We are delighted to announce that at the recent Cast Metals Federation awards, Sylatech won the prestigious Component of the Year and was highly commended in the Company of the Year award. Our submission is for a suite of parts, which form together to create a thumb used on a child’s prosthetic hand. We are thrilled to achieve such recognition very well done to all those involved in the ongoing creation of these parts!
Our success with this assembly of castings results from our fantastic process, particularly when combined with our in-house 3D printing capability, which affords the design engineer total design freedom. This enables shapes and cast detail, typically not possible through hard tooling to be cast. The designer isn’t constrained by the limitations of 5-axis CNC machining, pressure die casting, or any other hard-tooled processes.
Sylatech’s casting process enables undercuts and thin walls to be cast with ease, resulting in reduced weight compared to traditional processes. The walls of some of the castings in the winning part are 2mm, albeit the process is capable of casting down to 0.3mm.
Component: Prosthetic multi-part cast thumb
Application: Medical prosthetics
Metal: A356 (AlSi9MgMn alloy)
Process: Lost-wax, using 3D wax printing and plaster block investment casting
Casting Weight: Comprises 7 parts with combined weight of 23.7g
Project Information:
Brand new design for multi-part thumb designed by renowned prosthetic hand designer Ted Varley, for use by children who have lost a hand due to injury, congenital conditions, or for other medical reasons, enhancing their quality of life and enabling them to regain confidence and their independence.
- High level of detail and as-cast surface finish requiring no machining
- Minimisation of casting weight and maximising internal space for electronics
- Wall thickness down to 2mm for some cast elements and 1mm diameter cast-in holes
- Design flexibility enabled through use of 3D wax printing
- Samples provided to client with a lead time of just 3 weeks including heat treatment
- Significant cost savings achieved compared with alternative production processes
- New design has attracted NHS funding to enable further versions aimed at children.
