3D Printing

Injection molding grade filament for desktop 3D printers

Avante Technology, LLC, a developer of 3D printing materials, announced the release of FilaOne GRAY Advanced Composite Injection Molding Grade filament. It is a carbon nanotube reinforced composite for printing injection molding tools for short run production of parts using a range of common thermoplastics.

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“Toolmakers can print simple soft tooling in a day and start injection molding parts the next day,” said Robert Zollo, President of Avante Technology. “If the part needs modification, you can print a revised mold and be molding with the revised tooling within 24 hours.”

The proprietary composite filament was formulated to have the following characteristics for 3D printed molds:

  • Printable on specified desktop FDM printers costing less than $10,000.
  • Able to withstand the temperatures and pressures of injection molding process.
  • The surface of printed molds can be polished or textured.
  • Mold cavity surface supports the use of off-the-shelf release agents.
  • Durable enough to handle the heat fluctuations of many injection molding cycles.

The composite material is mechanically strong and exhibits a relatively high rate of heat transfer for a thermoplastic based composite. It is light, with a density of approximately 1 gram per cubic centimeter.

Based on Avante’s internal testing of 3D printed tooling, the cost per cubic inch of printed injection molds will be less than $2.50 per cubic inch ($0.15 per cubic cm), for most parts.

“You can mold 10 to 1,000 parts at a cost that is 50% to 90% less expensive than conventional methods,” said Zollo. “Our composite materials are developed and produced here in the USA.”

FilaOne GRAY High Performance Composite Injection molding grade filament comes as part of a 3D printing kit that includes a 0.5Kg reel of filament and a companion printing adhesion sheet to ensure proper adhesion during printing. It is available in 1.75 and 2.88 mm diameter configurations, which contain sufficient material to print 90 to 150 cubic inches of tooling, depending print strategy. U.S. price for each kit is $299.00.

FilaOne GRAY Injection Molding Grade filament will be available in November, in North America through the Avante Technology web store and in Europe through Avante’s Europe partner, PDO Europe GmbH in Wiesbaden, Germany.”

Avante Technology, LLC
www.proforma-3Dprinting-store.shopify.com