Additive Manufacturing

AUG 2013

Modern Machine Shop and MoldMaking Technology present ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, a quarterly supplement reporting on the use of additive processes to manufacture functional parts. More at additivemanufacturinginsight.com.

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company as well as low-volume custom injection molding. With that came custom automation work. The company cut its teeth in AM on rapid prototyping (RP) and eventually began to farm out enough of it that it became viable for ownership to bring the technology in-house and recoup some of the costs. It was then that Premier started to realize AM's potential for many applications—for both itself and its customers. "It's not just rapid prototyping," says Joel McCue, engineering manager. "You need to look at this as assisting you with the manufacturing side of your business." Machine Technology Premier bought its frst uPrint 3D printer from Stratasys in 2010 and later bought a second one. The machine features a 6 × 8-inch build envelope and is well-suited for tiny parts such as small workholding devices and assembly fxtures for injection molding work. In 2011, Premier added a Fortus production system because of the need for different materials and larger 3D-printing builds. Today, the company has two Fortus printers, which McCue says enables Premier to produce relatively large, elaborate fxtures involving high strength and forces, along with tight repeatability and accuracy. If the company needs to build something that requires precision, it always runs on the Fortus 400. Meanwhile, if a part requires texturing and sandblasting, the mold shop will print off a mask on the uPrint, because this machine is capable of a fast turnaround. According to McCue, the shop follows this guideline: If something small and cheap is needed fast, use the uPrint; if it's more complicated or larger, use the Fortus. McCue says the shop made the jump to the larger, production-oriented machine after a customer started using the so-called RP parts not as prototypes, but as disposable tooling fxtures. "It worked really well, but if we got really aggressive we were still breaking the parts," McCue says. The shop began to look at the larger machine because of its ability to print in Ultem, a stronger material. Here is an example of a camera arm that Premier Source rapid-built on its Fortus 400 for a piece of automation the company is building for a customer. AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com August 2013 — 11

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