Additive Manufacturing Zone

Companies may produce raw parts with 3D printing that still require machining, such as Slice Mfg. using its lineup of Willemin-Macodel’s 508 MT machining centers with turning capabilities for finishing.

Visit Production Machining’s Additive Manufacturing (AM) zone which includes technical articles, case histories and news about the technologies that build 3D objects by adding materials in layers. 3D printing can create functional, industrial components including prototypes, tooling and end-use production parts.

The advantages of additive manufacturing include the freedom to produce small batches of intricate parts cost-effectively, as well as the freedom to realize part designs that would not be manufacturable in any other way. In some cases, the process is a way to use materials that otherwise would be impractical to apply.

Gardner Business Media covers this topic exclusively in Production Machining’s sister publication, Additive Manufacturing.

For Production Machining readers, there are instances in which some hybrid machine tools combine additive manufacturing with subtractive CNC machining. A good example of this is in the article, “First-Class Manufacturing with Additive.” The story details Slice Mfg., an Akron, Ohio-based laboratory and manufacturing facility that produces medical parts by first 3D printing them, and then uses machining centers with turning capabilities to machine the raw part.