On-demand digital platform Fathom Manufacturing cut toolmaking time 45%, from 200 to 110 hours, by eliminating or reducing operations including CNC milling, EDM, and polishing.

Dezeen and MINI World Tour: in our next movie from Eindhoven, Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Dave Hakkens shows us how his Precious Plastic recycling machines work and explains why he made the blueprints freely available online.

Hakkens designed a range of products to be produced using the machines, including a rotation-moulded waste paper bin, an injection-moulded spinning top and an extruded plastic lamp.

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Westminster Tool integrated a Mantle beta system into its mold-making operations, finding that the printer’s precision lets them bypass many internal manufacturing processes, said founder and president Ray Coombs. “Mantle far surpasses any additive metal technology that we have seen previously.”

Like Hakkens' Phonebloks concept for a modular mobile phone, Precious Plastic is an open-source project and Hakkens hopes other designers will adapt and improve the machines over time.

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The system employs Mantle’s H13 and P2X tool steels, which perform like traditional materials in secondary operations such as machining, polishing, coating, and laser welding. Tool paths and machine instructions are automated with the system’s easy-to-use software.

“There is a massive skills gap in the injection mold-making industry,” said Hillary Thomas, Westminster Tool Vice President. “Mantle’s technology is so intuitive that, with minimal training, we can have someone quickly operating and running this machine. Mantle will help Westminster Tool change how we do business.”

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Using its patented TrueShape technology, Mantle’s flagship products, the P-200 printer and F-200 furnace, have already cut tooling lead times and costs by more than 50%, the company said. Toolmakers who have installed beta systems include Tessy Plastics, Nicolet Plastics, Fathom Manufacturing, and Westminster Tool. The first full production systems are slated for delivery in the first half of 2023.

Sent every Thursday and containing a selection of the most important news highlights. Plus occasional updates on Dezeen’s services and invitations to Dezeen events.

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"You can make whatever you want," he explains. "Everybody can use [the machines] to make whatever they want and set up their own production."

Geoff Giordano is a tech journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in all facets of publishing. He has reported extensively on the gamut of plastics manufacturing technologies and issues, including 3D printing materials and methods; injection, blow, micro and rotomolding; additives, colorants and nanomodifiers; blown and cast films; packaging; thermoforming; tooling; ancillary equipment; and the circular economy. Contact him at [email protected].

Wisconsin’s Nicolet Plastics will install one of Mantle’s first production systems to bring tool production in house and increase tool complexity. Mantle’s system will let Nicolet “significantly reduce the time it takes to produce production-quality tools and be able to start production in weeks versus months,” according to CEO Tony Cavalco. “Our tool designers and project managers will utilize the Mantle system for projects involving high-volume part manufacturing. Mantle technology will allow us to design conformal cooling channels to reduce molding cycle time and ensure the highest quality products for our customers.”

He says he got the idea for the project after visiting plastic manufacturing companies and discovering that they were reluctant to use recycled plastic.

Global contract manufacturer Tessy Plastics surpassed 1.25 million cycles on a deodorant packaging mold built with Mantle components and slashed production time 60%, from 150 to 60 hours.

The Precious Plastic machines include a plastic shredder, an extruder, an injection moulder and a rotation moulder, which Hakkens made using a combination of new custom-made components and reclaimed parts he found at a scrapyard.

The simplified toolmaking system comes at a critical time for the $265-billion molded parts market, asserted one expert.

"I developed these machines and I shared them on the internet," Hakkens says. "People can make them on the other side of the world and send some feedback and say, 'hey, maybe you can do this better'. In the end you'll have this set of machines and you can start a local recycling centre."

"I made these machines based on industrial standards," says Hakkens. "But they are all made very simple so you can produce locally. Like a craftsman, you can start working with plastic."

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"We recycle just 10% [of waste plastic]," says Hakkens. "I wondered why we recycle so little so I investigated it. I went to all these companies and I realised that they don't really want to use recycled plastic. So I wanted to make my own tools so I could use recycled plastic locally."

A new metal 3D-printing system from San Francisco’s Mantle promises to dramatically reduce the time and cost of creating injection mold tooling.

The P-200 printer, with a build volume of 200 x 200 x 150 mm, is produced on a CNC platform that combines printing and machining for superior accuracy and surface finish. The F-200 furnace sinters parts and can support multiple printers.