East Sussex-based Eagle, a restorer of the legendary Jaguar E-Type car, has announced a partnership with Aylesbury-based Graphite Additive Manufacturing Ltd to use HP’s Jet Fusion 4200 3-D printing solution to produce custom parts.

Eagle has already seen a huge increase in quality, cost-effectiveness and efficiency since switching to HP’s 3-D printing from other 3-D printing processes.

Eagle deals in only one car — the luxury Jaguar E-Type. Since it was founded in 1984, the company has made a name for its own “Eagle E-Types”, which are meticulously restored over the course of about 4,000hr.

Eagle re-manufactures the E-Type to a modern-day standard of quality that has resulted in BBC’s Top Gear referring to it as “probably the best hand-built car in the world”.

For the past four years, Eagle has worked closely with Graphite Additive Manufacturing Ltd, a UK-based 3-D printing service provider which produces one-off models or production runs of functional parts for businesses and individuals.

Since using HP’s advanced 3-D printing platform for the air conditioning and heating air ducts within its E-Type cars,

Eagle has benefitted from a significant reduction in turnaround times, streamlined processes and now has greater flexibility to meet customers’ unique demands.

Eagle director Paul Brace said: “Since we began using HP’s 3-D printing technology for production, we have been impressed by the improvement in how these parts look as well as their durability. HP’s 3-D platform consistently delivers the desired finish which is very important to our process.

“The heating ducts need to be attractive enough to sit on the dashboard, and these parts match the exceptional quality of our classic cars.

“Additional benefits we have seen include the wider scope for shapes that we can now create using 3-D printing, and the weight reduction in materials on offer. This adds value for customers who are keen to keep parts as lightweight as possible.”

Whereas with previous 3-D printing technologies, Graphite Additive Manufacturing had to mix materials and load the machine by hand, HP’s solution simplifies workflow with automated material mixing and loading systems, cutting down an entire day’s work into a period of 30min.

A key challenge for Eagle was its low-volume component requirements, as the business only creates four to five E-Types per year. On top of this, there are five model variations, each being either left or right-hand drive with entirely different technical specifications.

This means that certain bespoke parts are used in very low numbers — perhaps even just one per year. Normal manufacturing methods such as laser cutting, machining and moulded parts require production of a reasonable quantity to be economically viable.

HP’s 3-D printed parts allow Eagle to produce in low volumes with design and economic advantages, as the digital 3-D model is easily adjusted and the final part swiftly printed.

This means that, if required, every part can be an evolution of the last with no cost implication from the change other than the shipping.

George Brasher, UK&I managing director at HP, said: “It is exciting to see Eagle’s commitment to innovation as they take advantage of the efficient, flexible design and customisation enabled by HP 3-D printing solutions for its market-leading bespoke vehicles.”

The HP Jet Fusion 4200 offers customers an easy-to-use solution that scales with its business, and enables an integrated, end-to-end process that delivers both functional prototypes and final parts.