Atomic Industries Turns to Velo3D for Tool and Die Manufacturing

It was only a matter of time before the tool and die industry turned to metal 3D printing to speed it processes. The Velo3D’s metal additive tools that Atomic Industries is using include a Sapphire printer that is calibrated to produce parts in M300 tool steel, an ultra-low carbon alloy with high-strength and hardness properties derived from intermetallic compounds rather than carbon content.

With the acquisition of Velo3D tools Atomic Industries intends to push the boundaries of precision engineering and advanced manufacturing to support high-quality tooling parts for efficient, standardized production lines.

Employing state-of-the-art technologies like artificial intelligence and metal 3D printing, Atomic Industries seeks to reshape industries by offering more affordable and repeatable tooling. This transformation eliminates barriers for its customers transitioning products from prototype to production-level manufacturing.

New Facility for New Equipment

Atomic Industries will operate Velo3D’s Sapphire printer from a newly renovated facility in Detroit. The tools are intended to help produce tooling for aerospace, automotive, and energy customers. Atomic Industries is the first company to qualify M300 tool steel for injection molding tooling with the Sapphire printer. 

“Our new Sapphire printer will be instrumental in helping Atomic Industries tackle the tooling market by qualifying M300 tooling steel with our customers and showing the full capabilities of 3D printed tooling,” said Aaron Slodov, Atomic Industries CEO and co-founder. “We're excited to go hands-on and prove the robustness of the Sapphire platform with conformal-cooling inserts and other challenging features that will empower our customers. This strategic investment aligns perfectly with our commitment to innovation and pushing the boundaries of what's possible in manufacturing."

M300 tool steel, with its remarkable combination of strength, toughness, and resistance to wear, has long been a staple in die-casting applications and tooling. By unlocking the ability to 3D print in this alloy with its fully integrated solution, Velo3D enables customers to manufacture better-performing tooling inserts that minimize downtime on production lines by extending the lifecycle of tooling inserts. The alloy is primarily used in high-pressure die-cast inserts for injection molding, where molten metal must be efficiently cooled at precise times and temperatures.

"Atomic Industries’ ground-up approach to advanced manufacturing allows them to implement revolutionary technologies without the baggage of legacy solutions, and we’re thrilled to partner with them on their journey to redefine manufacturing possibilities,” said Benny Buller, Velo3D founder and CEO. “It’s not often that we get to work with a customer who is essentially starting from a blank slate, and we feel confident that with their new Sapphire metal 3D printer, and its accompanying software, they will be able to exceed the demands of their customers and create a new framework for contract manufacturing."

Since its debut in 2018, Velo3D's Sapphire metal 3D printer has added new capabilities to the metal additive manufacturing landscape. It introduced printing capabilities that could not be achieved with conventional metal 3D printers, like minimizing or even eliminating the need for support. Velo3D achieved this by combining hardware, software, and underlying manufacturing processes into a fully integrated solution that could achieve repeatable, consistent results across any Sapphire printer calibrated for the same metal alloy.