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Company Overview
Ingersoll Machine Tools (Rockford, Illinois) is a US machine tool manufacturer, now part of the Camozzi Group (Italian), that produces the MasterPrint — one of the physically largest LFAM gantry systems available. While Thermwood’s LSAM is the dominant aerospace tooling system, Ingersoll’s MasterPrint holds the scale record and is the system of choice for applications where raw build volume is the constraint: full-chord wind turbine blade tooling, large marine molds, and architectural/construction components.
MasterPrint Systems
MasterPrint 3X
- Build volume: 450 m³ (one of the largest LFAM systems in the world)
- Width: 6.7 meters — wider than the chord of most modern wind turbine blades, enabling full-chord mold production in a single setup
- Process: High-flow pellet extrusion; thermoplastic composites
- Control: Siemens SINUMERIK ONE (on Deployable variant)
MasterPrint Deployable
A containerized combined additive+subtractive LFAM platform co-developed with Siemens. Key differentiator: the system ships in standard ISO containers, enabling transport to remote or forward locations.
- Target markets: Military forward manufacturing, disaster relief, remote industrial sites, shipyards without fixed LFAM infrastructure
- Capability: Combined print and mill in one system; Siemens SINUMERIK ONE CNC control
- Defense relevance: Enables printing replacement parts in theater rather than waiting on supply chain; direct competitor to conventional forward-deployed repair depots
Key Programs
Wind Turbine Blade Tooling (UMaine / ORNL / TPI Composites)
The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center operates an Ingersoll MasterPrint. A joint program with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and TPI Composites (the world’s largest independent wind blade manufacturer) uses the MasterPrint to produce full-scale wind blade tooling.
- Target: 50% reduction in tooling cost for large composite blades
- Material innovation: 100% recyclable bio-based thermoplastic tooling materials
- Scale enabler: MasterPrint’s 6.7m width is the technical requirement — no other commercially available LFAM system spans full modern blade chord
Bell Textron Rotor Blade Components
Bell and Ingersoll produced a 22-foot-long rotor blade mold in 75 hours — a program that validated LFAM for helicopter blade tooling and led to ongoing collaboration. Bell also partnered with Ingersoll on main rotor blade component production, extending LFAM beyond tooling into direct structural parts.
Competitive Position
Ingersoll competes directly with Thermwood’s LSAM at the high end of the gantry LFAM market. The key distinction: MasterPrint has larger raw build volume and width; Thermwood LSAM offers combined print+trim in one machine and more extensive aerospace customer validation. For wind turbine and marine applications where width is the binding constraint, Ingersoll is the system of record.