Tooling, jigs and functional prototypes, printed on the same site as the parts they are for.
A carbon part needs other things made first.We print them here.
A tool to lay it up on. A fixture to hold it while it is trimmed or bonded. A test piece to check it fits before anyone commits to a mould. Printing those in-house means they can be made, tried and changed on the same site.
Printed parts can also be the finished article. A functional prototype in an engineering thermoplastic shows whether a design works before it is made in carbon.
Fused deposition modelling builds a part from thermoplastic filament, melted and laid down in fine beads.
The CAD model is sliced into layers and orientated on the build plate. Orientation matters, because a printed part is strongest along its layers and weakest between them.
Filament is melted and traced out one layer at a time. A second material builds supports under any overhangs, to be removed afterwards.
Supports come away and the part is cleaned up, ready to be used as a tool, a fixture, a prototype or a finished component.
A production-grade FDM system. Stratasys publish the following for this machine.
The range includes ULTEM 9085, rated for flame, smoke and toxicity and used for aircraft interior parts; Nylon 12CF, which is filled with chopped carbon fibre for stiffness; and the Antero materials, which are PEKK-based.
These are the manufacturer's published figures for the Fortus 450mc. Which material we print your part in depends on what it has to do and what we hold in stock, so ask before you design around a specific one. The accuracy of a finished print depends on its size, geometry and orientation, so tell us about the part and we will tell you what is realistic for it.
Wherever a part needs a tool, a fixture or a prototype first.
About 3D printing specifically. The general ones are answered on the homepage.
The Fortus 450mc can run fourteen thermoplastics. Tell us what the part has to do and we will tell you which we would use, and whether we have it in stock.
Yes. Send the model as STEP or IGES and we will check how it is best orientated before it is printed.
A drawing, a photograph, or just a description. Whatever you have is enough to get a price, and we reply to most enquiries the same working day.