Latin-America (Português)
Latin-America (Português)
Blog

Making Opportunities With 3D Printing in Soft Jaws


Rob Levesque Senior Marketing Content Manager

Robert Levesque

Making Opportunities With 3D Printing in Soft Jaws - Blog by Stratasys.

3D Printed Soft Jaws are a New Opportunity

Machining is typically the go-to method for making workholding fixtures. For example, a soft jaw is a fixture used for an oddly shaped part that can’t easily be held with standard clamp-up tools. That usually means the soft jaws have to be custom machined. But when all your CNC machines are backlogged with more pressing jobs, what do you do? Let’s take a look at how one innovative company solved the problem.


A rising demand for workholding fixture solutions in many manufacturing industries.

East/West Industries is a successful contractor in the competitive aerospace industry, supplying manufacturers like Boeing and Lockheed Martin with parts and subassemblies. But as Mike Vetter, East/West’s director of product development, highlights in this video, meeting production schedules amid ever-increasing customer demands is a real challenge. He points out how an increased need to make soft-jaw workholding fixtures fostered a cycle of trying to justify new machines for increased capacity. But that poses additional challenges with space constraints, cost, and a dwindling skilled labor base.

 

How companies relying on Stratasys as a key for their 3D printing (additive manuifacturing) solutions.

In this short video, Vetter identifies 3D printing as the solution. While that may be a paradigm shift for some, it clearly shows there’s a time and place when 3D printing is a better alternative to traditionally machined fixtures.

In an upcoming post, we’ll go deeper into the actual savings East/West Industries experienced using 3D printed soft jaws.

Zi2bxdFUYUfGDUBW35DXB6

Soft Jaws, 3D printed with FDM™

Understand how to take advantage of 3D printing for traditional manufacturing.

Related Content

Gosiger - FDM Manufacturing - Use Case

A Successful Customer Example of 3D Printed Soft Jaws

In this post, we look at how Gosiger, a leading machine tool and manufacturing systems provider, opted for 3D printed soft jaws instead of machining them.

Veja mais
future proof webinar banner image with ssys logo.png

Welcome to the Future of 3D Printing

Explore the future of 3D printing with our webinar. Discover innovations, enhance efficiency, and stay ahead in your industry with Stratasys

Veja mais
From Prototype to Production: How to Choose the Best Composite 3D Printer

Webinar-on-demand: From Prototype to Production: How to Choose the Best Composite 3D Printer

Join us as we cut through the fluff and provide you with the essential insights you need to make an informed decision when investing in a composite 3D printer.

Veja mais
Gosiger - FDM Manufacturing - Use Case

In this post, we look at how Gosiger, a leading machine tool and manufacturing systems provider, opted for 3D printed soft jaws instead of machining them.

future proof webinar banner image with ssys logo.png

Explore the future of 3D printing with our webinar. Discover innovations, enhance efficiency, and stay ahead in your industry with Stratasys

From Prototype to Production: How to Choose the Best Composite 3D Printer

Join us as we cut through the fluff and provide you with the essential insights you need to make an informed decision when investing in a composite 3D printer.