ments of the tooling to do that just don’t make sense from an economic standpoint. When you can 3-D print those cores as a single package or a couple pieces and assemble, it can be very competitive, and in fact it can be very cost-eff ective, even for 25, 50 or 100-piece quantities. T at can off set the cost of tooling that’s $100,000, so it’s benefi cial.” “With tooling, there are mul-
tiple ways we can do it, and the same with 3-D printing,” added Tony Cremers, president. “So, if it’s going to be repeat orders, we go from there.” He asks questions to determine the details on the project and sometimes gives cus- tomers a number of options to help guide their decision making. In one case, a one-off machined aluminum impeller was quoted three ways: an SLS (selective laser sintered) investment cast aluminum with secondary machining; a 3-D printed
sand cast with the same requirements; and a low produc- tion pattern tool with a cope and drag airset sand mold process. “We didn’t know
the surface quality yet, and if there are certain tolerances on the area, we might have to add machine stock to make sure we meet their re- quirements,” said Cremers. “For this one part, if it’s small enough, 3-D print- ing is ideal [from a cost perspective]. If they’re looking to make multiple orders and it’s going to be 20-25 pieces or more, then you’ll
Wax patterns (left) are melted from ceramic shells (right) to produce the molds used in the investment casting process.
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