One Click Metal
Assembly Line
3D Printing Consolidates Assembly, Reduces Cost for Bar Feeder Component
Filmed at the 2024 edition of IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show, the video highlights One Click Metal’s BoldSeries platform, a laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) metal 3D printer engineered for safety and ease of use. The compact printer and its associated depowdering/sieving station use powder cartridges to move and store the material, so that the user rarely if ever needs to handle loose powder. Together, the two machines cost about $200,000, making this platform an attractive choice for universities, R&D labs, product development users and end-use part producers, including small and medium businesses with no prior experience in metal 3D printing.
One Click Metal originated as a spinout from laser technology specialist Trumpf. Turning center supplier Index is now a majority investor, and the video above was shot in the Index booth at IMTS. Index is finding applications for LPBF among the components of its machines; one example shown is a slider trolley used in bar feeders. Redesigning the assembled component for 3D printing resulted in a design that can be manufactured at 77% lower cost, with reduced risk of part failure.