A review of rapid tooling technologies in technical production preparation

In the paper a review of rapid tooling technologies is presented. This paper is thought as an introductory paper for the paper untitled A Review of Rapid Tooling Technologies in Technical Production Preparation – a Vacuum Casting Practical Example which is included in the current number of Selected Engineering Problems. Some aspects of rapid prototyping techniques and their importance in the development of rapid tooling techniques are considered. The paper gives a short description of direct and indirect rapid tolling techniques. The Vacuum Casting process is described more precisely.