ProtoCAM exhibited at the recent Design2Part trade show, held September 30 and October 1 2009 in Fredricksburg VA. ProtoCAM engineer Ryan Schmidt, who specializes in prototype engineering and plastics engineering, and sales consultant Joe Layman staffed the booth.

ProtoCAM has exhibited at this show and location in previous years. For this show, ProtoCAM brought many examples of SLA prototypes, SLS prototypes, and injection molded parts. Attendance at this show was a little lower than previous years, but there was plenty of traffic at the ProtoCAM booth. A lot of the visitors were very positive about the industry and the economy. It seemed that the hot topic of discussion at the show was new product development - this may be a sign of the rebounding economy. One of the more interesting visitors brought a cut away helicopter propeller to the ProtoCAM booth. He wanted to redesign the prop to fit certain specs. He inquired about making several prototypes so that he could test the contours in a wind tunnel.

ProtoCAM will also be exhibiting at the next Design2Part show: November 18-19 in Greenville, SC in Booth 126.

Would you like to schedule a meeting with ProtoCAM at an upcoming trade show to discuss our rapid prototyping services? If so, please contact ProtoCAM at 610-261-9010 or use our convenient Information Request form - please note in the Comment section that you would like to schedule a meeting.

Labels: plastics engineering, protocam, rapid prototyping, Selective Laser Sintering, stereolithography

ProtoCAM Managing Partner Ray Biery spoke recently at a seminar hosted by Lehigh University’s Center for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. The conference was held at Arkema Inc. in King of Prussia, PA, a producer of industrial chemicals. Biery’s presentation was titled "Low Cost Rapid Prototyping Options".

Biery gave an overview of the rapid prototyping technologies, including stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), and fused deposition modeling (FDM), and discussed the different kinds of rapid prototyping materials. He also spoke about the future of the rapid prototyping industry, including the trend to rapid manufacturing and its newest terminologies like additive manufacturing - the creation of production-ready parts.

Labels: Lehigh University, nanotech, protocam, Selective Laser Sintering, stereolithography

ProtoCAM offers the ability to produce parts in A6 tool steel using the selective laser sintering (SLS) process and LaserForm™ A6 steel material. Using LaserForm™ A6 offers our customers an alternative to traditional manufacturing techniques such as sand casting, plaster casting or investment casting. The metal parts produced using SLS and LaserForm™ A6 can be polished, welded, plated and machined. Parts must fit approximately within a 12”x10” envelope with the maximum height being between 6” to 7”. Additionally, all part features must be greater than .040”. The “as sintered” hardness of the part is 10-20 Rockwell “C” but can be heat treated to 39 HRc.

The SLS with LaserForm™ A6 process starts by selective laser sintering a blend of A6 tool steel, tungsten carbide and a binder. When finished, the “green” part is infiltrated with bronze yielding a fully dense part composed of approximately 60% A6 and 40% bronze. Using LaserForm™ material is the definitive solution for low volume rapidly produced metal prototypes, parts or tooling inserts for injection molding. Additionally, if your metal part application is not suitable for using LaserForm™, ProtoCAM offers investment casting, plaster casting and sand casting parts.


Please contact ProtoCAM with your application or any questions you might have about LaserForm™ A6, metal prototypes and metal parts.



LaserForm™ is a registered trademark of 3D Systems, Inc.

Labels: LaserForm, Metal Prototypes, Selective Laser Sintering