3D Printing (also known as 3DP, or Additive Manufacturing) makes parts and tooling by adding thin layers of material, as opposed to subtracting material as in milling, turning and wire EDM. The process has been around for 20 years and is widely used in Engineering for the creation of plastic prototypes. The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of companies in this field, the number of machines being sold, new technologies, new materials available, and the number of real parts being made.
One area receiving a lot of attention is inexpensive home units working in plastic. There is a huge market potential of home users using the technology for things like custom jewelry and ornamental objects. But more important to us is the increasing use for creating real parts and tools (molds and dies) in metal. There are over a dozen different technologies in use in 3DP, with the most interesting for production being those that use metal, typically through laser sintering or direct metal melting.
3DP can create parts that cannot be created any other way, limited only by the designer’s imagination. For molds, conformal cooling is one application. Other applications include complex ducts in the aerospace industry, personalized prosthetics, orthotics, and even artificial bone in the medical industry.
3DP in metal is slow and can be expensive, but it does not require tooling and setups are simple. These factors make it cost competitive for complex parts manufactured in low volume. Furthermore, it is getting faster and cheaper every year. This is why it is going to impact your business. 3D Printing is not going to make machining obsolete in the foreseeable future. But as parts are designed for 3DP, and as it becomes faster and cheaper, it is going to become a technology that competitive machine shops are going need to take advantage of. In fact, CNC machine manufacturers are already getting involved.
There are many other specialty companies building machines for metal 3DP as well. 3DP is not going to make the machinist obsolete any time soon either, but he will have to learn new skills. Simple plastic prototypes can be made in 3DP with minimal expertise, but metal part production requires preparing part files with consideration for the method and material, modifying the designed part to optimize printing, with considerations for accuracy, finish, setup, and efficiency. Integration with traditional machining is needed for finishing.
Source : http://www.gibbscam.com
One area receiving a lot of attention is inexpensive home units working in plastic. There is a huge market potential of home users using the technology for things like custom jewelry and ornamental objects. But more important to us is the increasing use for creating real parts and tools (molds and dies) in metal. There are over a dozen different technologies in use in 3DP, with the most interesting for production being those that use metal, typically through laser sintering or direct metal melting.
3DP in metal is slow and can be expensive, but it does not require tooling and setups are simple. These factors make it cost competitive for complex parts manufactured in low volume. Furthermore, it is getting faster and cheaper every year. This is why it is going to impact your business. 3D Printing is not going to make machining obsolete in the foreseeable future. But as parts are designed for 3DP, and as it becomes faster and cheaper, it is going to become a technology that competitive machine shops are going need to take advantage of. In fact, CNC machine manufacturers are already getting involved.
There are many other specialty companies building machines for metal 3DP as well. 3DP is not going to make the machinist obsolete any time soon either, but he will have to learn new skills. Simple plastic prototypes can be made in 3DP with minimal expertise, but metal part production requires preparing part files with consideration for the method and material, modifying the designed part to optimize printing, with considerations for accuracy, finish, setup, and efficiency. Integration with traditional machining is needed for finishing.
Source : http://www.gibbscam.com
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