3D Metal Printing

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The1
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3D Metal Printing

Post by The1 »

Looks like it's starting to happen, sold out in an instant of coarse.

https://www.anycubic.com/products/4max-metal
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Re: 3D Metal Printing

Post by vlad01 »

I've had parts metal printed before but limited sucess. Thats with SLS technology. But same method with nylon plastic was mint af.
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Re: 3D Metal Printing

Post by Gareth »

Wow, nice :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

After 10 weeks, my prusa has finally shipped.
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Re: 3D Metal Printing

Post by antus »

Thats interesting. Although it is suspiciously light on technical details. Im very interested to see how it turns out. Ive had an adapter printed with a Markforged X7 in their proprietry material called onyx, data sheet attached. It looks like regular plastic material, but they say its stronger than 6061 aluminum. Its also very light. When we bolted the TBI carbie on to a manifold with an adapter made from it and rocked the TBI, the whole engine moves and it doesnt flex at all. We'll see how it goes when the car is running when the project gets that far. By the numbers it looks like it should be suitable.

https://markforged.com/x7/

Machine cost is high, but its not too bad to get a shop to print out a model for 1 offs without investing in the hardware.

Here is a pic of the TBI on the engine. I wont steal the owners thunder though, I know he will post a thread on here when its alive.
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Re: 3D Metal Printing

Post by vlad01 »

I had these done in SLS with nylon plastic as per original (early ones at least)

They came out perfect. Had them done in stainless steel as well but has shrinkage and warpage issues. I'm sure it can be sorted by printing them edge on and have a scale factor accounted for but it was so expensive I wasn't willing to try again and stuck to the nylon.
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Re: 3D Metal Printing

Post by antus »

Cool!

Ive been researching this printer after seeing this post, and it does seem that its not the kind of thing you can operate at home. There are some good comments about the sintering process on this video. I'll copy the most informative ones here. Also interesting that the comments point out that you could use the spool on any printer, not just this one, if you have the specialist gear for the sintering and debinding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaMdjKE7vT8
Henry Williams
1 month ago
scratch that, you need heptane/hexane solutions, temps that go well beyond a typical kiln, and that kiln needs to be held either under vacuum or pressurized with hydrogen gas...longer explanation in my non-reply comment if you want to look for it. I will say though that the filament ($500 per spool) typically comes with a "free" ticket to have your printed parts processed for you at a professional plant.
Henry Williams
1 month ago
For anyone wanting to do this at home: It looks like the debinding process requires dissolving the wax component of the filament in a solution of heptane or hexane while either simultaneously heating or heating after the removal from solution to 450c (842f). I assume you heat after removal from solution because both of those are highly flammable. The heating part is fine, most kilns can go to nearly 1093c (2000f) mine certainly can. While I don't WANT to have a tank of heptane or hexane it isn't exactly unrealistic. You can buy both on Amazon honestly.

The real problem is sintering. 316L (this filament) requires sintering to ramp from 700c to 1300c(2372f) which is well beyond the range of a typical kiln. Moreover it is usually done either in a vaccum or under 15bar pressure of hydrogen gas. Both of which would be an absolute nightmare to try to accomplish at home. I think the vacuum/pressure + gas is to fight oxidization while the matel is melting. Without it we'd just wind up with a small pile of rust instead of a nice metal part.

The makers of this filament already know how industrial a process this is though and that's why they are comfortable showing customers all that industrial equipment. The filament itself is typically sold along side a "free" ticket to ship your printed parts to a processing plant where they will do all of this for you in just a few days. They know we cant do this at home so they made the process easier. I'm 50/50 on it. This is certainly more affordable than buying a full 5 axis CNC and learning CAM, but it's still going to be nearly $500 per spool of filament (3kg == ~250m of filament). I don't think this is really meant for the tinkerers of the world like most of the 3d printing community.

Also, this filament will go through almost any filament style 3d printer. I'm not clear on why Anycubic made one advertised specifically for using 316L when you could really use whatever printer you already have. You will need a coated or hardened steel nozzle since the material is abrasive. A .6mm diameter nozzle size would be optimal. Most of us can find that for our own printers. So why do we need this? How does it differ from the regular 4Max printer? idk.

Anyway matterhacks sells this filament if anyone is interested. I love Anycubic, but this printer seems like a misstep to me. I just need to know how it differs from any other printer on the market. If you've got the use-case and you want to spend less on metal parts than you would with a CNC then this is prob a good solution for you. It's not for most of us.
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Re: 3D Metal Printing

Post by vlad01 »

15bar of hydrogen and high temps, what can go wrong :think:
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The1
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Re: 3D Metal Printing

Post by The1 »

nice vlad.

yeh i know specs arn't shown yet, i only half trust them because i own one of their 3d printers at home and have several at work, very good build quality thus far and good design work put in to solve several problems that most 3d printers have like the filament feed system and sticking to the bed issues, they also upgraded some parts on some models due to customer suggestions.
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