At Rapid: A 73-Year-Old Machine Shop’s Journey into Metal AM
Imperial Machine & Tool Co. presents at Rapid 2017 about incorporating metal additive manufacturing into a traditional machine shop environment.
“A 73-Year-Old Machine Shop's Journey into Metal Additive Manufacturing” is the title of a talk that Imperial Machine & Tool will give at Rapid, the annual conference and tradeshow dedicated to 3D printing and additive manufacturing. Rapid this year is May 8-11 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Imperial Machine & Tool is a fourth-generation family manufacturing business with a long history of investing in leading-edge capabilities. The shop was using jig grinders in the 1950s and it was an early adopter of numerical control. Current President Chris Joest sees additive manufacturing as a logical step on that trajectory; the company now has two selective laser melting machines from SLM Solutions. We’ve covered the shop’s journey into AM most recently in this article detailing how additive has come into its own in this shop, now following most or all of the same planning and workflow procedures as the traditional manufacturing operations.
Imperial’s presentation at Rapid is currently scheduled for Tuesday, May 9, at 10:15 a.m. The company will also have a booth on the show floor, exhibiting components made from the combination of SLM and precision machining.
Related Content
-
VulcanForms Is Forging a New Model for Large-Scale Production (and It's More Than 3D Printing)
The MIT spinout leverages proprietary high-power laser powder bed fusion alongside machining in the context of digitized, cost-effective and “maniacally focused” production.
-
Machine Tool Drawbar Made With Additive Manufacturing Saves DMG MORI 90% Lead Time and 67% CO2 Emission
A new production process for the multimetal drawbar replaces an outsourced plating step with directed energy deposition, performing this DED along with roughing, finishing and grinding on a single machine.
-
Additive Manufacturing Is Subtractive, Too: How CNC Machining Integrates With AM (Includes Video)
For Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing, succeeding with laser powder bed fusion as a production process means developing a machine shop that is responsive to, and moves at the pacing of, metal 3D printing.