From NASCAR to the operating room, metal components used in many industries require precise, permanent markings that can accurately trace a part’s serial number and other vital statistics that are key to recalls, medical liability cases, and even supply-chain or quality-control issues.
Fast Radius Inc., a cloud manufacturing and digital supply chain company, and ECP Environmental Growth Opportunities Corp. have entered into a definitive agreement that will result in Fast Radius becoming a publicly-listed company.
“You guys are crazy!” That’s what Makino EDM product line manager Brian Pfluger was told—loudly—by a medical-industry customer after Pfluger recommended he use coated wire to make a custom housing for cancer treatment machines.
Laser technology for drilling precision holes has taken a leap forward with faster, cheaper, high-accuracy fiber lasers, which are used in the aerospace industry for turbine engine hole-drilling and other industries. Short-pulse picosecond fiber lasers are likewise making inroads, drilling small, precise holes for the medical and microelectronics industries.
Necessity, as the saying goes, is the mother of invention, and this symbiotic relationship between need and solution was on full display at a recent two-day, two-location event hosted by GF Machining Solutions.
Laser cutting and waterjet cutting: two great technologies that go great together? Or best when they play solo? As ever, the answer is it depends—on what work a shop has coming in the door, what materials are being processed most often, operator skill levels and, ultimately, the available equipment budget.
Desktop Metal recently introduced the Studio System 2, which offers a way to eliminate the debind step and its chemical solvents through a complete reformulation of materials. The printer makes the AM process more hands-off and streamlined while also improving part quality.
A typical commercial jetliner contains millions of discrete components, yet provided the plane arrives at its destination safely, on schedule, and hopefully without a screaming baby behind them, most of the flying public could care less how any of those parts were made.
Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) has been removing metal by spark erosion for more than half a century—with sinker (ram/Elox-) style EDMing for molds and wire EDM for precision parts cutting, especially dies.
GE is preparing to sell to outsiders a subtractive manufacturing technology called Blue Arc that represents “a big step forward” in cutting tools, a field that’s been stuck on hard tungsten carbide tools since the 1950s, Dan Potvin, licensing manager with GE Ventures, said.
