High-Precision Shaping Program Further Automates Precision Moldmaking

Mantle Inc., a company providing metal 3D printing for moldmaking, has announced the release of its High-Precision Shaping package. The package, which includes 0.006" and 0.010" ball mill cutting tools and automated toolpathing software, enables toolrooms to automate their moldmaking process by producing sharp corners and edges without requiring EDM operations. By eliminating EDM and other operations, Mantle says it helps shops reduce the time required to produce molds by up to 75%.

“At Mantle, our goal is to help toolrooms increase the number of complex mold tools they produce while reducing the time, cost and labor to produce them,” Ted Sorom, Mantle CEO and co-founder, says. “By deploying our new High-Precision Shaping capabilities, our customers can produce steel tools faster than ever — without requiring programming, setup and operator time from overworked toolmakers.”

Mantle’s TrueShape technology combines 3D printing of its tool steel pastes with traditional CNC machining to refine the shape of printed tools and deliver accuracy, surface finish and optimal tool steel properties. The company’s 3D printer is built on a trusted CNC platform and utilizes multiple cutting mills to refine the shape of the printed mold while it is still in a soft state. Mantle’s new High-Precision Shaping package enables toolrooms to produce molds with radii under 0.003", a 70% improvement compared to the 0.010" radii previously attainable, thereby eliminating more of the costly and time-consuming EDM operations of traditional toolmaking.

“Mantle allows us to offer production-grade tooling to our customers in prototype time,” Eric Derner, technical sales applications engineer at Nicolet Plastics, an injection molder, points out. “Mantle will allow us to reduce our need for offshore tooling, which introduces scheduling and supply chain risk, with comparable pricing. With Mantle’s H13 tool steel and new High-Precision Shaping capabilities, we can print tools in-house and deliver complex molded parts to our customers weeks faster than before.”