Posted on 06/30/2016 3:26:49 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Filamet™, the new product from The Virtual Foundry, llc in Madison, Wisconsin, lets any standard 3d printer, print pure metal right on the desktop. This Crowdfunded development will likely change the way metal is 3D Printed.
"I'd like to introduce you to the people that have found the Holy Grail of 3D Printing." -Engineer introducing Bradley Woods before a presentation given in the Hubble Auditorium at Lockheed-Martin.
The Virtual Foundry has combined traditional plastics, Powdered Metallurgy, Metal Injection Molding and 3D Printing in a completely new way. Filamet™ has a composition of over 88% metal, which becomes pure metal after a simple process removes the 12% binding material. This strategy creates a path from inexpensive 3D Printers, to Pure Metal output. A feat previously only capable on million-plus dollar printers. Filamet™ has a number of advantages over existing Metal Laser Printers. Purchase cost and operating costs being the most obvious, but also Time. Processing a Filamet™ print can be done in under 5 hours. Large printers have a print cycle of up to 48 hours.
"Printer manufacturers have struggled for years to bring 3D Metal Printers down into a workable price range. Filamet™ takes a different approach. Rather than bringing the high-end down, it extends the capabilities of current 3D Printers up to those of the high-end machines." - Bradley Woods
"We expect materials to account for a large portion of near-term product innovation in the 3D Printing market," concluded Mr. Woods, "our company offers an immediate solution to producing real and useful metal prints on the desktop 3D Printer that you already own." Since going public with Filamet™, The Virtual Foundry has developed relationships with a series of industries that one might not first expect. We're exploring small-scale manufacturing with Calvin Klein, low-cost consumable parts used in Radiation Therapy with the world's largest nuclear medicine facility, a prototyping technique that will 3d print uranium (Department of Energy), plus other materials used in aerospace and other industries.
Our patented technology works with any 3D Printer, and any material that will "Sinter". This makes a nearly endless list of potential materials for future variations of Filamet™. Over the next 6 months we will be releasing 3D Printing filament based on other metals plus Glass and Ceramic.
"From here, the curve in 3d printing metal, goes forward rapidly and indefinitely." - Bradley Woods
The Virtual Foundry is a technology company in Madison, Wisconsin specializing in developing products for 3d Printing Metal, Glass and Ceramic objects on existing desktop 3d Printers. All of our products are manufactured in America, from raw materials manufactured in America.
Source: http://www.thevirtualfoundry.com/
Porosity. Exactly what I would worry about.
I was going to ask what “extracting binder” meant exactly. Apparently, it really does leave a porous object.
This would have to be accounted for regarding weight, strength, etc. Many projects rewpquire knowing characteristics as lowly as the weight of the object, much less strength.
Not just an oven. A kiln. You can do almost as well with a lost wax process.
Sintering has some advantages, though.
The nozzles gotta be pricey.
No. The high temperatures do not occur in the printing process, but in the kiln. Print first, sinter later.
I was thinking high temp oven depending on just removing the vehicle, or bonding/sintering the metal particles.
There are micro-encapsulated resin coatings that are applied then heated, the heat allows the mixing of the resin and catalyst and it changes chemical structure. Without heat, the coating wipes off, but after heat, it is impervious to solvents and must be physically removed with abrasives.
As metals are not compounds, this low heat blending won’t work, but the similarity to lost wax production is closer to what is happening.
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