Exhibiting at Formnext Frankfurt, 19 – 22 November 2024

The Problem

Low volume production is expensive if not uneconomical in some cases. 

Fyous ran a case study comparing 3D printing and traditional mould making of an RC (Remote control) car body to Polymorphic moulding. The part was printed in both MJF and FDM. And then a mould was made for vacuum forming out of recycled plastic. 

FDM

Machine: Bambu labs X1 Carbon

Time: 7 hours

Cooling & Post processing: 10 minutes

Wastage: 50%

Cost: £7 per part

MJF

Machine: HP5210

Time: 12 hours

Cooling & Post processing: 24 hours

Wastage: 25%

Cost: £151 per part

CNC milling mould (In house)

Machine: Haas VF2

Set up time: 14 minutes

Time: 37 minutes

Post processing: 7 minutes

Total time: 58 minutes

Wastage: 100%

Cost: £8.47 per mould + £4 per part = £12.47

Polymorphic Moulding + Vacuum forming

Machine: PolyMo 3

Set up time: 5 minutes

Time: 20 minutes

Post processing: 0 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Wastage: 0%

Cost: £4 per part

 

The Result

PolyMorphic moulding is not only the fastest and least wasteful prototyping method but allows multiple engineering plastics for the part in this case to be used in a vacuum forming process. It also allows for instant production once the prototype is approved. No new production tooling is needed. Then, once your production run is finished, you can use the tooling for another geometry. This will enable digital stock infrastructure with no need to store moulds. 

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