Wilson Tool International, White Bear Lake, Minn., a manufacturer of tooling systems for punch presses, press brakes, and punch and die components for the stamping and tableting industries, has announced the addition of a new division: Wilson Tool Additive™.
Additive manufacturing is the process of building a 3-D part from a raw material using a computer-generated file. This new division will give Wilson Tool the capability to supply companies with made-to-order bending tools and fabrication support parts in hours, not days or weeks.
According to the company, Bend3D™ additively manufactured bending tools match the quality of traditional steel press brake tools used to bend sheet metal. They also are suitable for forming, air bending, and mark-free bending.
The Solv3D™ additively manufactured support parts can replace end-use parts that have traditionally been manufactured out of steel or plastic, the company reports. They can be used to replace items in a shop that require a mold to be created, as an alternative to jibs and fixtures, and as prototypes.
