3d Printed Sheet Metal Dies

It connects the industrial ecosystem of designers engineers buyers and production planners with industrial manufacturing service providers such as proto labs xometry sculpteo and 3d systems and fit manufacturing a lot more so you can be confident to find the best partner based on.

3d printed sheet metal dies. March 10 2020 using 3d printed forms to bend sheet metal isn t exactly new. Centerline hasn t yet put this tooling to the test in terms of longevity but vickery is confident that 3d printed press brake tooling can support several hundred or perhaps several. We ve seen several people create custom dies for their brakes and the results have shown the concept has merit for. The punch and die set were strong enough to form 14 gauge sheet steel in a press brake which is pretty impressive.

The blanks were precut with a laser before. Follow the design guidelines below to take full advantage of fdm for sheet metal tooling. This makes dies more ergonomic than traditional tooling resulting in improved safety for tool handlers and machine operators. Design guidelines for fdm sheet metal tools.

Sheet metal fabrication xometry offers punching laser cutting waterjet cutting stamping and bending sheet metal services. The tool wasn t used to cut the metal. Creating the die molds is a critical part to the process and traditionally takes days or weeks to be cnc milled to specifications. Hydroforming up to 10 000 psi 69mpa rubber pad press 1 000 ton press up to 3.

The maximum load applicable to 3d printed punches and dies is about 10 20 tons per meter depending on the shape of the tools and the material used. See the 3d printed punch and die in use in the first operation shown in the video below the remaining work is performed using conventional metal tooling. It is therefore possible to bend sheets with a thickness of up to 1 2 mm. This is therefore not a limiting factor as they are mainly used for thinner workpieces.