3d metal printing

[pucho812]

At namm this past few days there was a company showing off a 3d printed guitar that was done out of metal. It was very intricate and had a working gear box in it. I got the guys card but lost it so does anyone know of any avialable 3d printers that do metal?  wondering things like cost to do knobs and other bobs and bits

 

[JohnRoberts]

I vaguely recall a 3d printer that uses sintering to cure printed metal parts. Sintering uses a metal powder mixed with some binder (like paraffin) to mold or form into some shape while green, then melt it down in an high temp oven into solid metal. In my experience sintered metal parts are not very precision (due to shrinkage involved while curing) often requiring secondary operations to insure tight tolerance. 

I guess an additive metal process similar to arc welding could build metal on metal but i can imagine tolerance issues with that too.

JR

 

[pucho812]

here is an interesting article on the subject

http://www.manufacturing.net/blogs/2014/01/next-level-3d-printing-with-metal

and a neat how it's made video

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

 

[gemini86]

shapeways.com does metal. They use selective laser sintering or SLS.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I saw a mention the GE was investing in 3D metal printing technology for jet engine manufacture. That sounds pretty serious and could really save some serious money.

The future keeps getting hipper 8)...

JR

 

[gemini86]

There's a company out there that does casting from 3d printed sand molds! Imagine 3d printing your own engine block from cad designs. This can open up all sorts of small business in high tech fields. No longer having to pay millions for R&D of an automobile means that the price of entry is much lower. We could see a day soon where it's no longer the big 3 dominating america, but a few of smaller high quality car manufacturing coming from the states.

I've heard of some smaller businesses using 3d printing for small batch manufacturing, pretty much ready for packaging. It maybe robots doing the work, but who builds and maintains the robots? High tech industry is pretty exciting stuff man.