Living Large With 3D Printing
Ingersoll's MasterPrint 3D printer tackles extra-large parts seamlessly
Size matters, and the MasterPrint 3D printer with milling capabilities is living large. Built by Ingersoll Machine Tools Inc., Rockford, Illinois, the printer is part of a new line of additive manufacturing equipment that seamlessly programs, simulates, 3D-prints and mills extra-large composite parts in a single piece.
With the University of Maine, MasterPrint 3D-printed a hollow beam structure 7 m long × 1.6 m wide × 1.8 m tall (23’×5.2’×5.9′) with over 2,155 kg (4,751 lbs.) of carbon fiber-reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, said Piergiorgio Assandri, business director of composites and additive at Ingersoll Machine Tools. The machine prints a wide array of materials in various orientations and finishes parts with five-axis milling. The company says part manufacturers can benefit by combining their traditional skills with MasterPrint’s disruptive processes.
He said the platform can handle polymers and aluminum and has a working volume of 12 m × 4 m × 2.5 m (39.4’×13.1’×8.2′). The five-axis milling head runs at 25 kW (33.5 hp) and 18-rpm max spin using an HSK 63A toolholder. Designed for fast prototyping and making aerospace and naval molds, the printer can serve a wider market, namely companies needing wide and tall parts that are cost-effective, quick and reliable. MasterPrint uses a Siemens Sinumerik 840D sl CNC. Everything is fully automated, including changing cutting tools.
An employee works with the MasterPrint 3D printer and five-axis milling machine. Image courtesy of Ingersoll Machine Tools
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