• Rapid prototyping
• 3D printing
• CNC machining
• Vacuum casting
• Stereolithography (SLA) printing
• Selective laser sintering (SLS) printing
• Water jet cutting / profiling
• Laser cutting / profiling

Electronic Edge Design (EEDge) can develop your idea into a fully functioning prototype. We can use your design or work from a simple idea or invention to produce a product design from which we can manufacture a prototype. Prototypes can be produced in any material to best match your prototyping requirements.

Before manufacture of a prototype a design can be modelled in 3D to check its assembly or purely as a visual aid in marketing and sales.

Get in touch to talk over your requirements and see if we can help.

• Components cut direct from CAD product designs
• Cut through virtually any material, from thin foam rubber to 3mm holes through 40mm thick paving stones. Materials such as:
  • Mild Steel
  • Stainless Steel
  • Aluminium
  • Wood
  • Plastics
  • Rubber
  • Stone
  • Glass
• Cut out amazingly intricate patterns that can be huge (several meters square!)

Water jet cutting uses a high pressure jet of water mixed with abrasives to cut through almost any sheet material. It uses a high velocity jet of water at pressures up to 4000 bar. The jet of water erodes the material and produces the cutting action. This method of manufacture is extremely accurate. The other main advantage of water jet cutting is that it is a cold process so does not produce a heat affected zone. Coated and pre-printed materials can be cut using this method as there is no discolouration along the cut edge.

• For prototypes, one off's and low volume production
• Excellent reproduction of detail and very high surface finish
• Vacuum casting can replicate nearly all the properties of injection moulding

EEDge can produce prototypes and small volume production runs using vacuum casting. Vacuum casting is a technique used to mold thermosetting polyurethane (PUR). There are many different types of PUR with vastly different properties, making this process suitable for the majority of plastic prototyping. A master pattern is created using another process such as 3D printing or CNC machining, from which flexible silicone molds are produced.

Vacuum casting can produce parts with very similar properties to the mass produced part. The material can be made rigid like ABS or or soft and flexible like TPE. The significant advantage over injection moulding is there is no expensive tooling.

• Ideal for prototyping parts
• High quality surface finish and component detail
• Selective laser sintering (SLS)
• Stereolithography (SLA)
• Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS)

Rapid prototyping is used to construct simple and complex geometries by fusing together very fine layers of powder or liquid. A CAD model is sliced into cross sections. Each cross section is mapped onto the surface of the rapid prototyping material by a laser, which fuses or cures the particles together, building the components layer by layer. As the layers are built up the part is lowered gradually. The solid part remains below the surface of the resin throughout the process.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is a form of sintering in which a laser is used to solidify precise areas in powder in order to produce lighweight components. A laser, driven by a CAD file, is fired repeatedly into the powder, fusing the particles together layer by layer until the complete component is built.