Laminated tooling is an alternative to building cavities directly on an RP machine. Using the similar principles to the Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) process, layers of sheet metal are cut to replicate slices through a CAD model. Laser cutting or water jet technologies generally produce the profiles. To produce a mold tool, the CAD model [...]
The Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) system from Optomec (Albuquerque, New Mexico) -originally developed at Sandia National Laboratories – builds parts using a metal powder feed into a laser, […]
Albrecht R”ders GmbH & Co KG (Soltau, Germany) has commercialized a process called Controlled Metal Buildup (CMB). […]
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accomplishes a task with very little (if any) insight into exactly how it does so. Depending on the system under [...]
Several pattern-based processes have been developed for creating a mold rapidly, with varying costs, leadtimes and process capabilities. […]
One of the most popular tooling applications for RP is the production of room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone rubber molds. […]
Plastic parts are vacuum cast by placing a silicone tool in a vacuum chamber with a polyurethane resin. […]
Unlike vacuum casting, the Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) process does not rely on expensive vacuum chambers and mixing units. […]
In addition to two-part resin molding, silicone cavities also are suitable for low-pressure injection molding of waxes for investment casting. […]
An interesting application of silicone rubber as a mold material is available from a company named First-rate Mold Solution Co., Ltd.. […]