Blog
Star Rapid’s blog aims to share our hard earned knowledge on manufacturing and product development. We hope these articles help you to optimize your product design and better understand the world of rapid prototyping, rapid tooling, 3D printing and low-volume manufacturing.
What Every Engineer Needs to Know About Machine Screw Thread Design
Machine screw threads, along with many other kinds of threaded fittings, are used around us every day in millions of applications. In fact, they're so ubiquitous that they largely go unnoticed by most of us, and to the inexperienced eye they all look and perform...
Five Rapid Prototyping Solutions For Great Results
Ever since people started making stuff - and then tried to make new and improved stuff - there's been a need for prototypes. They're used for design evaluation, testing, certification, proof-of-concept, crowdfunding campaigns and as bridges to full production. If you...
The Top 4 Surface Treatments for Production Tooling
All manufacturing tools are subject to incredibly harsh working conditions and must withstand a lot of wear and tear. Tools used for plastic injection molding are no exception, where corrosive resins and abrasive fibers, injected under tons of pressure, can quickly...
The 5 Most Common Methods for Applying Textures to Injection Molding Tools
Surface textures and patterns applied to plastic injection molded parts are becoming more sophisticated and complex. These advancements are exciting because they offer so many new design options for product developers and engineers. But before a finished part can be...
What is the Difference between 3, 4 and 5-axis CNC Machining?
Modern CNC milling machines are amazing tools, capable of making prototypes and production parts quickly and reliably. To do this they must be able to move along several axes of travel while maintaining dimensional accuracy. CNC mills are therefore categorized by the...
Additive Manufacturing for Medical Applications
Additive Manufacturing for Medicine and Healthcare The use of additive manufacturing applications is on the rise, with the market value expected to increase from $6 billion in 2017 to nearly $26 billion by 2022. The advantage of additive manufacturing comes...
Top 7 Advantages to Using CNC Machining for Rapid Prototyping
Rapid prototyping means building a physical model of a new product design as quickly and as economically as possible. Some prototypes will be used merely as cosmetic mock-ups or scale models, while others must meet more demanding performance criteria. Prototypes are...
Why Small Dimensions Are A Big Deal in Manufacturing
Precision manufacturing means consistently producing parts that have dimensions with very fine tolerances, usually measured in microns or 10-6 meters. This is entirely possible when using good CAD/CAM digital equipment and modern, high-speed cutting tools. But there...
