CASE STUDY
180 HOURS OF EDM TO ZERO WITH MANTLE’S METAL 3D PRINTING FOR TOOLING
WESTMINSTER TOOL PRODUCES COMPLEX H13 INJECTION MOLD INSERT FOR XPRESS7
HIGHLIGHTS
Xpress7 worked with Westminster Tool to use Mantle’s metal 3D printing technology to produce a complex H13 tool steel mold insert.
Eliminated 180 hours of EDM work and added conformal cooling channels.
Two calendar weeks were removed compared to making the insert traditionally.
About XPRESS7 & WESTMINSTER TOOL
Xpress7 supplies mold tooling to a range of injection molders servicing a variety of industries from agriculture to consumer products. Xpress7 focuses on small to medium sized tools for prototype or medium size production runs.
Westminster Tool is a mold manufacturer that specializes in complex injection mold systems, including production, prototype, and bridge molds. Westminster Tool delivers innovative manufacturing solutions for plastics and composites within the aerospace, medical device, and packaging industries.
SUMMARY
Westminster Tool used Mantle’s metal 3D printer to print a complex H13 insert for Xpress7, saving weeks and thousands of dollars with the ability to print deep, thin rib features that would have required extensive sinker EDM work to produce traditionally. In addition, by sourcing the printed insert from Westminster Tool, Xpress7 was able to take on a job that normally they would not have accepted due to the amount of EDM required.
The insert featured deep thin ribs as well as a conformal cooling channel
“BY WORKING WITH WESTMINSTER TOOL TO GET A MANTLE INSERT THAT HAD ALL THE COMPLEX FEATURE DETAILS PRINTED RIGHT INTO THE TOOL, WE SAVED WEEKS AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. ADDITIONALLY, SINCE THIS TOOL WAS SO COMPLEX AND REQUIRED SO MUCH EDM WORK, WE TYPICALLY WOULDN’T HAVE TAKEN IT ON. USING MANTLE ALLOWED US TO ELIMINATE ALL THE EDM WORK AND TAKE ON THE PROJECT.”
-Blake Hendrickson, CEO, Xpress7
application example: Housing with deep ribs
Xpress7’s customer came to them with a challenging part design. The part featured many deep, thin ribs that could make ejection difficult. Xpress7 determined the part could be ejected with small blades at the bottom of each of the ribs.
Xpress7 knew the molded part would require an incredibly complex insert. It would have been bigger and required more sinker EDM work than Xpress7 had ever done.
The insert featured deep thin ribs and a conformal cooling channel that was faster and easier to print with Mantle than to make using traditional drilling and plugging methods.
To overcome these challenges, Xpress7 reached out to Westminster Tool because they knew Westminster Tool had Mantle’s metal 3D printer. Westminster Tool informed Xpress7 that this tool was ideal for Mantle’s technology because they could print all the features that would have traditionally required EDM.
Westminster Tool estimated that the thin, deep ribs would have required over 20 electrodes to be produced with sinker EDM. The design, programming, and production of the electrodes, combined with the long sinker EDM burning process, would have required a minimum of 180 hours. This long EDM process made the insert time-consuming and expensive to produce traditionally.
Instead, Westminster Tool printed the insert with its Mantle 3D printer and H13 tool steel. Mantle’s high precision shape refinement capabilities, including a 0.010” ball end mill, allowed for the thin deep ribs, blade start holes, and mold features to be printed.
In total, the insert required only a few hours of labor as the programming was automated and the machine ran “lights out” with no user interaction. Westminster Tool sent the part to Xpress7 for the final fitting, grinding of the parting line and a shutoff surface, wire EDM to the ejector pin holes, and polishing to achieve a draw polish. Xpress7 then assembled the mold.
By using a Mantle printed insert, Xpress7 saved 2 weeks off the production timeline. The time savings mainly came from being able to remove the 20+ electrodes and 180+ hours of sinker EDM required to build this insert traditionally.
MORE CASE STUDIES
P2X MATERIAL PERFORMANCE STUDY
FIRST PROTOTYPE LEAD TIME CUT BY 80% USING TOOL-STEEL MOLD FOR HIGH-TEMP PLASTIC PARTS