familiar, durable tool steels
Mantle’s tool steels have the properties required for molding even the most demanding plastics.
Mantle’s H13 is a mainstay of production tooling and can be heat-treated to 52 HRC, enabling excellent wear resistance and millions of cycles.
Choose below to compare the scope and impact of familiar methods:
ROUGH PART
PRECISION FINISHING
12 STEPS / 12+ WEEKS / $$ COST
While familiar, the time and cost associated with conventional manufacturing is not sustainable.
ROUGH PART
POST-PROCESSING NEEDED AFTER 3D PRINTING
10 STEPS / 14+ WEEKS / $$$ COST
3D printing only addresses a small portion of the process, costs more, and takes longer.
PRINT & SHAPE
SINTER
4 STEPS / 2-4 WEEKS / $ COST
Mantle’s process addresses the entire precision part process while reducing lead time and cost.
Reduce cycle time with improved cooling
Enhance part quality with more uniform cooling
Improve process stability for better repeatability and consistency
easy post-processing
for production
tolerances and finish
Post-process with no changes to standard toolmaking operations
Steel remains stable and flat during secondary operations
Polish to A2, texture, and repair using traditional methods
mold repair and maintenance
Mantle’s metal 3D printed tools can be repaired using traditional tool and die repair methods. If the tool wears, it can be easily welded, ground, or machined and put back into production.
1.65 MILLION CYCLES AND COUNTING
TESSY PLASTICS RUNS MANTLE’S METAL 3D PRINTED INSERTS IN HIGH-VOLUME PRODUCTION
Tessy Plastics conducted a benchmark test to assess the accuracy, durability, and reliability of Mantle’s metal 3D printed mold inserts in a high-volume production injection mold that produces personal-care products.
PRODUCTION MOLD TOOLING IN DAYS
NICOLET PLASTICS INVESTS IN MANTLE TO PRODUCE H13 MOLD TOOLING
Nicolet Plastics used Mantle’s metal 3D printing technology to produce three tooling components for their customer Gamber-Johnson, reducing the time to deliver molded parts from six weeks to just two weeks.
Case Study