By Scott Kraemer, Tooling Engineer and Mantle Senior Application Engineer
Toolmakers and molders know that polishing and texturing tool inserts can be critical for producing parts with the desired surface finish. The tooling industry has extensive experience polishing and texturing traditional tool steels, but how well can 3D printed tool components from Mantle’s technology be polished and textured? To answer this question, we worked with industry leaders who performed standard polishing and texturing operations on printed and sintered blocks of P2X, our P20-comparable material. and H13.
AS-PRINTED SURFACE FINISH
A unique capability of Mantle’s TrueShape™ hybrid 3D printing process is that we achieve a surface finish of 1-3 μm Ra (26-28 Charmilles) after sintering which is comparable to the surface finish of a sinker EDM process. In many cases, no additional finishing work is needed before the insert can be installed in a mold or die. However, in cases where additional texturing or polishing is required, Mantle’s materials can be polished and textured just like traditional tool steels.
POLISHING
Using industry-standard products—including paste and water, diamond, and stone, P2X polished just like P20. In fact, a demanding A2 finish was achieved on P2X despite the fact that one expert noted that standard P20 normally does not achieve this finish and that it requires a P20 HH (high hard) grade to achieve such a high-gloss surface.
Photo of a Mantle 3D printed P2X insert polished to an A2 finish
THIS MATERIAL TOOK TEXTURING JUST LIKE P20 WITH THE SAME SETTINGS. WE COULD POLISH IT TO AN A2 FINISH.
– MOLD-TECH
Similarly, Equivalent surface finish performance was observed for Mantle’s printed H13 tool steel using the same operating procedures as traditional H13 tool Steel. Likewise to P2X, Mantle’s printed H13 achieved an A2 polish, and no pitting was observed, which is often a concern with metal 3D printing.
Left: Mantle as printed surface finish Right: A2 surface finish after hand polishing
| Surface Finish | Polishing Medium | Mantle Printed P2X | Mantle Printed H13 |
| Paste, water, mineral oil | Equivalent | Equivalent | |
| Polish | Diamond (3,000 grit) | Equivalent | Equivalent |
| Stone (600 grit) | Equivalent | Equivalent | |
| Polish level achieved (A, B, C) | A2 | A2 |
TEXTURING
A variety of industry-standard textures were applied to both horizontal and vertical faces of the P2X and H13 block with comparable results to that of standard wrought P20 and H13 steel. Processes included acid etch, laser etch, chemical etch, and deep chemical etch. No pitting or voids were found when the blocks were textured on vertical or horizontal faces.
Image of Mantle 3D printed P2X with two industry-standard textures achieved via deep chemical etching
| Surface Finish | Type of Texturing | Mantle Printed P2X | Mantle Printed H13 |
| Acid Etch | Equivalent | Equivalent | |
| Laser Etch | Equivalent | Equivalent | |
| Texture | Chemical Etch | Equivalent | Equivalent |
| Deep Chemical Etch | Equivalent | Equivalent | |
| Horizontal | Equivalent | Equivalent | |
| Vertical | Equivalent | Equivalent |
POLISHING AND TEXTURING PERFORMANCE
- A high-gloss A2 finish can be achieved on both Mantle printed P2X and H13.A wide variety of industry standard textures have been successfully applied to P2X.
- Various industry-standard textures have been successfully applied to Mantle printed P2X and H13.
- Mantle’s printed P2X and H13 accept polishes and textures like standard tool steels without modifying standard processes or mediums.
ABOUT SCOTT:
Scott Kraemer is a Senior Application Engineer at Mantle and is a director on the board of the SPE Mold Technologies Division . He is passionate about toolmaking and has spent his career as a mold designer, tooling engineer, and injection molding specialist at companies like Innatech, L&L Products, and PTI Engineered Plastics. For the last 8 years, Scott has been at the forefront of applying 3D printing to the tooling industry and has worked with many leading metal and polymer 3D printers.
