test Parts

Television has the famous colored Test Pattern. 2D printers have "Test Pages". But what should 3D printers use as the gold standard for testing and comparing output objects?

 

With the recent marketing comparisons of 3D Systems and Objet technology, and now a post from Open3DP, it's seems logical that the industry should develop defacto standard test objects. Open3DP needed to develop a consistent object so that their experiments with various powders could be effective. Who else would need such objects?

 

We believe manufacturers should use standard test objects. Consider the scenario where you're shopping for a printer and you are sent identical test parts printed on each of the candidate printers. You'd be able to perform visual and tactile direct comparison tests. 

 

The standard test object should likely include features that enable comparison of surface quality, sizing accuracy, resolution on all axes, edges, fragility, color and other dimensions. 

 

Via Open3DP