| | ProtoCAM provides manufacturing engineering consulting with stereolithography and other rapid prototyping techniques. ProtoCAM produces high quality prototypes and precision short run production, including stereolithography prototypes, selective laser sintering prototypes, urethane castings and investment castings.ProtoCAM also utilizes the latest rapid tooling technologies to give you hard tooling in as little as two to three weeks.
ProtoCAM’s stereolithography process turns your 3D CAD drawing into a solid object. Most stereolithography prototyping can be completed in as little as 1 to 2 days, with larger projects typically completed in under 5 days. Stereolithography prototypes can be used as master patterns for injection molding core and cavity inserts, thermoforming, blow molding, and various metal casting processes.We also use Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) to create 3D SLS prototypes by fusing or sintering powdered thermoplastic materials or metals to form functional prototypes. An advantage to using SLS is the range of materials that can be used, including nylon, metals, and elastomers. Rapid prototype (RP) laser sintering can provide a competitive edge in your product development by producing rapid plastic or metal SLS prototypes with complex shapes that closely resemble injection-molded parts.
3D printing rapid prototyping uses a 3D printing process to quickly make low quantities of rubber-like parts. Lead times for 3D prototype printing are typically 3-5 days. 3D prototype printing uses PolyJet technology to extrude a photo polymer from a printhead and cure it with a UV lamp. The main advantage of this 3D printing rapid prototyping process is that the fine layer thickness in the Z dimension allows small features along sidewalls and upfacing surfaces. It can use a wider range of materials, including the low durometer rubber-like TangoBlack and TangoGray. 3D printing is a relatively inexpensive rapid prototyping technology. 3D product printing is well-suited for parts with extremely fine detail that cannot be captured with stereolithography (SLA) or other rapid prototyping techniques.
Additive Manufacturing, Additive Fabrication, Direct Digital Manufacturing: ProtoCAM is the Northeast's leading provider of additive manufacturing services using additive fabrication technologies. Additive manufacturing refers to the creation of production parts that are used in the final products, as opposed to prototypes used in the product development process.There is much debate about how to refer to the processes and technologies of creating 3D parts and 3D prototypes from three dimensional digital data such as 3D CAD drawings. The discussion reflects the trend in how these items are being used, as more and more customers are now using the the items produced using "rapid prototyping" technologies as finished parts and components in production goods. As materials continue to improve and techniques continue to get better, "prototypes" are becoming "parts".
By whatever name for the technology and process, ProtoCAM is ready and willing to serve customers with services for rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing, additive manufacturing, additive fabrication and direct digital manufacturing. | |
