Stereolithography is a 3-D layering manufacturing process that applies ultraviolet lasers to cure liquid photopolymer resins to produce solid, plastic, 3-D objects that simulate properties of polyethylene, polypropylene and polycarbonate materials. The SLA machine’s software sections the 3-D CAD model into multiple thin layers (typically five to 10 layers per millimeter). […]
Creating and using EDM (electro discharge manufacturing) electrodes is considered a painful challenge by most moldmakers because it is time consuming, slows down mold production and requires precision. […]
Rapid prototyping services can be evaluated in terms of technology, experience, know-how and service. […]
Most of the five-axis “magic” is managed by software in the CNC control and CAM software systems. The machine tool should be selected for sizes, speeds and capacities. And five-axis machine costs are coming down, and quality is improving with the implementation of CAD and simulation in the design process. […]
Five-axis manufacturing techniques have long been used in the aerospace and power generation fields. This may be due to component geometry as found in gas turbine engines or automotive turbochargers, or complex and critical components such as landing gear on an aircraft. […]
Thermotech is committed to finding improved methods of meeting our customers ever changing needs and ongoing cost pressures. As part of this commitment, we have a defined process for the development of new technologies known as TIP (Thermotech Innovation Process). […]
The first commercially available synthetic material, Celluloid (cellulose nitrate), was invented in 1866 by John Wesley Hyatt as a replacement for ivory for use in billiard balls. Since that time, scientists have continued to develop new plastics to provide consistent material alternatives for durable goods. […]
This method held a pre-eminent position in glassforming ever since its introduction in the middle of the first century B.C. until the late nineteenth century and is still widely used nowadays as a glassforming technique. […]
Glassblowing is a glass forming technique which was invented by the Phoenicians at approximately 50 B.C. somewhere along the Syro-Palestinian coast. The earliest evidence of glassblowing comes from a collection of waste from a glass workshop, including fragments of glass tubes, glass rods and tiny blown bottles, which was dumped in a mikvah, a ritual [...]
The transformation of raw materials into glass takes place around 2400°F (1315°C); the glass emits enough heat to appear almost white hot. The glass is then left to “fine out” (allowing the bubbles to rise out of the mass), and then the working temperature is reduced in the furnace to around 2000°F (1100°C). [...]