Proto Labs now offers stereolithography services.
Proto Labs, the world’s fastest digital manufacturing source for low volume production, has expanded its production facility in Telford, UK, with the introduction of an advanced additive manufacturing service for custom prototyping.
Together with its CNC machining and its one-day injection moulding services, Proto Labs is now offering stereolithography services to give designers and engineers more options for taking a product from prototyping to low-volume production.
Proto Labs’ stereolithography process offers high accuracy and a smooth surface finish on parts. It works well for prototyping very small parts and complex geometries during the earliest stages of a component’s development. The service is capable of producing parts in sizes up to 736mm by 635mm by 533mm, using a selection of thermoplastic-like materials that mimic ABS and polypropylene.
Lee Ball, Proto Labs’ Operations Director.
“We are excited to be able to offer this new additive manufacturing service to our customers in Europe,” Lee Ball, Proto Labs’ Operations Director, explained. “When compared to the commonly available fused deposition modelling (FDM) processes that are popular with hobbyists, SL offers a vastly improved level of resolution, accuracy and surface finish. SL can build parts with a layer thickness of 25 microns (0.0250mm) compared to the typical, entry-level FDM layer thickness of around 127 microns (0.127mm).”
The company is also planning to introduce selective laser sintering (SLS) and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) processes in 2016, with both technologies already having been successfully established in Proto Lab’s U.S. locations.
Join Proto Labs on 17th September for their first TCT hosted webinar “Digital Manufacturing” to find out more about the growing number of manufacturing options available to product innovators. REGISTER HERE.
