At Japan’s biennial Jimtof machine tool show in Tokyo, 3D printing was in the spotlight with a new concept from Sodick (Kaga, Japan) that combined selective laser sintering coupled with traditional machining. The OPM250L “One Process Milling Center” can fabricate tooling inserts with complex internal cooling channels that would be impossible to achieve using traditional fabrication methods.
The tool building process in this 3D printer entails the layering of 10 layers of metal powder (maraging steel), with each layer measuring 50 μm, that are individually selectively sintered, followed by conventional machining with spindle speeds up to 45,000 rpm. This regular machining at 0.5-mm intervals means very deep fine detail can be machined into the insert.
Next slide: Packaging that seems to disappear
