What we announced
Tool holders, collets, chucks, vises and workholding are still the core of what we sell. But over the past few years the same request kept landing at the Struandale counter: a quick way to get drill guides, soft-jaw inserts, cable clips, covers and inspection aids without posting a drawing off and losing a week.
So we have put a formal partnership in place with AM.CO.ZA for the printers behind our filament and resin catalogue lines. The demo bay now runs machines from their 3D printer range, and those are the setups we install for customers in Coega, Kariega, Despatch and further afield.
How the supplier was chosen
Printers from several importers went through our bay before we signed. Jurie Nieuwoudt, our Managing Director, says the decision came down to three things a production floor actually cares about.
“Service first. When we phoned with a setup question someone picked up and talked us through it properly. Then price for the build quality, with no extras for things that should be standard. And the machines themselves, solid frames, spares you can see listed, and printers that sit through a long job without fuss. We only put our name next to kit we run in our own bay.”
Jurie Nieuwoudt, Managing Director
Three machines, three jobs
Pellet printer
The PioCreat G5-PRO from the pellet printer range has a 500 x 500 x 500 mm build volume and feeds plastic pellets, not filament. Drill-guide plates, machine guards and tote inserts print in one piece.
Resin printer
The PrintUP resin LCD printer handles gauge models, fit-check housings and small parts with thin walls and tiny holes, where a nozzle would round everything off.
Wash and cure
Resin parts go straight into the washing and UV curing station, so they come out clean, fully cured and ready to measure on the bench.
Tsholofelo Sithole, our 3D Solutions Specialist, uses the resin side for go/no-go style visual checks and fit tests before a part is committed to metal. Resin, cleaning alcohol and other consumables are ordered from AM.CO.ZA’s 3D printing consumables pages.
What changes for customers
“Most shops dont want a hobby printer, they want a production aid that is ready by the next shift. Now we can print a sample fixture, let you test it on the machine, and adjust the design where needed.”
Tsholofelo Sithole, 3D Solutions Specialist
Sarel Naude, our Applications Engineer, gives the toolroom view. A printed soft-jaw insert or drill guide is not a stand-in for steel where steel is needed, he says, but for setups, short runs and proving a part before machining, it saves real hours. His notes on printed and machined jigs in East London show where that line sits.
Tauriq Rhoda and the service team look after setup and handover, and AM.CO.ZA backs the machines with parts and technical help. The AM.CO.ZA guide is bookmarked on the bay PC for machine contacts and how-tos.
See it running in Struandale
Thinking about printing jigs, fixtures or inspection aids in-house? Bring a drawing or a problem part to our Struandale branch and we will show you what prints well on pellet, what suits resin, and what should stay in steel. Book a visit through the contact form, or ask Lesedi Rikhotso in sales for a demo. If workholding is the bigger question, start with our fixture plates and soft jaws.
At a glance
| Partner | AM.CO.ZA, printers, consumables and parts |
|---|---|
| Where | 3D Solutions demo bay, Struandale, Gqeberha |
| Large format | PioCreat G5-PRO pellet printer, 500 x 500 x 500 mm |
| Fine detail | PrintUP resin LCD printer |
| Post-processing | Resin washing and UV curing station |
| Typical prints | Drill guides, guards, tote inserts, soft-jaw inserts, gauge models |
