“Sailing boat” project – MPA technology and better milling

To give an impressive and somewhat striking example for a component produced by both additive manufacture and subsequent machining to shape it, a sailing boat with a number of special features was presented by Hermle AG at the house exhibition 2019.

First, a blank (W x H x D 400 x 200 x 100 mm) was machined from 1.4404 by additive manufacturing via Hermle MPA technology. Due to the possibility of material combination, certain areas (deck and roof surface of the sailing boat) are made of pure copper and also integrated by additive manufacturing. Likewise, a large hollow space (cabin) was generated by means of a water-soluble filler material. Via the subsequent processing, the copper surfaces were milled free again and the windows were milled into the cabin so that you can see its interior. The hull of the boat is realised in classic 5-axis simultaneous machining. Here, the 1.4404 material was quite a challenge for the tools used and for the selected milling strategy.

The sail with the mast was manufactured classically in aluminium in a separate machining process; due to its delicate shape, it also proved to be a complex task for the programming department. Using the programming system Tebis, they found an optimum solution.

Then, the hull was connected to the mast and sail using conventional pinned fittings. In the Hermle premises, the finished sailing boat will symbolically represent the two technologies of additive manufacturing and 5-axis milling – all from a single source.