After finishing a number of profitable beta deployments, Mantle is delivery manufacturing variations of its P-200 printer and F-200 furnace incorporating extra {hardware} and course of refinements. Westec Plastics, a customized plastic injection molder and gear builder based mostly in Livermore, California, obtained the primary Mantle manufacturing system.
“Having the Mantle gear in-house allows Westec to finish prototype and manufacturing metal tooling inserts with a a lot shorter lead time than normal mould builds,” mentioned Tammy Barras, President of Westec Plastics. “This can profit our clients by offering production-quality metal tooling with aluminum tooling lead occasions.”
One other Mantle buyer, Westminster Instrument, has efficiently utilized its Mantle beta system for over one yr. This producer of precision molds situated in Plainfield, Connecticut, has produced elements for prototype and manufacturing instruments, together with right this moment’s announcement of a posh mould insert for an industrial buyer that was ordered by Xpress7, a Minnesota-based mould builder. Westminster Instrument utilized Mantle’s Excessive-Precision Shaping capabilities to print the insert, considerably decreasing the associated fee and lead time by eliminating over 180 hours of EDM work and all CAM programming.
“Some great benefits of Mantle’s expertise are multiplied when it replaces conventional EDM operations. Operating nearly totally unattended, it permits us to perform comparable geometries with a fraction of the personnel and talent stage.” commented Hillary Thomas, Westminster Instrument vp.
Mantle will probably be featured in a joint presentation on the Molding and Moldmaking Conferences on August 29-30 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The panel presentation entitled “Metallic 3D Printing that Makes {Dollars} and Sense” will characteristic Mantle, Westminster Instrument, and Nicolet Plastics, one other firm that may quickly be deploying a Mantle metallic 3D printing system.
Mantle gives precision metallic 3D printers particularly for toolmaking. Mantle’s TrueShape expertise, a kind of certain metallic paste materials extrusion, mixed with milling, produces instruments which have the accuracy, floor end, and gear metal properties required for demanding tooling functions. Instruments made with Mantle’s expertise have already produced thousands and thousands of elements whereas decreasing lead occasions by 75% and prices by 50%.
