Hello all!
I have been using the output from our company's 250 and 500 SLA machines as
well as the Actua for making potting molds. I am in the field of Electronic
Packaging and have been responsible for designing custom wiring harnesses
for aerospace applications. Fitting wire bundles with connectors sometimes
requires molding the wires off of the connectors at very specific directions
or angles. I have used the thermoplastic from a 3D systems Actua to make
such molds. It was easy to use and could have been dissolved in hot water
(so I'm told) but I didn't want the water in my connector, so I froze the
entire assembly and the mold came off in pieces but did not stick to the
connector or potting. Subsequently I used a mold release to avoid
destroying the molds and got up to 3 shots from the molds. On another
occasion I supplied a subcontractor with an SLA mold which they loved. I
started with a cover form in Pro-E and added mass to the thin areas. The
final mold had metal inserts installed for screwing the pieces together, a
small "V grove" at the edges to act as a dam for the viscous potting
material and the ability to see into the mold for voids was a definite bonus
which avoided much rework and rejection. Our company has also molded a hand
grip for use as a "show and tell" for a PC based simulator but the plastic
was strong enough and since only 3 pieces were needed they were used as the
final product.
-
Dan Eifert
Electronic Packaging
Lockheed Martin, Missiles and Fire Control - Orlando
E-Mail: dan.eifert@lmco.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elaine Hunt [SMTP:ehunt@ces.clemson.edu]
> Sent: Friday, November 05, 1999 10:05 AM
> To: rp-ml@bart.lpt.fi
> Subject: direct manufacturing or production
>
> How many of you users have used a RP technology to produce a model
> that
> was the final product? What was the product and how well did it perform?
> Are any of you considering RP as a manufacturing process for any product
> you make? Why not?
>
>
>
>
> Elaine
>
>
>
>
> *******************************************************************
> Opinions, suggestions, and other controversial matter VOID where
> prohibited.
> ******************************************************************
> Elaine T. Hunt, Director elaine.hunt@ces.clemson.edu
> Laboratory to Advance Industrial Prototyping
> Clemson University 206 Fluor Daniel Bldg.
> Clemson, SC 29643-0925
> 864-656-0321 (voice) 864-656-4435 (fax)
> http://rafiki.vr.clemson.edu/credo/persall/persall.html
> http://www.vr.clemson.edu/rp/
> http://www.vr.clemson.edu/credo/rp.html
>
>
>
>
>
> For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
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