The Case for 3D Printing in Machine Shops
A small 3D printer frees up CNC machining capacity by producing tooling and prototypes so the machine tools don’t have to.
Share
I wrote an article for Modern Machine Shop magazine arguing that we will come to take it for granted that machine shops use 3D printers. Job shops in particular will routinely use them, because a small 3D printer can save these shops money by freeing up their CNC machines. Job shops frequently have to occupy both their machine tools and machining personnel with making important but non-production items such as prototypes and custom tooling. The 3D printer can generate these items instead, keeping the machining capacity devoted to production use.
You can read that MMS article here. We have also posted many articles over time that support or illustrate this point....
Read here about 3D printing for prototyping.
Read here about 3D printing for tooling.
And check out this collection of articles about 3D printing and additive manufacturing in use in machining job shops.
Related Content
-
8 Cool Parts From Formnext 2023: The Cool Parts Show #65
New additive manufacturing technologies on display at Formnext were in many cases producing notable end-use components. Here are some of the coolest parts we found at this year’s show.
-
Postprocessing Steps and Costs for Metal 3D Printing
When your metal part is done 3D printing, you just pull it out of the machine and start using it, right? Not exactly.
-
Aircraft Engine MRO: How Additive Manufacturing Plus Robotic Finishing Will Expand Capacity for Blade Repair
AM offers the chance to bring fast, automated processing to individualized, part-by-part restoration of turbomachinery. A cell developed by Acme Manufacturing and Optomec is able to automatically repair 85,000 unique aircraft engine blades per year.