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How CAD/CAM Assistance Enhances Prototype Development

In today’s fast-paced manufacturing environment, the ability to swiftly and accurately develop prototypes is crucial. At Acrylic Art, we leverage advanced CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing) technologies to enhance our prototype development process, ensuring precision, efficiency, and high-quality outcomes for our clients.

Understanding CAD/CAM in Prototype Development

CAD/CAM systems integrate design and manufacturing processes through computer-based tools. CAD software enables the creation of detailed 2D and 3D models, while CAM software translates these designs into machine instructions for production. This seamless integration facilitates a streamlined workflow from initial concept to final prototype.

Advantages of CAD/CAM Assistance in Prototyping

Implementing CAD/CAM assistance in prototype development offers several key benefits:

  • Enhanced Precision: CAD software allows for meticulous design specifications, ensuring prototypes meet exact dimensions and tolerances. This precision is vital for components requiring tight tolerances.
  • Improved Efficiency: The integration of CAD and CAM reduces manual interventions, accelerating the transition from design to production. This efficiency leads to faster turnaround times and cost savings.
  • Flexibility in Design Modifications: CAD systems facilitate easy adjustments to designs, enabling rapid iterations and refinements without extensive rework. This flexibility is crucial for accommodating client feedback and evolving project requirements.
  • Consistency and Repeatability: CAM software ensures that manufacturing processes are consistent, producing prototypes that adhere to design specifications across multiple iterations. This consistency is essential for maintaining quality standards.

CAD/CAM Capabilities at Acrylic Art

At Acrylic Art, we offer comprehensive CAD/CAM services to support our clients’ prototype development needs:

  • In-House CNC Programming: Our skilled technicians utilize advanced CAM software to program CNC machines, enabling precise and efficient manufacturing of complex geometries.
  • Cost-Effective Prototype Machining: We provide machining services that balance quality and affordability, making high-quality prototypes accessible to a wide range of clients.
  • Rapid Prototype Delivery: Leveraging our integrated CAD/CAM systems, we expedite the prototype development process, ensuring timely delivery without compromising quality.

Real-World Applications

Our CAD/CAM-assisted prototype development has been instrumental in various projects:

  • Medical Devices: We have developed precise prototypes for medical instruments, ensuring they meet stringent industry standards.
  • Biotechnology Equipment: Our team has created complex components for biotech applications, facilitating advancements in research and development.
  • Semiconductor Components: We have produced prototypes for semiconductor manufacturing, adhering to the high precision required in this sector.

Partnering with Acrylic Art for Your Prototyping Needs

By integrating CAD/CAM assistance into our prototype development process, Acrylic Art delivers high-quality, precise, and efficient solutions tailored to your specific requirements. Our commitment to leveraging advanced technologies ensures that we meet and exceed your expectations in every project.

Contact us today to discuss how our CAD/CAM-assisted prototype development services can benefit your next project.

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What You Should Know About Anodizing Aluminum

When using metal components or creating products made from metal, anodizing can be a valuable step in the process, especially with a softer metal like aluminum. The process of anodizing aluminum prevents corrosion, resists scratching, improves aesthetics and creates a more durable product. The following information will help you see the value in completing this process for your metal components.

How Does It Work?

Before anodizing aluminum, the metal is first cleaned to remove any debris on the surface. It is then placed in an electrolytic solution and a positive electric charge is administered directly to the aluminum while a negative charge is sent to plates suspended in the solution. Negative ions are then pulled toward the aluminum.

What Is the Barrier Layer?

During the process in the electrolytic solution, pores on the aluminum open up to let the positive ions out, creating a geometric pattern that erodes into a substrate. The surface of the aluminum bonds with O2 to create aluminum oxide, creating a barrier that protects against corrosion and other chemical reactions. The longer the process continues, the pores extend deeper into the aluminum. Non-hard anodized coatings typically measure about 10 microns. Once the desired depth is reached, a cold water rinse stops the process.

Hard Anodizing

If you need greater corrosion protection for your aluminum, hard anodizing is the right solution. To achieve hard anodizing, a longer barrier process is necessary, often reaching depths of 25 microns or more. While this process takes more time and can be more costly, it provides enhanced durability to the metal.

Is Corrosion Protection Necessary?

Aluminum doesn’t rust, so you may wonder if corrosion resistance is even necessary. The answer is yes. While it can’t rust, aluminum can experience oxidation when exposed to the air. This oxidation is relatively harmless to aluminum, but that’s only when you consider exposure to pure air and water. In the real world, aluminum may be exposed to salt water, acid rain and other contaminants that can have a negative impact on the metal, making corrosion protection a necessity to avoid discoloration or mechanical failure.

Adding Color to Anodized Aluminum

When most people think of anodized aluminum, they think of coloring, which is a common use for the process. Once you have created the pores with the anodizing process, it’s the perfect time to add color to the metal before sealing off the pores with a water rinse. Adding color to aluminum using this process ensures long-lasting color. Because it lies deep within the metal, it won’t scratch off the surface.

Creating the Popular Metallic Look

When you think of something metal, you often think of something shiny. This is the result of the anodizing process. Anodizing is a form of etching that leaves the surface of the metal with a rough texture. Deeper pores mean a rougher texture. The way the light bounces off this surface creates the tell-tale metallic sheen most people recognize.

Use Caution with Your Design

When creating your anodizing bath, it’s important to remember it’s impossible to fully anodize an entire part. After all, the metal must be submerged, yet suspended in the bath, requiring a holder of some form. Any part of the metal concealed by the holder won’t be anodized, so it’s important to position your parts carefully and minimize obstructed areas as much as possible.

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Everything You Need to Know About Vapor Polishing

Have you ever wondered how they make super-thin, transparent plastics, like those used for eye contacts? It’s called vapor polishing. This is a technique used to polish or finish a plastic product to achieve transparency. So how exactly does this work? Read on to learn more.

How Does Vapor Polishing Work?

Vapor polishing is a technique that smooths out plastic resin material at the microscopic level to get the desired effect. This is done using a Weldon 4 solvent that reacts with the surface chemistry of polycarbonates. This solvent is heated to boiling and the vapors are sprayed on the plastic. The plastic surface then melts and fills in the small holes and scratches. When the vapor is gone, the plastic once again becomes solid.

Does the Plastic Need to Be Sanded?

Yes. Since vapor polishing works at the molecular level, it can’t take out large deformities in the plastic. For that reason, Acrylic Art will sand your parts before we vapor polish to a surface between 1000 and 1500 grit. From here, the vapor polishing only takes a few seconds before the product is finished.

Can Anyone Perform Vapor Polishing?

No. Vapor polishing should only be performed by a trained professional as the process could be dangerous if you breathe in the vapors In fact, vapor polishing is done in a highly controlled environment where the worker wears a breathing respirator. There are also suited up workers stationed outside the working chamber to offer assistance if needed. For all these reasons, it is advised not to try this on your own.

Does Vapor Polishing Harm the Environment?

No. When vapor polishing is done safely, it is not bad for the environment. Our facility pulls the vapors through a three-stage carbon filter to avoid any contamination to the atmosphere.

How Long Does Vapor Polishing Take?

The lead time on vapor polishing is short. In fact, once the vapor is applied to the plastic, it only takes a few seconds for it to become clear. There is no need for repeated exposure to the surface area. This means a large piece of plastic can be vapor polished in just minutes. After the vapor is taken away, the item becomes hard and is ready for use.

Is Vapor Polishing Cost-Effective?

Yes, especially when compared to hand or machine polishing. Furthermore, it would be impossible to polish by hand those geometric shapes with recesses and pockets. With vapor polishing, however, you can reach the deepest grooves for an even polish. The result is then immediate.

Is Vapor Polishing Right for You?

At Acrylic Art, we are here to help you with any vapor polishing project. We also offer an array of other finishing services. Contact us today to achieve the desired finished project you want. Our friendly team can be reached at 510-654-0953.

 

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How the Manufacturing Industry is Changing in 2021

2020 saw a significant amount of change in the manufacturing industry, especially as new technologies emerge and greater tolerances and precision are achieved. But 2021 will see even further evolution of standard manufacturing processes, as well as changes in how the manufacturing industry works. Here are some of the major changes we can expect to see.

1. Even manufacturing is going to go remote.

Because of the pandemic, many jobs are being shifted remotely. Traditionally, manufacturing was an area where everyone needed to be on-site. 2021 is going to see a lot of companies exploring whether they can do their supervision and other administrative tasks remotely.

2. Manufacturing machines are becoming “smarter.”

Machines today are connected to the Internet of Things and are highly automated. This will continue into 2021. Machines are going to be able to operate increasingly autonomously, faster, and cheaper, making for a wealth of new possibilities.

3. A lot of manufacturing has been shut down.

The pandemic caused a massive shake-up in the world of manufacturing. Many manufacturing plants have shut down. Some of them will never open again. Other manufacturing plants are doing better than ever before. In 2021, we will see which manufacturers survived the pandemic, and which were able to become stronger for it.

4. Many companies are shifting toward “local.”

Because of tariffs, taxes, and shipping issues, many companies are starting to become hyper-local. Manufacturing is happening not only within the country, but within the city. Even at a higher cost, it has become faster and more reliable. This may broaden as the effects of the pandemic wane.

5. Digitization is increasing — as is a reliance on the cloud.

There was a time when most manufacturers still wanted to work with primarily analog machines. But that time has passed. Today, many machines are becoming increasingly digital, with an increased reliance upon the cloud. Manufacturers are able to push products directly to machines remotely and are able to track their progress from wherever they are.

6. Rapid prototyping and customization are becoming critical to the industry.

3D printing has shaken the manufacturing industry up. Increasingly, businesses are finding themselves needing to create smaller, customized runs of products rather than larger, generic runs of products. The ability to rapidly prototype products and customize them on-the-fly is going to become increasingly important.

Industries change. It’s up to businesses to assess and evolve with trends. The manufacturing industry in 2021 is going to have an unprecedented about of flexibility, access, and customization. To find out more about plastic fabrication and precision CNC machining, contact the experts at Acrylic Art.

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