Mantle Launches Production System, Reveals Equipment

As part of the launch of its production system, including hardware, software and materials, Mantle is revealing its equipment for the first time at its 2022 IMTS booth in the form of life-sized photos of its 3D printer and accompanying furnace. They’re part of what Mantle’s chief commercial officer, Paul DiLaura, describes as a “walkthrough” of its TrueShape technology for 3D printed mold tooling. The walkthrough also features video and live demonstrations of the company’s software, as well as artifacts from different stages of the process. These include samples of its materials (a P20 tool steel equivalent called P2X and an H13) in various forms, from the flowable metal paste that’s extruded through the 3D printer to finished mold inserts, as well as parts that have been produced using molds made on Mantle’s machines.

Mantle will also highlight its collaboration with mold shop Westminster Tool, which received a beta machine earlier this year. DiLaura says that in addition to displaying mold inserts the shop has made using the technology, employees from Westminster Tool will be in Mantle’s booth throughout the show. “Our collaboration partnership with Westminster adds context to the ways our inserts fit into a broader mold and tool solution,” he explains.

Mantle is also announcing that, as part of a partnership with Tessy Plastics, two of its 3D printed mold inserts have reached more than one million cycles. The inserts, one made with P2X and one made with H13, are being used to produce parts for deodorant packaging. “Over two million of these molded parts are out in the world in deodorant packages, and the tool is still running,” DiLaura says.