GF CUT AM 500

New CUT AM 500 systems typically price between $200,000 and $350,000 depending on configuration and automation integration options. A standalone machine falls at the lower end. Adding automation features, tilting table options, and production cell integration pushes toward the upper range. It's the most affordable machine in GF's metal additive manufacturing lineup, but it's a post-processing tool rather than a printer.

Band saws work for solid, robust AM parts, but they create problems with delicate geometries. The mechanical cutting force can deform thin walls, crack lattice structures, and stress parts that haven't been heat treated yet. Band saw coolant can contaminate internal channels and porous surfaces. Band saws also leave a rough surface that requires additional finishing. The CUT AM 500's wire EDM process applies zero mechanical force, produces a clean 6 um Ra surface, and doesn't contaminate internal features. For production AM parts where quality matters, EDM separation is significantly better.

You can, but standard wire EDMs are designed for vertical cutting with the wire running top to bottom. Separating parts from a build plate requires horizontal cutting across the bottom of the plate. Repositioning a loaded build plate (up to 500 kg) on a standard wire EDM for horizontal cutting is awkward, slow, and potentially dangerous. The CUT AM 500's horizontal wire orientation and purpose-built fixturing make the operation straightforward, safe, and much faster.

At the maximum machining speed of 240 mm2/min, cutting through a 510 x 510 mm build plate (assuming a typical 20 mm plate thickness) takes roughly 40-50 minutes. Actual time varies with plate material, thickness, and the number of interruptions from support structures and part features intersecting the cut plane. This is comparable to or faster than careful band saw cutting for large plates, and produces dramatically better results.

The machine accommodates build plates up to 510 x 510 mm with parts up to 490 mm tall, at a combined weight of 500 kg. This covers the output of virtually every production LPBF system on the market, from mid-format machines like the EOS M 290 (250 x 250 mm plate) and DMP 350 (275 x 275 mm or 350 x 350 mm plate) up to large-format systems like the DMP Factory 500 (500 x 500 mm plate).

The wire EDM process works with any electrically conductive metal, which includes all standard LPBF materials: titanium alloys, nickel superalloys, stainless steels, tool steels, cobalt-chrome, aluminum alloys, and copper alloys. The 0.2 mm molybdenum wire handles the full range of hardness and toughness encountered in metal AM production. Non-conductive materials (ceramics, polymers) cannot be processed by EDM.