DigitalEcho office in St Albans.
Last year in our annual 3D printing service bureau update, we discussed the importance of people power in an industry where the technology is only as good as the skilled men and women behind it.
Twelve months on and TCT paid a visit to a new service provider first teased in 2016, specialising exclusively in metal 3D printing. Meeting with ex-Renishaw Director, Simon Scott, we were toured around a new facility in Newcastle-under-Lyme, home to Eclipse AM, a new additive manufacturing (AM) service provider that’s focussing on what he knows best, metal AM.
Inside that same facility is Staffordshire Precision Engineering (SPE), a 30-year old machine tool shop, serving customers in aerospace, automotive and beyond. Eclipse AM has set up shop inside the building with two Renishaw AM250 machines working in Stainless Steel and Aluminium with the aim of being the go-to-stop for metal 3D printing in automotive, aerospace and Formula 1.
Already working with high-profile automotive names, the vast majority of which are under strict non-disclosure agreements, Eclipse can’t say too much about its customers at the moment but Director, Gary Smith tells us the company is “in a good place”. As one of the first companies to offer AS9100 certification for aerospace, additive manufacturing and CNC machining, combining the knowledge SPE, it’s positioned well to hit the ground running with a firm understanding of sub-contract manufacturing, delivering all of the components to be a Tier 1 supplier.
Renishaw AM250 metal AM machine.
Eclipse AM is also targeting customers that are interested in metal 3D printing but not quite at the point of purchasing their own machine. Being that necessary stepping stone, one of the challenges has been getting people to understand the process and for that reason, it’s not always making parts that are well suited to additive. But that’s not such an issue, whilst many automotive manufacturers think of metal AM as a form of prototyping, Eclipse is demonstrating how metal additive is not just about the physical part but rather peripheral benefits such as no tooling and fast turnaround. “It will gain more momentum as people get educated with it” says Gary, and the team is set to host an open house event this summer, which aims to do just that.
Another bureau devoting itself to a niche area of the market is St Albans-based Digital Echo Ltd, a service bureau dedicated to providing wax 3D printing patterns for the investment casting industry. Founded back in 2000, it’s the biggest supplier to its target industry in the UK, the welcome result of a happy accident after an initial purchase of a 3D Systems ThermoJet printer proved it would be possible to use these wax prints for casting.
Digital Echo has since amassed a further four ThermoJet machines and recently invested in three 3D Systems ProJet printers, supplied by Print It 3D, the first of which are described as the facility’s “workhorses” and the latter for high precision work. Bryan Dransfield, Managing Director at Digital Echo says that it’s all about “higher quality, complexity and volume” for customers seeking low volume or prototype castings produced without the requirement for tooling.
Viewed as an alternative to direct metal 3D printing, one of the biggest benefits Bryan describes is the lack of restriction in material choice for the end product. Once the pattern is printed, it can be cast in anything from aluminium to nickel, an ideal prospect for customers wanting to use a very specific percentage of a certain alloy. In addition, there’s a level of quality assurance that comes with a tried and tested method like casting which already has its own quality standards in place. Foundries themselves will have a particular aerospace or automotive accreditation which guarantees the quality of the final part produced from the printed pattern. Working directly with foundries often means that the team don’t get to see where the end-part is going to be applied but it can be anything from an automotive component to a complex impeller.
As the AM industry has grown, so has the competition between different kinds of technologies but companies like these, operating in very specific corners of the market, are spending time educating customers about what makes the most sense and sometimes more importantly, what doesn’t. Bryan concludes: “We have to manage the customer’s expectations”.
