Cooling plates and bus bars are function parts: the cooling plate manages heat through its channels and seals, and the bus bar carries current through its contact surfaces. Their performance is decided by machining — the channel geometry, the flatness, the contact finish, and the plating. This guide covers the machining requirements for these two

Vacuum and Cleanroom Parts Answer to the Environment Vacuum and cleanroom hardware answers to the environment before it answers to the drawing. The material must not outgas into the chamber, the surfaces must not shed particles into the process, and the cleaning must be verified, not assumed. Machining these parts is as much about the

Urethane casting and injection molding both produce plastic parts from a mold, but they sit on opposite sides of the volume curve. Urethane casting pours two-part resin into a silicone mold, with low tooling cost and small batches; injection molding injects thermoplastic into a steel mold, with high tooling cost and low per-part cost at

3D printing has crossed from modeling into production in medical devices because it creates geometry that machining and molding cannot: patient-matched surgical guides, implants with porous lattices, instruments with internal channels, and anatomical models cut from real scan data. That value is real, and so are the obligations, because a printed medical part carries the

Aerospace was one of the first industries to adopt metal 3D printing, because the math favors it: every kilogram saved in an aircraft structure pays fuel savings for the life of the aircraft, and additive manufacturing turns that math into geometry. Bracket consolidation, lattice structures, and parts with internal cooling channels are lighter and sometimes

The Material Is a Requirement, Not a Printer Setting The same geometry printed in PLA, nylon, resin, titanium, or stainless steel behaves like a different part, because the material carries the load, the temperature, and the chemical exposure. That is why 3D printing material selection should start with the service requirement rather than the printer.

Lead time is where prototypes get frustrating and programs get late, and the frustration usually comes from a misunderstanding of what “lead time” includes. A prototype order does not begin at the machine; it moves through quoting, file review, scheduling, building, post-processing, inspection, and shipping, and each stage adds its own hours or days. Understanding

No, They Are Not the Same Thing Rapid prototyping and 3D printing are not the same thing. Rapid prototyping is a manufacturing strategy: produce a physical part quickly so the design can be seen, felt, and tested, and the process can be 3D printing, CNC machining, urethane casting, or any method that delivers the part

Additive manufacturing is the formal technology family defined by ISO/ASTM 52900, and rapid prototyping is the application strategy that any process can serve. This page is written for engineers and buyers who need the formal terminology for specifications, standards, and production procurement, and it focuses on the definition and scope of additive manufacturing rather than

A CNC machine is a computer-controlled tool that cuts, turns, forms, or otherwise works material to a specification, and the machine family determines what geometry, materials, and tolerances a shop can make. Specifying the right machine type is the difference between a part that machines cleanly and one that is impossible or expensive. This overview