Additive manufacturing Faster cooling, better parts: 3D printing transforms toolmaking

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3D-printed, conformally cooled tool inserts significantly reduce cycle times and boost component quality. Speedpart demonstrates how additive and hybrid manufacturing open up new design freedom in toolmaking — from individual inserts to complete mould construction.

Additive manufacturing opens up new design possibilities in toolmaking that are difficult or impossible to achieve using conventional methods. Many toolmaking companies still rely on traditional manufacturing processes — often associated with geometric limitations, high tool weight and suboptimal temperature control. The consequences are longer production times and lower component quality.

With additively manufactured tool inserts, cooling channels can be routed directly along the part geometry — ensuring optimal heat dissipation exactly where it is needed. The result: shorter cycle times, higher part quality and greater design freedom.

Custom manufacturing for inserts and complete moulds

Speedpart offers solutions for both individual tool inserts and complete mould construction including injection-moulded parts. Tool inserts are manufactured as required in tool steel MS1 (1.2709, unhardened up to 37 HRC, hardened up to 54 HRC) or stainless steel 316L (1.4404, hardness up to 89 HRB). This material variety allows specific requirements regarding load capacity, corrosion resistance and temperature behaviour to be met. The additively manufactured inserts are suitable for prototype production as well as for series manufacturing.

In addition, Speedpart offers hybrid manufacturing solutions in which milled components are selectively combined with additively manufactured elements. This enables targeted optimisation of mechanical load capacity and temperature control, as well as flexible adaptation of the tools to specific requirements.

Technical advantages of additive manufacturing in toolmaking

Additive manufacturing opens up new possibilities in toolmaking that significantly increase both design freedom and production quality. Additively manufactured tool inserts allow cooling channels to be routed directly along the component geometry — precisely where heat dissipation is required. Thanks to this conformal cooling, uniform tool-wall temperature is achieved, pressure losses are minimised, and even hard-to-reach surfaces can be optimally cooled. The results include significantly shorter cycle times, higher component quality with improved surface finish and reduced warpage, as well as increased design flexibility thanks to AM-optimised engineering.

Speedpart provides complete in-house solutions — from individual tool inserts to complete mould construction including injection-moulded parts. The technical specifications of the production process are impressive: layer thicknesses of up to 20 µm, wall thicknesses from 0.4 mm, and maximum build sizes of 250 × 250 × 320 mm ensure that even the smallest details and function-critical structures can be reproduced reliably.

With these technologies, additive toolmaking positions itself as a forward-looking solution for efficient, precise and economical production processes — for prototypes as well as small-batch and series manufacturing.

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