VALENCIA, CA: July 15, 1996—Solid Concepts Inc. announced today that they are accepting orders for their proprietary TrueCast epoxy tooling. Developed by the Company’s Advanced Technology Center, TrueCast epoxy tooling can be used for limited production runs in a wide variety of thermoplastic materials without the time and expense of CNC aluminum or steel tooling.
"TrueCast tooling is a very exciting breakthrough," said Joe Allison, president of Solid Concepts. "It fills an important gap in the product development and manufacturing process. While traditional rapid prototypes and soft tooling are great for producing small quantities of parts in limited materials, manufacturers often need larger quantities in true engineering materials. With TrueCast, we can now provide customers with hundreds of prototypes, in a wide range of materials."
TrueCast epoxy tools are created from stereolithograpy patterns using a proprietary process developed by Solid Concepts. Using this process, it is possible to create tooling that can be used on common injection molding equipment to make parts from a wide range of thermoplastics. Traditional methods of creating this type of tooling would require weeks of effort and may cost tens of thousands of dollars. TrueCast tools can also be used for wax patterns for investment casting.
According to Allison, manufacturers around the world are seeking ways to reduce the time it takes to get new products to market. "In some industries, such as computers and consumer electronics, product life is measured in months instead of years. The ability to create prototypes and limited production parts in the right materials, without waiting months for tooling, can have an immediate and direct impact on profits and market share," said Allison.
