More Quotes · 9 March 06 by Jesse Crossen
We’ve sent the Trautman Hook design to more manufacturers for quoting, and the results are good. There are two direct metal processes that are in the right price range, Prometal and SLS Laserform. Both start by binding particles of stainless steel together with plastic, Prometal by spraying on the binder and SLS by melting it with a laser. Then the part is sintered in a furnace, which vaporizes the plastic and fuses the particles of steel together. At this point, the part is still porous, so it is heated again in the furnace next to an ingot of bronze, which melts, flows through the part, and fills all the voids. The resulting part is a composite of stainless steel and bronze. Below are the quotes we received for the two processes:
- $435 for 1 device (subject to a minimum $500 order)
- $370 each for 10 devices
- $275 each for 100 devices
Rapid Tool Inc. (SLS Laserform ST-100)
- $954 for 1 device
- $338 each for 10 devices
- $289 each for 100 devices
Note: The rapid prototyping and manufacturing industry is very dynamic, and these prices may not be accurate within a few months of February 2006.
The best aspect of these processes is that, unlike with plaster casting, the batches can contain multiple designs. For instance, a batch of ten could contain five left-handed hooks and five right handed hooks. We are in the process of getting prototypes made using these technologies.
