Mar 6, 2018 | By Benedict
3D-Hybrid Solutions, a hybrid manufacturing company based in Los Angeles, California, has developed tools for adding 3D printing capabilities to CNC machines. These augmentable 3D printing technologies include Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing, Laser Metal Deposition, and Cold Spray.
Additive manufacturing is undoubtedly one of the most exciting fabrication technologies that manufacturers can employ. For many, however, investing in an industrial-level 3D printer remains an impossibility. The costs for professional 3D printing equipment remains high.
LA’s 3D-Hybrid has a new solution. Instead of selling readymade 3D printers, the manufacturing firm has designed a set of 3D printing tools that can turn customers’ existing CNC machines into hybrid manufacturing systems with 3D printing capabilities.
The company has even created three unique tools to cater for three separate 3D printing processes: Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing, Laser Metal Deposition, and Cold Spray. Between these technologies, 3D-Hybrid says it can process virtually any alloy for any 3D printing application.
While these tools still aren’t cheap—their base price is $50,000—modifying existing manufacturing machines could represent a much easier way for manufacturers to get into 3D printing.
Moreover, users retain their CNC machining capabilities, giving them both additive and subtractive manufacturing capabilities. By 3D printing parts to near net shape and then machining them with CNC tool heads, manufacturers can produce parts at a lower cost and in less time.
3D-Hybrid, which is awaiting patents for its technologies, says it is the “only hybrid manufacturing tool integrator offering multiple metal deposition technologies for virtually any CNC machine.”
Posted in 3D Printing Technology
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