Mantle announced a significant increase in their print speeds.
San Francisco-based Mantle offers a very different 3D printing process for metal materials. They use a paste extruder to precisely deposit a metal-rich layer. This is heated to remove binder and sinter the metal particles together, followed by a CNC milling action to smooth the surface. This repeats layer by layer until the object is built.
The company has positioned themselves to address the toolmaking market, an area expected to see an increase in activity in coming years. They say:
“Mantle’s tool steels behave just like conventional tool steels with operations like machining, drilling, EDM, polishing, and coating. No changes to standard operating procedures are required.”
This has attracted a growing customer list at the company, and now there’s a surprise benefit for all of them with the latest software update. Mantle explains:
“This update increases production throughput by up to 20% while introducing enhanced surface finish on downfacing surfaces.”
The software update seems to be available to all existing Mantle customers and can be used immediately.
Mantle added:
“This enhancement allows manufacturers to create tooling components that go directly to molding with even fewer post-processing requirements, further reducing lead times and labor costs.”
That 20% may not seem like a substantial increase when compared to the high speed increases we’ve seen in FFF devices (typically 5-8X), but it is more than welcome for the industries that use Mantle technology.
Tooling supports production applications, and that’s where Mantle’s customers are found. Any increases in throughput will be noticeable as equipment tends to be run to the max. In production environments, costs are everything, and anything that reduces them is important. Mantle believes their system can reduce lead times for tooling by “over 50%”, also substantial.
Via Mantle
