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.
Mark Kenworthy of Kenworthy Machine is a job shop owner using 3D printing. Here he looks at a machined part that is fixtured using 3D-printed tooling. See the fixture and read about his shop here.
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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....
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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.
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