3D metal printer

[spinningmagnets]

I was fascinated many years ago when I first heard about powdered metal. The powdered metal would be pressed into a shape by a die-set, and then it was heated in an oven until it was "almost melted", but still held its shape. This fused the metal particles together into a solid shape. I'm told the benefits are that it uses much less energy than actually melting metal into a liquid that is poured into a mold. Another benefit is that the final shape after heating is so precise that very little machining is needed to make the part ready to ship.

This 3D metal printing method removes the need to make and store the dies that were used to form the initial shape. Now, if you can draw it on a computer screen, this new machine can make a complex shape with no dies to press the metal powder together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Px6RSL9Ac&feature=related

 

[Danny Mayes]

Hey Spinning,

Thanks for sharing,

Interesting process indeed.

A fellow at a uni here is developing a chemical sand printer. With this he can print molds for pouring metal directly into making undercut issues a thing of the past. Much like this method. Exciting stuff indeed.

Ahh, the future is bright...

D

 

[Joseph C.]

Good find, spinningmagnets.

Powdered anything has a very large amount of surface area and so little volume which is why it is so easily set alight. That's why flour and sugar can be explosive.

I dream of one day pressing a button and having complex machines and food produce being printed without the need to shop. Another little bit closer to Star Trek.

 

[spinningmagnets]

SIGH...every part of an AR-15 semi-auto rifle (similar to the historic US-Army M-16 used in Viet-Nam) can be bought over the counter without much in the way of paperwork. Everything except the main reciever frame, which has a serial number and is tracked by the fed. Some guy with access to one of these machines just made a "lower" which obviously has no serial number. Tested it and it works OK, and...he posted it on the internet. One reply out of the first few was something about "now the ATF will start tracking these machines".

I was pretty excited about some of the things that Thud was posting and also dontsendbubbamail. If I could make a two-axis CNC router (as posted here on ES), I could cut out foam shapes that could be used to make a "lost wax" mold for aluminum casting. The CNC could crank them out fast and cheap. Grinhill made some sweet looking aluminum parts by feeding the router bit into the aluminum slowly, and using a carbide bit. The 2-axis CNC was only about $300 in parts (plus a router, which I already have), I think the programming was free and open-source from the web.

I never thought I'd have access to a real 3D metal printer, but I did think that if, the more of these that were around, the more innovation would occur with clever new devices.

 

[Kin]

Hmm...3D metal printers are still a long way from usefulness on the diy level. 3D plastic printers? They're definitively hitting prime time. DIY CNC machines? Not bad.

For bigger projects, 3D metal printers are just astronomically more expensive in material, machine, and machining costs, compared to the vast majority of things that can be made from regular 2,3,4,5 axis CNC machines.


There was, however, this guy who made these sweet mathematically inspired mini-figures with a 3D metal printer, which because of geometry of them could only be made with a 3D printer or complex casting. Can't recall the name though , but thought it might spark someone's memory.

 

[spinningmagnets]

CORRECTION: (re-found the article) the AR-15 lower receiver was ABS plastic from a 3D printer, however the maker beefed up a couple of stress points and the gun worked. Public forum, so...likely to be investigated. Still...it remains a good example of the complex shapes that a cheap 1990's 3D plastics printer can make.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_118/579913_3D_printed_lower___yes__it_works_.html

 

[cal3thousand]

Hmm...3D metal printers are still a long way from usefulness on the diy level. 3D plastic printers? They're definitively hitting prime time. DIY CNC machines? Not bad.

For bigger projects, 3D metal printers are just astronomically more expensive in material, machine, and machining costs, compared to the vast majority of things that can be made from regular 2,3,4,5 axis CNC machines.


There was, however, this guy who made these sweet mathematically inspired mini-figures with a 3D metal printer, which because of geometry of them could only be made with a 3D printer or complex casting. Can't recall the name though , but thought it might spark someone's memory.

I've read something about these pieces.

But very interestingly, Jay Leno uses a 3D printer (plastic) to make molds for rare parts for his vast car collection:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/extras/articles/jay-lenos-3d-printer-replaces-rusty-old-parts-1/

 

[salty9]

The lost foam casting process has been reviewed at http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39240&p=578477&hilit=lost+foam+casting#p578477

 

[MikeFairbanks]

These machines (not the metal ones) (CNC) have been used in the surfboard industry for over ten years, with excellent results.

In surfing, up until CNC all boards were shaped completely by hand. They have a foam core made of polyurethane (the exact same stuff you squirt into holes around the house to keep bugs out....this stuff:

But it expands (in most applications that's a good thing):

The stuff is nearly impossible to control in the molding process because it expands so much. Clark Foam (no longer in business) made concrete molds and injected the stuff, making what we surfers call blanks.


After the foam core was finished (which looks close to a finished surfboard shape), the shaper would take a hand planer (electric, usually an industrial-grade planer for doors) and shape the board.


That's all good and well, but it's literally impossible to duplicate a board by hand, so when you get the magic board (as surfers call it), you baby it because when it breaks, the chances of getting that board again are rare.

Not anymore. Now, if you get a board hand-shaped (which is still extremely common, by the way), and you ride it for a couple months and declare, "eureka," you can take the wax off, clean it up a bit, and bring it in for a scan. Then, you have it forever. Now go surf hard and bust it up.


I once went through about ten 400-dollar boards, buying and selling them in order to find the right shape. I finally ditched my tradition of hand-shaped and bought one off the rack at a surfshop (still American-made from beginning to end). It was the perfect shape and always will be, and they have the code.



The surfing industry is still behind in terms of someone coming in and making a standard piece of American-made equipment that can compete in price.

 

[Hillhater]

I was fascinated many years ago when I first heard about powdered metal. The powdered metal would be pressed into a shape by a die-set, and then it was heated in an oven until it was "almost melted", but still held its shape. This fused the metal particles together into a solid shape. I'm told the benefits are that it uses much less energy than actually melting metal into a liquid that is poured into a mold. Another benefit is that the final shape after heating is so precise that very little machining is needed to make the part ready to ship.

This 3D metal printing method removes the need to make and store the dies that were used to form the initial shape. Now, if you can draw it on a computer screen, this new machine can make a complex shape with no dies to press the metal powder together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Px6RSL9Ac&feature=related

" Sintered" powder metal is a very different material to anything produced on the 3D metal "printer".
sintered metals are not just pressed into shape , but are forced under huge isostatic pressure at very high temperatures to produce some of the hardest , toughest, and useful materials. ( EG Tungsten Carbide cutting tools, industrial diamond tools, Ceramic lightweight wear parts , etc)
Whilst technically interesting, i didnt see anything more than ornamental ( low strength..and expensive !) .. being produced by the 3D metal printer.
Given time, i am sure it will evolve and develop into an economical production process.

 

[Dauntless]

Yeah, that AR15 thread has someone saying 'The ATF will be interested in THIS THREAD. . . .' Meanwhile, at the time he's posting that they had Feds on the radio dismissing the importance of it, saying criminals get their hands on guns WITHOUT printing them, this would be a process that would slow them down.

Ah, let's not forget that regulations took a lot of unreliable CHEAP guns off the market. The socalled 'Saturday Night Special' had a way of not working when some drunk got mad and pulled the trigger. So many lives saved. Then when some guy was shooting up a law firm with 2 plastic knockoffs of the Mac 10 they both failed him, cutting short his mass murder spree. I like the idea of the bad guys wielding weapons with highly breakable parts. Hell, let's GIVE them 3D printers.

 

[nutnspecial]

Maybe I could find a more appicable thread, but I just thought I'd share what it costs to get things printed in metal.
I have a 1.4" round by .57" high part I investigated printing from stainless or 6061. The prices were only 10$ apart, but they were around the 500$ mark!!!!!

In contrast I have a price of 20$ from abs including mailing.

There's no way a cnc would cost more to make it imo. Will get a quote. Otherwise, I guess it comes down to good oldfashioned milling. 500$ for a tiny part makes that 500$ mini mill look pretty good.

I just couldn't believe direct metal laser sintering would be so damn expensive. Maybe I should try for a second quote, as well as the part done by a cnc.

 

[wompus]

Maybe I could find a more appicable thread, but I just thought I'd share what it costs to get things printed in metal.
I have a 1.4" round by .57" high part I investigated printing from stainless or 6061. The prices were only 10$ apart, but they were around the 500$ mark!!!!!

In contrast I have a price of 20$ from abs including mailing.

There's no way a cnc would cost more to make it imo. Will get a quote. Otherwise, I guess it comes down to good oldfashioned milling. 500$ for a tiny part makes that 500$ mini mill look pretty good.

I just couldn't believe direct metal laser sintering would be so damn expensive. Maybe I should try for a second quote, as well as the part done by a cnc.

We do 3d printing at work and have a direct to metal machine. I have been too afraid to ask at work what it costs to make parts. The materials that we use for the process are incredibly expensive. I think they have to be extremely pure to get it work correctly which drives up the cost as well as the machine/processing cost. For simple parts, 3d printing metal definitely doesn't make sense. It's the parts that are extremly complex and/or impossible to machine that it has value.

You could also try a place like this to have parts made: http://www.emachineshop.com/

 

[Nobuo]

Amazing video Spinningmagnets! thank you for sharing!

That reminded me of this also amazing video of DIY 3D aluminium pieces from styrofoam and cans

[youtube]tH-PaNugz9w[/youtube]

 

[nutnspecial]

Thanks wompus, I didn't realize the gap in usefulness vs price between laser sintering and extrustion.
That makes alot of sense, that the dmls is more for extremely abnormal or even impossible-to-machine parts.

I know the machines typically cost about 10x more on minimum, and the parts can still be pretty labor intensive based on the material and finish. I did a quick look for powder and it appears to not be drastically more expensive than the plastics though? (20-80$/kg) http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/3d-printing-powder.html
Kinda makes me want to look at prices on dmls printers if you can charge high prices for parts!

I'm checking out your link too. Thanks!

Nubuo that's some really neat stuff!