3DGBIRE and CMG Technologies to provide AM debinding & sintering services in UK
September 20, 2021
The sole distributor of BASF Forward AM products in the UK and Ireland, 3DGBIRE, Chorley, Lancashire, UK, and legacy user of BASF Catamold feedstock for Metal Injection Moulding, CMG Technologies, Woodbridge, Suffolk, have announced a partnership to provide UK-based debinding & sintering options for parts manufactured from BASF Forward AM’s Ultrafuse metal filaments.
Additional aims of the partnership will include finishing services for debound & sintered AM parts, as well as encouraging the adoption of AM by facilitating the training, upskilling and professional development of staff within customer organisations.
Because the service debinds and sinters additively manufactured and MIM parts in the same furnaces at the same time, it is stated that costs are reduced, along with lead times for customers using these services.
“3DGBIRE and CMG Technologies have merged two industries in their service offering: conventional Metal Injection Moulding based on Catamold technology and 3D printing with metal Fused Filament Fabrication [FFF] using Ultrafuse 316L or 17-4PH,” stated Tobias Rödlmeier, Business Development Manager for Metal Filaments at BASF Forward AM. “We are very pleased that this efficient solution is now open to our UK Ultrafuse metal filament customers.”
Previously parts had to be shipped to Germany, which has become an increasingly costly and prolonged process according to Paul Croft, 3DGBIRE Director. “Before Brexit you could quickly and cost effectively ship parts and goods to Germany, that is no longer the case so we were very keen to establish a debinding and sintering offering in the UK that enables customers to realise the huge cost saving opportunities of Additive Manufacturing,” Croft stated.
Rachel Garret, Managing Director, CMG, added, “CMG is thrilled to be expanding our relationship with BASF into the AM market. We have over twenty years of experience within the MIM industry and our extensive knowledge developed over the last two decades means that this is a very natural progression for us. We can apply our skills within debinding & sintering of MIM parts directly to the debinding & sintering of 3D metal printed parts to ensure we are processing parts to the highest quality and accuracy.”
