Mack Prototype Expands Additive Manufacturing Capabilities

Mack Prototype (Gardner, Mass.), a division of Mack Molding that is focused on complex prototyping and low-volume manufacturing, has installed a Stratasys F770 Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printer capable of producing large 3D printed parts.

Running both ABS and ASA materials, the F770 features the widest build chamber of any Stratasys FDM 3D printer, with a build envelope that spans 39 by 24 by 24 in. That is 13-cubic feet of build volume allowing it to produce large, single parts or large assortments of smaller parts.

Typical part accuracy is ± .010 in. (.254 mm) or ± .002 in./in. (.050 mm/mm), whichever is greater. In a release, Mack Prototype President Greg Cebular said the new machine will allow the company to print large parts as a single piece without having to join separate components together. Potential applications for the new machine range from large prototypes to large master patterns that are used in cast urethane molding, as well as low-volume batch runs of parts of various sizes.

In the last 18 months, Mack Prototype has invested more than $875,000 in equipment and infrastructure. In addition to the Stratasys, the company’s fleet includes a smaller format FDM printer, along with Carbon CLIP Digital Light Synthesis (DLS), HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) and Formlabs Stereolithography (SLA) machines.

“From just a few parts to as many as a few thousand, our team of engineers can help customers with their low-volume and bridge production requirements with flexible solutions designed to deliver high-quality parts while reducing time and cost,” Cebular said in the release, noting that  if production needs change, Mack can help its customers meet higher volume demand with traditional tooling and molding, scaling production at Mack Prototype or at one of Mack’s manufacturing centers.