Boston Micro Fabrication

Matthew Wolak had a problem: He loved the freedom of driving his 2016 Jeep Wrangler with the roof panels and doors removed. But the large plastic screws that hold the roof panels in place were an ergonomic nightmare to remove and install. So he 3D printed his own tools to solve this annoying problem.

I wrote all of the application copy for this new section of the website of GSC, a Markforged distributor.

Many manufacturers are intimidated by 3D printing. They don’t know where to start, and don’t understand how to design parts for additive manufacturing. What they need is a guide, like the Sherpas who help climbers successfully ascend the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest. In the Milwaukee area, the role of 3D printing Sherpa is filled by Jordan Nowak, the Additive Manufacturing Engineer at Engman-Taylor.

The typical 3D service bureau usually places most of their focus on printing 3D parts. Contract engineering firms can help with designing parts for additive manufacturing. STS Technical Services in Brookfield, Wisconsin is one of the few firms in the country that does both.

Most 3D printing content focuses on the cool technology. For this distributor, I took the opposite tack, to make it as useful as possible to engineers trying to make manufacturing decisions - start with the problem to be solved and then work backward to the materials and printers that can get the job done.

As part of The Virtual Foundry’s continuing efforts to help its customers develop unique materials with exceptional physical properties for additive manufacturing, the advanced material science company has acquired a plasma atomization reactor.

This device uses plasma to melt and atomize metal, creating small, uniform, dense and spherical metal powders that are ideal for additive manufacturing. The Virtual Foundry uses them to create plastic impregnated filament via its patented process, which

I worked with The Virtual Foundry, Sapphire 3D and Levil Technology to write about their joint effort to create a portable 3D metal printing, sintering and machining center for schools.

Conducting a design review early in your part design process is a critical step to avoid manufacturing and quality problems later.

What is a design review? A comprehensive analysis of your part and tooling design to optimize them for manufacturability. It also involves deciding on the most cost-effective material and process to produce your parts.

Why do you need to do a design review? Because your part and tool designs may contain features that could significantly add to the cost of your part

For many types of engineered products, the sooner you can discover and solve design and manufacturability problems, the better. Nowhere is this more true than in plastic injection molding. High-quality molded parts require a perfect synergy between part design, mold design, and molding processes.

That’s why New Berlin Plastics conducts a preliminary design for manufacturability (DFM) analysis during the part quoting process. Its purpose is to obtain an overview of the design intent, the applica

Does your foundry conduct a castability analysis of new and existing parts? It’s an opportunity to identify tweaks to your casting design that can save you a significant amount of time and money. It can also improve the quality of your parts.