Sheet metal is very easy to form, including the pressing in of intricate shapes with dies and a hydraulic press, but the dies themselves are slightly harder to come by. What if we could 3D print ...

In this case, they needed two shots, and they got them, but PLA is probably not the right material if you wanted to go for mass production. Metal forming does occur at large scales, too.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU has now taken a major step toward lower costs and mass production ... head of the Sheet Metal Processing and Tool Design ...