A 3D printer that prints metal products is available for pre-order for $ 750.
Industrial 3D-printers working with metal, on which you can print a rocket engine or a pistol , cost tens of thousands of dollars. Available to the mere mortal, printers worth up to $ 1,000 so far can only work with plastic. American engineer and entrepreneur David Hartkop intends to change that. His Mini Metal Maker printer will cost only $ 750 in kit and parts, and $ 1,000 in a fully operational form.
The printer uses metal clay for printing, a material invented in 1990 in Japan. Metalloglin consists of tiny metal particles mixed with organic binder and water. From this clay you can sculpt or stamp products using forms. After drying, the product is burned - the organic binder burns out, and the metal powder is sintered in a monolithic piece of metal. When firing, the product shrinks from 8% to 30%.
Metallohlin is used in jewelry and for the manufacture of small sculptures. She can be found in online stores selling products for creativity. Metalloglin can be prepared on the basis of the most widely used metals and alloys - copper, bronze, brass, iron, steel, gold, silver. Many varieties of metal clays can be baked with a conventional gas burner, but a small muffle furnace will not interfere.
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The prototype Mini Metal Maker has a resolution of 0.5 millimeter. Hartkop promises to bring the resolution to 0.2 mm in the serial model. After firing, the products lose their characteristic layered structure for 3D printing and practically do not differ in their mechanical qualities from any other piece of metal - they can be bent, drilled, processed with a file. If sufficient funds are collected, the printer will have a second printhead for simultaneous printing with another type of metal clay or printing support elements. When using varieties of clay with low shrinkage, it is theoretically possible to immediately print the working mechanisms in the collection.
The working area of the printer is 6x6x6 centimeters. You can refill the printer with any metal clay or similar material in consistency, however, you may have to tinker with the selection of a suitable mixture thickness. However, it will be possible to buy a ready-made mixture of guaranteed suitable consistency.
The printer uses metal clay for printing, a material invented in 1990 in Japan. Metalloglin consists of tiny metal particles mixed with organic binder and water. From this clay you can sculpt or stamp products using forms. After drying, the product is burned - the organic binder burns out, and the metal powder is sintered in a monolithic piece of metal. When firing, the product shrinks from 8% to 30%.
Metallohlin is used in jewelry and for the manufacture of small sculptures. She can be found in online stores selling products for creativity. Metalloglin can be prepared on the basis of the most widely used metals and alloys - copper, bronze, brass, iron, steel, gold, silver. Many varieties of metal clays can be baked with a conventional gas burner, but a small muffle furnace will not interfere.
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The prototype Mini Metal Maker has a resolution of 0.5 millimeter. Hartkop promises to bring the resolution to 0.2 mm in the serial model. After firing, the products lose their characteristic layered structure for 3D printing and practically do not differ in their mechanical qualities from any other piece of metal - they can be bent, drilled, processed with a file. If sufficient funds are collected, the printer will have a second printhead for simultaneous printing with another type of metal clay or printing support elements. When using varieties of clay with low shrinkage, it is theoretically possible to immediately print the working mechanisms in the collection.
The working area of the printer is 6x6x6 centimeters. You can refill the printer with any metal clay or similar material in consistency, however, you may have to tinker with the selection of a suitable mixture thickness. However, it will be possible to buy a ready-made mixture of guaranteed suitable consistency.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/202074/
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