By Bill Koenig
Senior Editor
CINCINNATI – Optomec today displayed its hybrid LENS system, which adds 3D printing capability to traditional CNC machines.
Optomec showed a 1990s Fadal CNC machine retrofitted with the LENS, or Laser Engineered Net Shaping, printing system.
“We took a legacy 1990s piece of equipment and bought it on eBay,” said Tom McDonald, the program manager for Optomec. The machine cost about $20,000 and some alterations were made so it could safely contain a laser.
