EMTEC and BASTECH

Using stereolithography to demonstrate cost and time savings, EMTEC and BASTECH take Ohio's investment casting industry to the leading edge with a rapid tooling answer to competitive success.

The Challenge
Throughout history, man has developed creative solutions to technical problems, not by a lone pioneering spirit, but rather by the joining of many minds in a common pursuit. In this same spirit, Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC) has helped local manufacturers and investment casting foundries realize the value of advanced technology in achieving a competitive advantage. Stereolithography (SL) offered great promise in its ability to create accurate injection dies for wax patternmaking. EMTEC's challenge was to convince Ohio business owners that SL would work well with traditional foundry materials, and offer potential for improved productivity, profitability, and affordability. Under EMTEC's Casting Technology Advancement Program, the company teamed with BASTECH Engineering Services to develop a pilot project. Recognizing the need for a wax injection die they could demonstrate and that foundries could use to test the process, EMTEC chose a golf putter head – a design both readily recognizable yet complicated enough to be convincing.

“From concept to completion, the SL-created mold provided a 50% reduction in time compared with traditional aluminum and epoxy diemaking methods."
                                                               - Bob Dzugan,
                                                               Metal Casting Specialist, EMTEC

The Results
BASTECH engineers created a six-part wax injection die of the putter head and used SL to build five of the six parts. The resulting tool, which took three days to complete and cost $2,500, could produce 50 or more wax patterns and proved significant savings in both time and money. By comparison, an aluminum tool would take six weeks to build at a cost of $6,000. An equivalent epoxy tool would require two weeks, $2,000, plus the cost of the master pattern. High Tech Casting of Dayton, Ohio investment cast the first putter head in brass. EMTEC and BASTECH demonstrated the process to a number of Ohio foundries, gaining their confidence in the rapid tooling process. Since then, two more foundries have successfully performed sample production runs at 500 plus PSI, including production of 20 putter heads in 17-4 PH stainless steel for Bimac Corporation. Using SL rapid tooling for quick production of wax patterns provides the ability to:

• Produce wax injection molds in record time
• Eliminate expensive and lengthy toolmaking as well as toolmaker error
• Design original part and mold on the same system
• Check design and detect flaws early on
• Produce concept test models, functional prototypes, and short-run production parts, all within three weeks
• Work with traditional foundry waxes

The Tools
• SLA 250 system
• Pro/ENGINEER 3-D CAD modeling software, version 14
• Pro/MOLDESIGN mold making CAD program, version 14

Company Profile
EMTEC (Edison Materials Technology Center) is a non-profit corporation launched in 1987 as a part of the Ohio Department of Development's Thomas Edison Program. The company promotes innovative development and application of materials, materials processing and manufacturing technologies in a united effort with industry, academia and government. BASTECH is an engineering and rapid prototyping service bureau located in Dayton, Ohio. The company was developed to meet the rapid prototyping needs of manufacturers and foundries specifically in the areas of computer aided design, engineering, stereolithography, reproductions and prototype tooling. 

3D Systems, BASTECH and High Tech Casting are all members of the EMTEC consortium. 3D Systems provided funding in part for the original SLA system and offers technical support on numerous development projects. BASTECH maintains and operates EMTEC's SLA 250 system and allows members free machine time for projects such as this.