By Karen Hanna
When it comes to 3D printing mold components that are no different than conventionally made tooling, a little metallurgical flourish can do wonders.
Take stainless steel, mix in bronze, and voilà!
That’s been the formula for ExOne, a company acquired in the fall by fellow 3D printer maker Desktop Metal, Burlington, Mass. In addition to manufacturing printers, ExOne provides printing services with the help of mold-making partner North American Mold, which sees a bright future in the technology.
For ExOne, it starts by adding bronze to a powder mix of stainless steel, said Rick Lucas, senior VP at Desktop Metal and former CTO at ExOne.
“It actually solves a lot of problems,” he said. “One, it shrinks about 1 percent or less, so that shrinkage is reduced dramatically. And it enables you to do these bigger parts now without having to worry about a lot of distortion.”
The breakthrough — which slashed shrinkage levels that once topped 30 percent — has paved the way for production of tooling that is comparable to North American Mold’s conventionally made repertoire. But, with the printers, the tooling can be made much faster, and with geometries that would otherwise be impossible, Lucas said.
A maker of molds and tooling for prototypes and small-volume production, North American Mold has a stable of CNC machining centers, as well as 3D printers. It is planning to add ExOne printers by the beginning of the second quarter of this year, but until then, it designs the tooling that ExOne prints. Turnaround time is just over a week.
ExOne’s X1 Metal line can handle a variety of materials, including 420i, and other tool steels and stainless steels. Printers in the line have volumes that range up to the X1 160Pro’s build box, with a capacity of 31.5 inches by 19.7 inches by 15.8 inches.
Unlike traditional mold making, printing with powder gives users the ability to use only as much metal as they need, with less waste, Stephens and Lucas said.
Ongoing advances in resolution and print speed will continue to open up the entire tooling market to 3D printers, Stephens said.
“We’re getting into larger inserts, fitted into larger mold bases, and I would say probably by the end of this calendar year, we’ll be printing the entire tool," he said.
Karen Hanna, senior staff reporter
Contact:
ExOne, North Huntingdon, Pa., 877-773-9663, www.exone.com
North American Mold, Auburn Hills, Mich., 586-201-7961, www.naassembly.com
About the Author
Karen Hanna
Senior Staff Reporter
Senior Staff Reporter Karen Hanna covers injection molding, molds and tooling, processors, workforce and other topics, and writes features including In Other Words and Problem Solved for Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing, Plastics Recycling and The Journal of Blow Molding. She has more than 15 years of experience in daily and magazine journalism.