Mintion has developed a unique 3D printer accessory that I haven’t seen before.
The company produces a wide range of accessories for desktop 3D printing, including full toolkits, nozzle clog cleaning sets, and monitoring cameras, including the Beagle camera that we reviewed some time ago.
Now they’ve added a new item, of a type we’ve never seen before. It’s called the “Professional Heat Insert Press Kit for 3D Printing”.
Heat pressing is a technique used in 3D printing where a metal component, such as a nut, bolt, or other fixture, is inserted into a 3D printed part through heat. The component is heated and then pressed into the part. The warmth from the component temporarily softens the plastic, allowing the component to be inserted. The component cools, and the plastic solidifies again, sealing in the component.
A typical use for this approach is to insert brass nut inserts into a part. These are specialized nuts designed to be embedded. Later, a bolt can then be attached to the part by screwing it into the embedded nut.
That sounds great, but there’s a problem: inserting a hot component is a tricky process. You have to hold the component with a tool instead of your fingers, and how exactly do you line it up so that it is in the correct location and is inserted in a perfect orientation?
That’s where the Professional Heat Insert Press Kit for 3D Printing comes in. It’s a machine that can both heat and press a metal component into a 3D printed part with precision.
The device somewhat resembles a soldering iron on a vertical axis that can move downward into a part. The operator simply lines up the part below and pushes the component into the part.
The press can heat up components to a whopping 500C, which makes it possible to insert components into almost any 3D printed thermoplastic material. It also includes special tips to hold components in metric sizes: M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M8.
The heat press is sold for US$71 as an assembly kit and comes with a variety of tools you might require during operation. Any 3D printer operator making parts with inserts might consider this accessory.
Via Mintion
