A new 3D print application has appeared: boot liners.
Boot liners are that foamy structure that’s inside tall boots, mostly used to keep your toes warm during cold winter months.
Materials Enthusiast Ruud Rouleaux reports on LinkedIn:
“Today I found a customized ski boot liner printed with VarioShore foaming TPU by colorFabb just finished on the Bambu Lab H2D.
I don’t know what you think; but this print is super clean for a first try-out.”
Let’s unpack all this.
VarioShore is a highly unusual 3D print material that is designed to foam up after printing. It includes certain additives that are activated by the heat to form bubbles when extruded. The result is a lightweight, foamy structure. It isn’t a rigid material for typical parts, but instead would be used for specific applications.
Here we have a new use case for this material, boot liners.
Could this be similar to the growing market for custom 3D printed shoes? Perhaps. The shoe market is near perfect for 3D printing, because every foot is slightly different. By 3D scanning the foot and using custom design systems, it’s possible to create 3D models of “perfect” shoes that can be printed.
In the same way this could be done for boot liners. However, the cushy nature of the foam means that a perfect fit is less of a challenge.
Another question here is the cost of producing the liner. Is it more than conventional manufacturing? Probably so. That alone might stifle this application.
What about design features that might not be feasible with traditional manufacturing processes? Could the structure of the liner be designed to increase heat retention? I suspect this might be the case, but it seems that this experiment is very early, and they probably haven’t got that far yet.
Nevertheless, it’s possible we may have a new 3D print application on our hands here. Or our feet, I suppose.
Via LinkedIn
