Prototyping and Tooling Materials to Fulfill Your Needs
Are you an engineer, mechanical designer, model maker,or tool or prototype developer struggling to choose prototyping
or tooling materials? Whether your application calls for working
on an existing project or beginning a new design or prototype,
Curbell Plastics can help.
To help bring your initial designs and concepts to life,
Curbell Plastics has a full range of prototyping and tooling
materials to support your product and part development. Curbell’s
extensive product line includes: DSM Somos® stereolithography resins,
liquid casting and laminating resins, Rampf® tooling boards, Momentive Silicones
for mold making and Plexus® Methacrylate adhesives for bonding SLA parts.
New Trends in Prototyping
The prototyping stage has become more and more critical in recent years as the pace of new product development has accelerated and product lifecycles have contracted. Since most product design work is now done with some type of computer software, the first model of a new product is often a series of computer files. Converting these files into three-dimensional physical models can be accomplished through an additive or subtractive process.Three Dimensional Physical Models
Additive TechnologiesThere are several additive technologies but they all share one thing in common – the computer models are cut into layers and this data is used to construct 3D models in a layer-by-layer fashion. One of the most accurate and popular additive technologies is stereolithography (SLA). SLA begins with a liquid photopolymer. The layer-by-layer building process is carried out with a UV laser. As the laser traces out each layer, all liquid polymer struck by the laser instantly solidifies.
Subtractive Approach
The subtractive approach begins with a large block or buck of machinable material. A CNC milling center, working from the computer model, cuts away at this material until the 3D model remains. Urethane tooling board is widely used for this purpose. Individual boards are laminated together with appropriate adhesive to create the buck. Urethane tooling boards come in a variety of densities. Higher density boards offer better strength and durability while lower density boards offer lower cost. Urethane tooling board is cheaper than aluminum and more dimensionally stable than wood products such as MDF, pine or mahogany.
Once a one-off prototype has been made with either approach, replicas of this prototype can be made quickly and inexpensively using silicone moldmaking materials and liquid urethane or epoxy casting resins.
CNC-Machined Molds for the Composites Industry
Urethane tooling boards are also increasingly finding use in CNC-machined molds in the rapidly growing composites industry. CNC equipment permits the production of highly accurate molds. Molds made from urethane tooling boards remain dimensionally accurate in storage for years because they do not shrink with time and are unaffected by moisture.
Put Us to Work - For You!™
 Epoxy Casting and Epoxy Laminating ResinsEpoxy products are widely used throughout the composites industry, especially for aerospace applications. More about epoxy casting and epoxy laminating resins |
 Sterolithography ResinsUse for producing parts with high accuracy and good surface finish More about sterolithography resins |
 Tooling BoardsTake the place of wood and metal in models, patterns, molds, jigs and fixturesMore about tooling boards | ||
 Urethane Casting ResinsTwo-part systems designed for tooling and prototyping applications More about urethane casting resins |
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