Arevo announced a new product to be made with their continuous carbon fiber system: furniture.
The company has developed an advanced 3D printer they call “Aqua”, which is capable of producing production parts made with extremely strong continuous carbon fiber.
Their tagline is “making the world lighter”, and that’s precisely what these parts can do. They’re virtually as strong as many metals, yet are quite lightweight. This makes them ideal for applications benefiting from lighter weight parts.
The company’s first big commercial application was the Superstrata carbon fiber bike. This is a customized bike frame made from continuous carbon fiber and polymer that is personalized to the rider’s dimensions. Because the frame is 3D printed in one piece, it’s possible to customize each and every unit for the buyer.
Following on from the bike, their next major application was the Scotsman e-scooter, also from Superstrata.
Now they’ve branched out into another market quite different from bikes and scooters: furniture.
Startup Mishima uses Arevo 3D prints to form the frame for their unusual furniture line, which consists of a lounge chair and matching ottoman.
If you take a look at these items, you’ll immediately notice something unusual: there doesn’t seem to be enough legs to support the furniture.
Sure, you could probably make a leg system of this type using metal, but that would make the furniture quite heavy. Here, the lightweight parts made by Arevo are strong enough for the job, even if there is only one leg for the chair and ottoman.
That certainly makes for a highly unusual addition to a home.
The chair and ottoman are made from a single 3D printed part that includes continuous carbon fiber. There are no joints, bolts or other assembly features on this part: it’s a unibody.
Mishima CEO Sonny Vu (coincidentally also the CEO of Arevo) said:
“The distinct engineering and materials use for Mishima brings the body into nearly weightless sensation. Its perfectly angled for comfort and its strong, physics-defying core allows the body to have a feeling of undisturbed floating in mid-air.”
While the geometry of the Mishima furniture does not vary, customers can choose from a variety of fabrics and leathers for the seat and back. Mishima said there are over 250 possible combinations, including one that has a 24K gold finish.
For Arevo, this is more business for their 3D printers.
This is a very unusual method of building a 3D print business, however. While many companies producing 3D printers approach manufacturers to persuade them to use the equipment, Arevo is doing something quite different here. Instead they are launching the new businesses themselves, bypassing the “persuasion” stage entirely.
I’m now wondering if other 3D printer manufacturers could consider doing similar moves for their equipment.
