Breaking The Mold – How Signal Microwave Transformed Probe Housing Development With Additive

When the custom housings for your patented electronic designs are constantly being revised, you can a) keep buying new molds, b) 3D print the molds or c) jump directly to 3D printing precise final new versions yourself.

That’s what Signal Microwave decided to do after seeing the superb surface finish and fine detail possible with end-use parts produced on a Stratasys Origin P3 DLP resin printer.

When you’re building high‑frequency connectors and probe housings, precision and speed matter. Signal Microwave—an RF leader based in Tempe—found themselves hitting the limits of traditional tooling as customer demand grew. Prototype molds were slow, expensive, and inflexible, costing $50–100k each and locking in designs too early.

Our new case study shows how they broke that cycle.

After years of working with PADT as a service bureau, Signal Microwave brought a Stratasys Origin in‑house. The impact was immediate: engineers could print end‑use probe housing components with 2–4 thou tolerances, iterate over a weekend, and deliver multiple design options in days instead of weeks.

If you’re looking to reduce lead times, expand design freedom, or modernize your prototyping and production workflows, Signal Microwave’s journey is a powerful example of what’s possible.

Read the PADT Case Study to learn how Signal Microwave solved their challenges with additive.

To explore how the Stratasys Origin printer can accelerate your own product development and manufacturing processes, visit PADT’s Origin Two page.