APG to showcase use of Additive Manufacturing in the creation of award-winning MIM guitar components at MIM2025
February 10, 2025
At this year’s MIM2025, organised by the Metal Powder Industries Federation, David Smith of APG-MIM, a Division of Nichols Portland Inc based in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, USA, will illustrate the use of Additive Manufacturing in the production of MIM components through a discussion on APG-MIM’s six-string guitar capo assembly. This assembly was recently named Grand Prize winner in the Hand Tools–Recreation category of the MPIF Awards.
Developed in collaboration with Paige Musical, each assembly – consisting of a saddle, adjustment guide, bar, and yoke – is crafted from MIM-17-4 PH stainless steel. The component is designed to temporarily shorten the strings of a guitar, raising the pitch of unfretted strings and enabling key changes in open-position chords.
The challenging part design (with a hole diameter of .04 mm as sintered) reportedly led to issues with tool design, molding, de-binding, and sintering operations. All hole diameters had to be within .04 mm as sintered and, as the component is fitted together through joins by the user, the star-shaped design on the yoke had to precisely fit the threaded bar design. Customised ceramic setters and an optimised two-stage injection molding process were required to successfully manufacture the component. Manufacturing the pieces in a singular location allowed for multiple iterations of the design to be easily tested before the final one was selected and allowed the quality to be carried through all pieces.
MIM2025 will be held from February 24-26 in Costa Mesa, California, USA. David Smith’s presentation, ‘Innovative Solutions in Six-String Guitar Capo Assembly: Overcoming Design Challenges for Paige Musical,’ will take place on February 25.
Those interested in registering for the event can do so here.
