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Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
11–20 of 58 posts
Re: Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks like fused jet deposited powdered metal printing. Strong but not nearly as strong as casting (especially without secondary processing), as for materials powdered metal printing is usually either ferrite alloys or nobel metals the former is much more common. Resolution is in single digit microns or finer. This is based on similar products not this specific one, it might be faster which is important but there is…
I don't see the advantages to this over lost-PLA casting. Am I missing something?
That's what I was wondering. Shapeways makes metal parts by a similar process as a service. See their 2009 video.[1] There's a mini-industry making metal jewelry that way.
I notice that Desktop Metal doesn't show their oven in the video. That's the big, expensive, somewhat hazardous unit. "Easily swappable aluminum gas canisters ... safe to use on the shop floor" says the data sheet.[2]
Wazer, the low-end water jet cutter that's still stuck at "pre-order", has a similar problem. They're trying to make a somewhat messy industrial process less messy. There's some hand-waving involved. You end up with a sludge that's a mixture of water, shattered garnet, and whatever you're cutting. They gloss over what you have to do to dispose of that.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9VOwqtOglg [2] https://desktopmetal.s3.amazonaws.com/Studio-office_friendly...
Re: Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
#13For a nice CGI movie on their high volume model:
Re: Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
#14Anyone know who the primary customers for these will be?
Any engineering shop that's prototyping and possible creating production products. I got to see the prints first hand, pretty solid stuff. Sadly they hadn't printed a T-800 terminator yet, but give it time. Skynet is alive!
Re: Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see the advantages to this over lost-PLA casting. Am I missing something?
That's what I was wondering. Shapeways makes metal parts by a similar process as a service. See their 2009 video.[1] There's a mini-industry making metal jewelry that way. I notice that Desktop Metal doesn't show their oven in the video. That's the big, expensive, somewhat hazardous unit. "Easily swappable aluminum gas canisters ... safe to use on the shop floor" says the data sheet.[2] Wazer, the low-end water jet c…
I was pricing out metal casting after I watched this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-FHY5FNsWc
12 minutes uncut. They go from printed model to working cast piece.
All new, Kaya Cast vac chamber they use is $1k, the Paragon kiln is $800, and the Electro-melt furnace is $350. Add in safety gear and incidentals and you are looking at 3-4 thousand dollars to go from a 3d print to a cast metal piece. Heck, depending on the complexity, the vac may be optional.
Re: Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
#16Waiting for the day that printer will be able to print copies of itself.
Even if you can print all the structural portions, there's a big problem printing electrical components e.g. motors, and then an even bigger problem printing control electronics...
Although, I think if they end up able to print robust, ready-to-use metal components with reasonable strength (say strong enough for a bicycle frame), that would be a pretty good leap forward. The base tech of what you can do on a desktop doesn't seem like it would quite get there today though.
Re: Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's a little more detail: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/4/26/15440744/d... The important thing to remember is that the 3D printing doesn't generate the final part, the plastic binder in the filament has to be burned out and then the part has to "densify", e.g. the actual sintering where the metal particles fuse together creates the final material properties of the part. The final part will be a lot…
Does it actually has to go trough forging and tempering? They don't have a fusing element in the head?
It goes through two additional steps: burning out the plastic and then putting the part into a furnace to get the metal particles to "fuse" together more closely, aka sintering.
The printing part just forms a "green" part, it's basically like you would make pottery, the actual strengthening of the part happens in a high-temperature furnace.
Re: Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
#18Waiting for the day that printer will be able to print copies of itself.
Maybe just a robot that keeps ordering copies of itself from Amazon? That seems more attainable.
Re: Desktop Metal gets $115M in funding to deliver metal 3D printing
#19Waiting for the day that printer will be able to print copies of itself.
I don't understand why this hope is still prevalent.
3D printers are just another tool in the manufacturing toolbox. The sets of materials and structures printers are made from barely overlap with the sets of materials and structures that the same printers make.
If 3D printers could make themselves, I think they would look a lot more like biological organisms and a lot less like laser copiers.
That said, the Desktop Metal parts I've seen are beautiful.