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Secondary operations are the real value-added operations within the rapid prototyping industry. While the basic rapid prototyping technologies like stereolithography can provide models for form, fit, and limit-functional testing within hours, secondary operation can provide 5, 10, 100, and literally thousands of parts, in plastics and metals, within days or a few weeks.
If your design project requires more than just a single prototype produced via stereolithography, let us assist you with one of the secondary operations listed below. Although we do not perform every process listed below "in-house," we can still be your single-source for services that range from prototyping through production. We have relationships with various foundries and injection molding houses that can use stereolithography models or tooling to produce the quantity of parts you need in the materials that you desire.
| Vacuum Cast Molding (VCM) | Silicone molding process (a.k.a. RTV) good for 5-20 parts made
from thermoplastic-like polyurethanes. Typical cycle times are 1 - 2 weeks. |
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| Investment Casting | Traditional casting process based upon the "lost-wax" method.
Great for intricate parts. Typical cycle times are 3 - 4 weeks. |
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| Sand Casting | With techniques like the "V-Process," it is now possible
to produce casting that match the precision of parts made by plaster, investment-cast,
and permanent molds. Typical cycle times are 4 weeks. |
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| 3D Keltool | A technique for providing quality steel tool molds quickly and economically
for prototype and production runs, from one to hundreds to even millions
of plastic injection molded parts. Typical cycle times are 2 - 4 weeks. |
  
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Vacuum Cast molding
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With the vacuum cast molding, stereolithography or machined parts can
be used as masters for creating multiple urethane replicas. Urethanes are
available in a wide variety of characteristics including hardness and impact
strength. The urethanes can be colored (pigmented) to meet your exact needs.
By using soft silicone as a molding material, designers have latitude to create parts with little or no draft, undercut, and very intricate detail. Features as small as a finger print can be reproduced with the vacuum casting process. On the down-side, parts with severe undercut will greatly reduce the life of the tool. Typically, 5-15 parts can be produced from a single silicone tool and deliveries require 5-10 days. |
3D Keltool
| The 3D Keltool process begins with CAD data of the mold core and cavity. A Stereolithography master is produced from an .STL file determined by the CAD data. The quality of the mold is determined by the accuracy and finish of the SLA master. This master is used to create an RTV mold, which is in turn filled with a slurry of tool steel, tungsten carbide, and an epoxy binder. This binder is then burned out and the voids are infiltrated with copper to produce a durable, accurate production insert. | |
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| (Image courtesy of
3D Systems)
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