Forust

Desktop Metal®

FORUST

Wood can be shaped into almost any form.
The biomimicry of wood grain all the way through.

Powered by Desktop Metal®'s binder jetting 3D printing technology, Forust is a sustainable alternative for traditional wood manufacturing. By combining the speed, precision, and quality of binder jetting with two wood waste byproducts - sawdust and lignin, you can now produce strong and lightweight wood components that take advantage of 3D printing's design freedom and offer a reduction in your carbon footprint with a responsible material value chain.

Get to Net-Zero

with 3D Printing

Worldwide, every year, 15 billion trees are cut down to produce paper, build homes or make furniture. The resulted waste from wood cutting and processing continues to affect our environment. Due to Desktop Metal®’s innovative Binder Jetting™ technology, it is now possible to produce isotropic, high-strength, and sustainable wood parts for many industries while helping in building a greener and sustainable future. How? Forust combines two wood industry key derivates: sawdust and lignin, to create beautiful end-use products by 3D printing.

 

Environmental Impact

 

Annually, millions of tons of wood waste are generated. A part of it is being recovered and sold to downstream markets for the production of particleboard or wood pallets for energy. The remaining sawdust is either burned or sent to landfills – having a tremendous negative impact on the environment, despite its biodegradability. 

sawdust landill forust

The sawdust releases high concentrations of lignin and fatty acids as it decomposes. This leads to contaminated water supplies, with the risk of poisoning the wildlife and other microorganisms. 

Forust_water stream

Forust’s contribution

Forust’s environmental impact is twofold – significantly reducing the amount of sawdust sent to landfills or incineration by processing it for 3D printing, and combating deforestation by producing sustainable products from wood waste.

Forust_environment

From consumer goods in any retail store to luxury automotive and home interiors, with the help of the Forust process, the printed parts are durable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.

Forust_wood printed parts

For each tree saved, we reduce the CO2 footprint by a metric ton over the tree’s life.

Discover the environmental advantages of integrating additive manufacturing into your supply chain

 

 

 

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Advantages 



Forust - wood 3d Samples

Production of Complex Wood Designs

3D printing opens a new design space for wood-based products. Because parts are formed layer by layer without the need for supports, designers can optimize parts and create complex features which would be difficult – if not impossible – to achieve with traditional woodworking methods.

MaterialFinishes_GrainWood

High-Quality Materials and Finishes

From Ash to Zebrano, Ebony to Mahogany, the Forust 3D printing process is able to mimic almost any wood grain. Forust makes 3D printed digitally rematerialized wood with grain that flows across the entire part which can be sanded or refinished.

Proto3000 Carbon footprint forust

Cost-Effective Carbon Footprint Reduction

Forust processes and materials are designed to make it easy and cost-effective for manufacturers to produce sustainable wood parts.

“The Forust technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Bill McDonough FAIA, Author of “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

Turnkey End-to-End Wood 3D Printing

Batch Production

The Forust-configured Shop System™ features a compact, high-speed, single-pass print engine, and it is ideal for batch-production of small- to medium-sized wood parts.

Build size: 350 x 220 x 200 mm (13.8 x 8.7 x 7.9 in)

Throughput: Print speed of 1,600 cc/hr. That is about 21 mm or ⅘ of an inch in Z-height per hour.

The full FORUST wood 3D printing solutions includes:

  • Fabricate MFG build prep software, which allows users to print parts with no grain pattern or four-grain patterns that can replicate ash, mahogany, and more.
  • Shop System Forust Edition binder jet 3D printer with a build box of 350 x 220 x 200 mm (13.8 x 8.7 x 7.9 in) and a print speed of 1,600 cc/hr. That is about 21 mm or ⅘ of an inch in Z-height per hour.
  • Forust Powder Station, which allows users to remove printed parts from the build box and recover loose sawdust powder for immediate reuse in the printer.
  • Forust Wood Powder, a special blend of raw or unfinished maple and oak sawdust from the traditional wood milling industry.
  • Forust Binder, which comes in clear and brown colors to bind wood powder particles and create natural-looking wood grain patterns that flow across the entire part.
  • A wood parts post-process guide that walks users through a recommended workflow for infiltrating parts after 3D printing with USDA certified bio-based resins.

Applications

Luxury Interiors_Tesla_Forust

Luxury interiors

By FORUST

Forust can create sustainable rematerialized wood parts in a wide range of materials including rare and exotic grain structures.

Application
  • Automotive
    • Luxury vehicles’ interiors
  • Architecture
    • High-end homes
Technology/Process

Desktop Metal’s Binder Jetting™ Technology


Furniture_Chair-forust

Furniture

By Forust

Due to the Forust process, endless design possibilities and complex geometries are now possible even for furniture manufacturers.

Full Description

They can manage digital inventories and fulfill orders on-demand due to the cost-effective tooling-free production ensured by Desktop Metal’s binder jetting technology.

Technology/Process

Desktop Metal’s Binder Jetting™ Technology


Architecture_Living Wall-forust

Architecture

By Forust

Architects can create unique decorative panels and other architectural accents utilizing CAD tools and generative design.

Application
  • Architecture
    • Decorative panels
    • High-end homes accents
Technology/Process

Desktop Metal’s Binder Jetting™ Technology


Forust_small Vase

Consumer goods

By Forust

Designers can explore new geometries and applications for an age-old material that can be used in consumer products.

Application
  • Consumer goods
Technology/Process

Desktop Metal’s Binder Jetting™ Technology


Materials

MaterialFinishes_GrainWood

Wood grains

Parts printed with the Forust process can be finished to mimic many wood species such as natural, oak, teak, and walnut.

 

no grain finish forust process

Grainless wood

Forust can also produce in a unique way grainless material thus providing a base for yet to come post-processing or a neutral aesthetic for end-use parts.

Custom Material-forust

Custom development

Digital reproduction of rare, exotic, and endangered wood species can be developed for custom-based wood grains and finishes.

 

Material Performance

Forustwood is a composite of wood particles encased in a bio-epoxy resin, with a strength similar to wood. It can be readily worked, fastened and finished with conventional wood finishing methods.

Flexural strength
Flexural strength
90 MPa
Flexural modulus
Flexural modulus
2.3 GPa
Density
Density
0.60 - 1.2 g/cm3