3D Printing is not necessarily a new technology to anyone who has been in the manufacturing or product development industries over the last 30 years, believe it or not the first 3D Printing patent was granted in 1986! Something that is changing due to new machines coming on the market is that it is now possible to do part design for additive manufacturing and then 3D Print end use parts instead of using traditional manufacturing processes.
Patent image of a apparatus for production of three-dimensional objects by stereolithography
A relatively new phenomenon is the advent of true additive manufacturing that can produce end use parts in quantities of hundreds or thousands of units per week depending on size and part geometry. Through the use of 3D Printing, these parts are not limited to the design constraints of parts manufactured through other means like CNC Machining, Injection Molding, or Urethane Casting. For example, the parts can have complex internal passageways, undercuts that are not moldable, or extremely thin densely packed features.
Just like with any other mass production method, parts need to be designed to fit a 3D Printing process, because of this its advantageous to partner with a design firm who understands all of them and how to design end use parts for each one that can be printed in large quantities, at the desired level of quality, for a reasonable cost. At DeWys Engineering we have years of experience doing part design specifically for additive manufacturing. We also handle all the part design work for our sister company: Forerunner 3D Printing.
Some examples of end use parts we have designed specifically for 3D Printing:
- 3D Printed GoPro camera mount
- Reason for using 3DP – Production volumes were unknown and due to part geometry, injection mold tooling was cost prohibitive
- 3D Metal Printed nesting for automated high temperature equipment and vacuum fixtures
- Reason for using 3DP – The nests and details are so complex in there geometry they would not be manufacturable via any other method
- 3D Printed Metal Casting Pattern
- Reason for using 3DP – Tooling to produce a wax pattern for this investment casting is not manufactrable
- 3D Printed Hand Tool
- Reason for using 3DP – Highly economical to produce in low volumes and allows for each tool to be customized based on its end use
- 3D Printed EOAT gripper fingers
- Reason for using 3DP – Allows for the design to have non machineable features and internal air passages, parts are ligher then Aluminum, this helps the robot that will be holding it move faster and reduce machine cycle time.
- 3D Printed Steering Wheel
- Reason for using 3DP – Able to produce geometries at a more competitive cost then traditional manufacturing methods with shorter lead times
Knowing how to do part design for additive manufacturing is not the only thing DE can help with, we can also point you to the correct 3D Printing technology for your end use application. The following are just a few of the technologies we have experience with:
- SLA Technology
- HP Jet Fusion 3D Technology
- Various Metal Printing Technologies
- STRATASYS FDM Technology
- Carbon CLIP Technology