Velo3D
Precision contract manufacturer Knust-Godwin has installed a Velo3D Sapphire XC to expand its metal additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities.
The acquisition of an additional Sapphire system further expands Knust-Godwin’s additive manufacturing offering and gives it the capacity to produce parts in larger volumes and sizes. Knust-Godwin’s Sapphire XC will reside in its Katy, Texas facility, is calibrated for Inconel 718, and is fully compatible with its other Sapphire Inconel 718 printers, allowing customers to scale up on the same technology.
Velo3D says there has been ‘extensive demand’ for the Sapphire XC system since it began shipments back in December 2021, namely because of the machine’s ability to produce parts that are 500% larger in volume than is capable on the standard Sapphire system. It is equipped with a 600 x 550 mm build volume, eight 1KW lasers and a protrusion-tolerant, non-contact recoater that is faster than the one used on the Sapphire system.
By adding the Sapphire XC, Knust-Godwin becomes the first of Velo3D’s network of contract manufacturers to receive the machine and now operates six Velo3D metal 3D printing platforms.
“Our company has spent over 55 years serving our customers in the aerospace, defense, oil and gas, and semi-conductor industries, and we view additive manufacturing as a huge complement to our precision manufacturing offering,” said Mike Corliss, Knust-Godwin VP of Technology. “By adding a Sapphire XC to our manufacturing floor, we can better serve our customers and help them utilize additive manufacturing in new ways, as well as differentiate our additive manufacturing offering from our competitors’.”
“The interest we’ve seen in Sapphire XC is remarkable and we expect to soon be sold out for deliveries through the end of 2022,” added Zach Murphee, Velo3D Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development. “The Sapphire XC will help Knust-Godwin’s customers unlock new use-cases for AM by enabling the printing of larger parts, and significantly lowering manufacturing costs for customers printing parts in larger volumes.”
Velo3D recently followed up the launch of the Sapphire XC platform with the even larger Sapphire XC MZ1. The company has also officially opened its European Technology Centre in Augsburg, where it will be able to demonstrate its Sapphire metal 3D printing technology to prospects in Europe.
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