100x faster, 10x cheaper: 3D metal printing is about to go mainstream

[ScienceRocks]

100x faster, 10x cheaper: 3D metal printing is about to go mainstream

Quote

Desktop Metal – remember the name. This Massachussetts company is preparing to turn manufacturing on its head, with a 3D metal printing system that's so much faster, safer and cheaper than existing systems that it's going to compete with traditional mass manufacturing processes.
We've been hearing for years now about 3D printing and how it's going to revolutionize manufacturing. As yet, though, it's still on the periphery.
Plenty of design studios and even home users run desktop printers, but the only affordable printing materials are cheap ABS plastics. And at the other end of the market, while organizations like NASA and Boeing are getting valuable use out of laser-melted metal printing, it's a very slow and expensive process that doesn't seem to scale well.
But a very exciting company out of Massachusetts, headed by some of the guys who came up with the idea of additive manufacture in the first place, believes it's got the technology and the machinery to boost 3D printing into the big time, for real.

This is going to be awesome!

 

[fncceo]

3D Subtractive Printing has been around for 60 years ... it's called CNC. There are currently many ways currently to turn 3D Additive prints into metal components. Plating and casting are the easiest and well within the capability of a modest home workshop.

 

[theHawk]

3D Subtractive Printing has been around for 60 years ... it's called CNC. There are currently many ways currently to turn 3D Additive prints into metal components. Plating and casting are the easiest and well within the capability of a modest home workshop.

Yes, but there are many applications where 3D printing as a manufacturing process will greatly benefit certain industries, since they can build it layer by layer internals no longer need to be manufactured as separate pieces and assembled. It also greatly increases the strength and durability of the end product.

 

[JoeMoma]

Suppose currently it costs 5 dollars to produce a widget. How much will it cost to produce the same widget when "desktop metal" and 3D printing makes it's cost 10 times cheaper?

 

[gipper]

The government will screw it up. They always do.

 

[fncceo]

3D Subtractive Printing has been around for 60 years ... it's called CNC. There are currently many ways currently to turn 3D Additive prints into metal components. Plating and casting are the easiest and well within the capability of a modest home workshop.

Yes, but there are many applications where 3D printing as a manufacturing process will greatly benefit certain industries, since they can build it layer by layer internals no longer need to be manufactured as separate pieces and assembled. It also greatly increases the strength and durability of the end product.

As someone who has been using 3D printers for some years now ... their value doesn't lay in manufacturing, but in rapid prototyping. I used to make casting patterns from wood, foam, and putty and it could take weeks to fabricate a single part. I can now draft up a part in minutes, print that part in hours, and use the printed part to cast a metal part. Taking a design quickly from drawing to model is a great time-saver.

However, complex designs still must be made in parts as layered construction doesn't lend itself well to parts that move against each other. Also, because of the size limitations of even the most expensive printers, many solid objects must be made in sections. For example, I made fan blades for a wind turbine that were a 1/2 meter long which would normally be made as a single section of sculpted Styrofoam. The 3D printer version were actually six separate pieces assembled with epoxy and covered with ultra-cote.

Also, while many useful items can be made from a 3D printer, the limitations of resolution and materials make post-printing processing mandatory which isn't the case with traditional manufacturing methods.

 

[fncceo]

Suppose currently it costs 5 dollars to produce a widget. How much will it cost to produce the same widget when "desktop metal" and 3D printing makes it's cost 10 times cheaper?

It won't be cheaper. Today, one pound of PLA plastic filament is between $15 and $30 depending on the quality. Even a small model can take hours to print depending on the complexity and resolution. Compared to currently production methods, 3D printing is very expensive for mass production. However, they do greatly reduce the cost and time for prototyping.

 

[fncceo]

The government will screw it up. They always do.

Here's the best part. Anyone with a modest amount of shop skills can build a 3D printer form readily available off the shelf parts. In fact, many of the parts on my large 3D printer were made on another printer. It is literally impossible for anyone to regulate the use or sale of 3D printing.

 

[JoeMoma]

Suppose currently it costs 5 dollars to produce a widget. How much will it cost to produce the same widget when "desktop metal" and 3D printing makes it's cost 10 times cheaper?

It won't be cheaper. Today, one pound of PLA plastic filament is between $15 and $30 depending on the quality. Even a small model can take hours to print depending on the complexity and resolution. Compared to currently production methods, 3D printing is very expensive for mass production. However, they do greatly reduce the cost and time for prototyping.

Please don't poo poo my math question.

 

[Cellblock2429]

100x faster, 10x cheaper: 3D metal printing is about to go mainstream

Quote

Desktop Metal – remember the name. This Massachussetts company is preparing to turn manufacturing on its head, with a 3D metal printing system that's so much faster, safer and cheaper than existing systems that it's going to compete with traditional mass manufacturing processes.
We've been hearing for years now about 3D printing and how it's going to revolutionize manufacturing. As yet, though, it's still on the periphery.
Plenty of design studios and even home users run desktop printers, but the only affordable printing materials are cheap ABS plastics. And at the other end of the market, while organizations like NASA and Boeing are getting valuable use out of laser-melted metal printing, it's a very slow and expensive process that doesn't seem to scale well.
But a very exciting company out of Massachusetts, headed by some of the guys who came up with the idea of additive manufacture in the first place, believes it's got the technology and the machinery to boost 3D printing into the big time, for real.

This is going to be awesome!

/----/ Sounds like a winner for the classic car restoration industry.

 

[fncceo]

Suppose currently it costs 5 dollars to produce a widget. How much will it cost to produce the same widget when "desktop metal" and 3D printing makes it's cost 10 times cheaper?

It won't be cheaper. Today, one pound of PLA plastic filament is between $15 and $30 depending on the quality. Even a small model can take hours to print depending on the complexity and resolution. Compared to currently production methods, 3D printing is very expensive for mass production. However, they do greatly reduce the cost and time for prototyping.

Please don't poo poo my math question.

Only pointing out that the math is flawed. 3D printing isn't going to bring down the price of manufacturing in quantity, only the time involved for one-off prototyping.

Think of 3D printing like laser printing. When laser printing first came out, it enabled users to create near print shop quality prints at a price slightly more than typesetting. Laser printing remains cost effective for small quantities of document printing but is significantly more expensive than traditional printing methods in volume.

 

[fncceo]

This is an example of the normal resolution 3d printing where you can see the layers create noticeable ridges on the surface of the finished print. These can be removed on some types of plastic by melting the surface with acetone. In other plastics with sanding and filling.

This layering can be reduced to 0.1mm using a higher resolution print head and reducing the print speed. Compare that to typical CNC machine tolerances of 0.01mm from an similarly priced CNC machine.

 

[Vastator]

100x faster, 10x cheaper: 3D metal printing is about to go mainstream

Quote

Desktop Metal – remember the name. This Massachussetts company is preparing to turn manufacturing on its head, with a 3D metal printing system that's so much faster, safer and cheaper than existing systems that it's going to compete with traditional mass manufacturing processes.
We've been hearing for years now about 3D printing and how it's going to revolutionize manufacturing. As yet, though, it's still on the periphery.
Plenty of design studios and even home users run desktop printers, but the only affordable printing materials are cheap ABS plastics. And at the other end of the market, while organizations like NASA and Boeing are getting valuable use out of laser-melted metal printing, it's a very slow and expensive process that doesn't seem to scale well.
But a very exciting company out of Massachusetts, headed by some of the guys who came up with the idea of additive manufacture in the first place, believes it's got the technology and the machinery to boost 3D printing into the big time, for real.

This is going to be awesome!

/----/ Sounds like a winner for the classic car restoration industry.

And a boon to small arms production.

 

[fncceo]

And a boon to small arms production.

I certainly wouldn't use a 3D printed gun -- also known as a 'hand removal tool'.

 

[gipper]

Suppose currently it costs 5 dollars to produce a widget. How much will it cost to produce the same widget when "desktop metal" and 3D printing makes it's cost 10 times cheaper?

50 cents.

 

[Cellblock2429]

Suppose currently it costs 5 dollars to produce a widget. How much will it cost to produce the same widget when "desktop metal" and 3D printing makes it's cost 10 times cheaper?

50 cents.

/----/ Depends if the part is no longer available like an engine part for a 1936 Caddy where cost is not a concern or something readily available for a 1965 Mustang where you can still price shop.

 

[Vastator]

And a boon to small arms production.

I certainly wouldn't use a 3D printed gun -- also known as a 'hand removal tool'.

You say that now... 10 years from now that's how major manufacturers will produce them, and they will be par for the course. Perhaps not barrels, and springs; but recievers, and components for sure. Look at what people said about Glocks when they first became mainstream... Now they are everywhere, and every major manufacturer produces polymer frames guns.

 

[fncceo]

Look at what people said about Glocks when they first became mainstream... Now they are everywhere, and every major manufacturer produces polymer frames guns.

Replacing formerly wooden parts (stocks and grips) with polymer parts wasn't a huge leap. They did it for radios, TVs, and Telephones 40 years earlier.

Now, firearm manufacturers use CNC to produce machined steel and aluminum parts in production - which is just a different type of 3D printing (3D sculpting) which has been around since the 1940s. 3D printing was never intended to replace that technology. In the popular imagination, people see 3D printing like replicator technology on 'Star Trek'. It's not that, and never will be. It represents a quantum leap over previous modeling techniques, but it's not intended for mass production.

 

[SixFoot]

I need one that can print both metal and glass at the same time so I can open my Build-A-Bong Workshop.

 

[Vastator]

Look at what people said about Glocks when they first became mainstream... Now they are everywhere, and every major manufacturer produces polymer frames guns.

Replacing formerly wooden parts (stocks and grips) with polymer parts wasn't a huge leap. They did it for radios, TVs, and Telephones 40 years earlier.

Now, firearm manufacturers use CNC to produce machined steel and aluminum parts in production - which is just a different type of 3D printing (3D sculpting) which has been around since the 1940s. 3D printing was never intended to replace that technology. In the popular imagination, people see 3D printing like replicator technology on 'Star Trek'. It's not that, and never will be. It represents a quantum leap over previous modeling techniques, but it's not intended for mass production.

As the tech progresses I could easily see printers being able to utilize mutiple materials in a single process. This tech is still developing.