Rapid Tooling
RAPID ALUMINUM TOOLING
By use of high speed machining centers and aluminum for the mold inserts, Dinsmore & Associates can create faster and accurate tools. Aluminum can be machined about twice as fast as tool steel, and it dissipates the heat better at the press. It can also be modified, polished and textured to meet your finishing needs. All these factors help us deliver molds to you faster - for less.
Dinsmore & Associates makes prototype molds and low-volume production molds within 2-3 weeks. Using high-speed milling, automated software, and a proprietary fixture system, hundreds of molds are completed each year. These molds are not only open and closed. We excel in making complex molds capturing undercuts with hand pickouts and manual slides. These molds can be polished, textured, modified, and welded on to make sure you get the most from your rapid tool.
Once you have your mold, you can now shoot most any engineering grade material. We have sampled ABS, Polycarbonate, Nylon, Glass-filled Nylon, PVC, Ultem, Delrin, etc. Along with sampling spec material, these molds can also run low-volume production.
Rapid tooling is becoming a new norm for the industry. It’s used as prototype tooling and for low-volume production. Vista has made molds that have produced over 40,000+ parts. 2,000-10,000 shots are run frequently for our over 900 customers. Depending on the part design and the choice of the material being injected, you can expect thousands and thousands of parts off these tools.
Our rapid prototype tooling services create precise molds faster with high-speed milling capabilities. Our machine runs at up to 42,000 RPMs with a tolerance of .0002″ - the most accurate method of any rapid prototyping equipment used for rapid tooling.
We use aluminum for mold inserts for several reasons. Aluminum can be machined about twice as fast as tool steel, and it dissipates the heat better at the press. All these factors help us deliver molds to you faster with higher quality.
NANOTOOL
- Nanotool
Nanotool gives the high precision physical properties and surface qualities required for a wide range of rapid tooling and rapid prototyping applications generating significant savings in both lead times and costs.
Conventional metal tools would have taken 4-6 weeks to produce but by using stereolithography (SLA), the complete process from CAD drawing to fitted injection molds took just eight working days.
As a result, costs and time to market were substantially reduced. Nanotooling on SLA machines offer more opportunities than conventional routes to build complex geometries and tight tolerances.
Nanotooling is especially useful where low series, small parts and precise tolerances are required. And is best where material for higher temperature prototypes such as automotive lamp assemblies include a base for metal coating.
NanoTool is preferred for complex shapes, particularly where accuracy, detail and surface quality are critical.
It produces strong, stiff, high temperature resistant composite parts on conventional stereolithography machines. It exhibits superior sidewall quality, along with excellent detail resolution as compared to other composite stereolithography materials.
NanoTool’s smooth surface quality and high initial modulus make it an excellent resin for metal plating, a growing application which saves time and money as an alternative to fully metal prototypes. It’s also ideal for creating strong, stiff parts that need to resist high temperatures, including wind tunnel models for aerospace and automotive applications.
