Justin Nardone, CEO of Figur, a Desktop Metal brand, is shown with the Figur G15 machine tool with Digital Sheet Forming (DSF) technology. (Photo: Business Wire)
Desktop Metal’s patented technology is said to provide manufacturers a competitive way to form sheet metal parts quickly for automotive, appliance, and aerospace applications.
BOSTON—Additive manufacturing technology firm Desktop Metal made the first commercial shipments of its Digital Sheet Forming (DSF) machine tool, the Figur G15, to the Florida-based automotive restoration and hot rod company Saltworks Fab, according to a release from Desktop Metal.
Saltworks is installing two Figur G15 platforms at its Sarasota, Florida facility to accelerate its auto restoration business and expand access to metal forming services to new customers. The company often creates metal body panels that are no longer commercially available with manual hammering and laborious forming processes, Desktop Metal said in the release.
Its investment in the Figur G15 is expected to help Saltworks dramatically reduce production times while also giving it the flexibility of digital manufacturing to create complex shapes, efficient one-offs, or produce short runs of designs. Saltworks recently demonstrated the capabilities of the Figur G15 at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. There, its team exhibited the entire side body of a Mercedes Gullwing, composed of 6061 aluminum panels formed on the G15 in under 10 hours for the entire 15-piece assembly.
“Our team has over 100 years of combined metal-shaping experience, and we’re excited to bring the latest digital metal forming technology in-house,” said David Jacobsen, CEO of Saltworks Fab, in the release. “The Figur G15 buys us time. It allows us to bring vintage vehicles back to their former glory while also enabling us to enter a whole new level of business, helping customers that currently don’t have the ability or resources to form metal. Figur G15 allows us to expand access to metal-shaping services to a broader variety of small businesses, design shops, and self-builders.”
The Figur G15, introduced at the 2022 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago, is reportedly the first commercially available machine tool platform to shape sheet metal on demand without custom tooling. It uses patent-pending DSF technology in which a software-driven ceramic toolhead on a gantry shapes standard sheet metal into parts, employing up to 2,000 pounds of forming force without tooling. It also uses software that simplifies the creation of sheet metal part production, according to the release.
Florida-based Saltworks Fab recently demonstrated the capabilities of its new Figur G15 technology at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The team exhibited the entire side body of a Mercedes Gullwing, shown here in its shop, created with 6061 aluminum panels formed on the G15 in under 10 hours for the entire 15-piece assembly. (Photo: Business Wire)
Recently, custom classic car influencer Rob Ida of Rob Ida Concepts in New Jersey posted on Instagram (@rob_ida) about how he is using the Figur G15 technology to create components for a 1955 Tucker Carioca, a vehicle concept from legendary carmaker Preston Tucker that never made it from drawing to production.
“The response to Figur G15 from the market across a wide variety of sectors has been exciting,” said Justin Nardone, CEO of Figur, a Desktop Metal brand, in the release. “The G15 eliminates a lot of the work required when forming metal, such as the design and manufacturing of tools and dies. Our system produces designs quickly, accurately, and repeatedly, so manufacturers are able to focus on the craftsmanship of design while getting their products to market faster and more efficiently.”
Saltworks is planning to purchase two additional G15 systems, for a total of four, to join its initial fleet. The company reportedly has plans to run all four machines over three shifts to keep up with demand.