Metal printing on FDM
Metal printing at a reasonable cost is something many people would like to have.
There are filaments available that can be printed at on 3D printers.
Disadvantage of the current methods is that you still need an expensive debinding and fusion step.
Powder bed solutions directly fuse the powder using a laser, but handling powder is messy.
Would it be possible to create a filament that can be fused directly with a (low cost) laser after printing?
The printing would have an alternating print sequence:
- print a layer
- fuse the layer with the laser
Would this be a feasible solution?
There are a huge range of metal printing systems available - from the sintered powder you described and variations on FDM with welding - more often arc than laser, but the metal-powder-in-carrier filaments sometimes touted are a poor substitute as you have to allow for huge shrinkage in the kiln. Probably the best option at the hobbyist level is lost-PLA printing where, like lost wax, you print a PLA master, enclose it in mould matrix, burn out the PLA in a kiln then cast molten metal in the resulting void.
Visit one of the 3D print *Industry* shows (not the maker events) where you will learn a lot more and get a feel for the availability in your area.
Cheerio,
RE: Metal printing on FDM
For home and hobby use I don't see it.
The process you describe has been done, but instead of laser, they sinter or heat to near melting the part after printing. Shrinkage, density and holding shape are problems. I did not see it catch on as a major player in the market yet. The laser sintering process for layer by layer work would still be superior.
One thing that is not pointed out well about metal 3D is it must be in an inert environment, no oxygen. Without it the metal burns or oxidizes. The metal powders are already very fine to work with the current laser power. If you threw the metal powder in the air and lit a match it would burn or even explode. There are many safety protocols. Inbedding metal in a binder and printing would still require equal or higher laser power and an inert environment.
There are machine tool vendors that sell a plasma deposition head for machines with sealed environments. Build up, machine, build up. Probably need about .5 million dollars to get started.
RE: Metal printing on FDM
I am with Diem on this; for now the best way to turn our FDM prints into metal appears to be using them in conjunction with much older casting technologies. Besides the lost PLA method he mentions, another way is to print patterns for traditional cope and drag casting.
If you go to the channel of Slant3D (contract manufacturer with a huge print farm), their CEO did a video within the last couple weeks, where he covers the problems with metal FDM printing.
RE: Metal printing on FDM
Thanks,
I looked up the Slant3D video.
It's not completely hopeless - but not for the home workshop:
Cheerio,