Beyond production parts, AM has applications for custom tools and fixtures.
Additive manufacturing is showing rapid growth in the manufacturing sector, but if you’ve ever seen a high-volume injection molding line, it’s not unreasonable to doubt additive’s viability as a competitive mass production process.
However, additive manufacturing is finding inroads to the factory floor not for mass production, but for more ‘supporting roles’: Jigs, fixtures, and tooling.
We spoke with Frank Marangell, president of BigRep, about this fascinating market for industrial 3D printing, and about BigRep’s large-format polymer machines.
Marangell gives a brief overview of the benefits of additive manufacturing in a manufacturing support role, building the jigs, fixtures and poka yokes, rather than for production parts.
BigRep is known for its large-format polymer FDM machines. In this video, Marangell stands in front of the BigRep One, which has a capacity of one cubic meter. This machine also supports extruding at up to 2 mm for faster prints.
3D printed tooling can be ready faster than other processes, and the larger build volume eliminates the need to glue or pin together large parts. Tooling is an excellent entry point to the technology. According to Marangell, many BigRep customers purchase a machine for one intended use, but continue to find other uses.
For more information on large-format additive, check out WAAM, BAAM, Thank You, AM here on engineering.com.
