3D Metal Printing for Mass Production
reprint from https://www.nanalyze.com/ While Desktop Metal is known for its office-friendly Studio System for prototyping, no doubt much is riding on the success of the Production System, which Desktop Metal claims is the world’s fastest 3D metal printer. The company goes on to say that the Production System is more than four times faster than any binder jet competitor and offers a 100 times speed improvement over any laser-based system – all at up to 20 times less cost than other 3D metal printers. It can churn through 150 metric tons of metal per year. Production Printer. Credit: Desktop Metal The machine uses two print bars containing more than 32,000 nozzles that work in conjunction with powder spreaders to disperse metal powder and print in a single pass across the build area, jetting up to three billion drops per second. Once the loose powder is removed from the part, it is heated to near the melting point to remove any remaining binder, causing the metal particles to fuse together and the parts to densify in a process known as sintering. Advantages One of the real advantages of 3D metal printing is that manufacturers are no longer shackled to the manufacturing [...]
A Message from Our Founder in this New Year
Wow! Are the 2010s really over? Where did that go? We are entering into a new decade; one that means Cimquest will be turning 30 this coming October! It seems like it all happened in a blink of an eye; however, when I think about all of the changes and technological improvements it seems like 1990 was a long time ago. In fact, here are some of the happenings in 1990 when I founded Cimquest in my basement: The US began Operation Desert Shield with the US and UK sending troops to Kuwait. The US enters a bad recession. (Great time to start a business....) The Simpsons hit TV (sorry no streaming video services back then!) Tim Berners-Lee publishes the first web page on the WWW. The first in-car GPS Navigation System goes on sale from Pioneer. The average cost of a new home $123,000. (Now $383,500 - over 3x) Cost of a gallon of gas $1.34. (Now $2.50 - Not too bad!) Cost for a high-performance CAD PC with 1280 x 1024 graphics and a 21" Monitor $10,000 Microsoft Released Windows 3.0 The movie Total Recall is released. (the first time) The cost (Tuition, Fees, Room & Board) for a 4-year private [...]
A Metal 3D Printer Made for Machine Shops
reprint from thomasnet.com The additive manufacturing industry recently descended upon Frankfurt, Germany for Formnext 2019, to witness the disruptive technology debuting at one of the leading additive manufacturing conferences in the world. Among those making waves is Desktop Metal, which debuted a metal 3d printer binder jetting system designed for machine shops and metal job shops. According to the company, it is the first of its kind. They call it the "Shop System," and it allows for batch production of high-quality metal parts on the shop floor. What was perhaps most impressive was the Shop System's ability to produce various parts with different geometries simultaneously, with no need for multiple setups. According to the company, it can also produce low volume batches of complex parts at a lower price point by eliminating tooling. Desktop Metal says that the Shop System is designed to scale based on the machine shop's size, including the ability to produce hundreds of near-net-shape parts every day. It can print a batch every six to 12 hours. Depending on the model, it moves a little more than 150 pounds of steel per day. The system prints the parts with hand-removable sintering setters, which cut hours of machining off support [...]
How To Choose the Right 3D Scannner
The world of 3D scanning offers many different technologies. From free scanners that run on Smartphones, all the way up to industrial options for high precision metrology, it can be difficult to determine the best 3D scanner solution that will meet your requirements. How do you know what scanning solution is right for you? The first step is to determine the object size of the parts you will be scanning. Scanners generally have a fixed Field of View, meaning they will be able to capture a set volume of data at any given time. Next, consider what you will be using the scanner for, whether it's reverse engineering, inspection, 3D Printing, producing online assets or even AR/VR. This, in turn, will determine the minimum accuracy and resolution required. Accuracy has to do with how well the scan dimensionally conforms to the physical object. When would accuracy be important? Accuracy is extremely important for inspection applications, but far less important for Web Assets or Virtual Reality. Resolution, on the other hand, refers to a scanner's ability to pick up fine detail. You can think of the density of a point cloud captured as the resolution. The closer the points are to each other, the [...]
Mastercam 2020 Mill Enhancements
Mastercam 2020 Mill offers expanded machining flexibility and an increased emphasis on speed and automation. 2D high-speed toolpaths, 3D enhancements, and multiaxis features combine with dozens of additional new enhancements in a software package intended to improve shop floor productivity. Here are some of the significant highlights and new functionality in Mastercam Mill: General Enhancements Mastercam’s signature Dynamic Motion™ toolpath has been updated to streamline performance and increase programming speed. Accelerated Finishing™ receives new support for oval form and lens barrel form tools, delivering faster, smoother finishes on select surfaces. Toolpath Hole Definition has been improved, and the Features list now displays more information about the selected points, in addition to the type of selection you have made and the diameter of the selected point. 3D Enhancements Mastercam’s Equal Scallop toolpath delivers finish across sloped, curved, and flat surfaces. Now tool tip containment and “Closed” or “Trimmed” toolpath offsets deliver optimal finishes for different types of complex shapes. A new toolpath, Blend, has been added to the 3D High-Speed suite of toolpaths. Blend is based on the Surface Finish Blend toolpath but is faster and has a superior quality and includes the use of stock and holder checking. Multiaxis Improvements Deburr can use [...]
Production 3D Printing with HP Multi Jet Fusion
The release of the HP Multi Jet Fusion platform makes production 3D printing a reality, and the new Jet Fusion 5200 is on the forefront of this paradigm shift. For the first time, 3D printing was now a viable option for larger-scale production. Let's take a look at how the process works. The 5200 series features a printer, build unit, and processing station similar to the 4200 model but brings superior part predictability and reliability. For part predictability, the 5200 can be qualified to meet the process capability for a CPK of 1.33 or IT13, allowing for consistent part tolerances. To increase reliability, this system has redundancies and more robust hardware and software to complete your builds. Some examples are multiple fusing lamps and redundant motors, as well as a higher resolution thermal camera. The 5200 has a new 1-pass printing mode which gives faster building speed, without compromising on mechanical and dimensional properties. Another innovative new feature is HP's 3D natural cooling unit. Once a job is finished job it can be transferred to the natural cooling unit and then stored to cool. This frees up the build unit to be used for the next job immediately, so you can keep printing [...]