b'In Production steel is, he said. Thats one of theslow wear.reasons you would use aluminum. The combination of ever-improving technol-lower cost and its ability to be ma- Applications and Predictions ogy and increasing in-chined faster. PhoenixProtoTechnologiesterest in aluminum from Bill Stickley, general managerLammon said even for longer pro- customers has brought of Michiana Global Mold, a mold- duction runs, aluminum can some- new competition.making company in Mishawaka,times be substituted for steel. ForThere are more play-Ind., agreed. Aluminum is so muchinstance, he can hard-coat alu- ersinthealuminum faster and easier to machine thanminum to add durability and totooling industry in the past year or two, Lam-mon said.Phoenix had about a 10 percent rise in orders late last year, with the percentage of inquiries being even higher. Lam-mon said such a differ-ence is normal, and he expects a greater increase in orders as pro-spective customers finish evaluat-ing their options for manufacturing parts. The element of secrecy also plays a role in the market.We have situations where cus-tomers try aluminum, Lammon said,andtheyre,like,Wow, this is more valuable than we an-ticipated.However, quite a few Phoenix customers request that the Precision deep hole drilling solutions moldmaker keep confidential that Star SU offers stocked carbide tip and solid carbide single flute gundrills its producing aluminum tooling for them. A great deal of it is that peo-ple dont want their competition to use the same process. So they dont - 24-hour delivery, stock sizes from .039 to .750 talk about how good aluminum is, - 72-hour custom delivery, stock sizes from .0937 to 1.508said Lammon.MSI Mold Builders has positioned - Solid carbide twist drills avaliable 30xor to custom lengths aluminum as a wise choice for many - Solid carbide gundrills: standard and custom designs available years, especially for low- and me-dium-volume jobs.- Two fluted gundrills: milled flutes or double crimp Bral said possibilities open up - Retipping and resharpening services even more because of the advent Solid Carbide Twist Drill (top), Pilot Tool (bottom) of hybrid molds, which are made - Advanced technical support avaliable from steel and aluminum. Hybrid molds lower costs and lessen man-ufacturing time. He cited a highly For pricing, sizes or to request a quote, give Star SU a call or visit our website: polished surface, such as the out-ward-facing hood or fender of an automobile, as an example. That 248-474-8200 www.star-su.com surface can be made from steel while other surfaces can be made from aluminum.Thevisualstufflooksgood 46 MARCH 2018 Moldmaking.indd 46 2/16/18 9:50 AM'