3D printing was performed on BCN3D's Epsilon 3D printer using wire from BASF Forward AM.
A broken screw can derail the entire manufacturing process. If your overseas supplier needs six weeks to deliver the new screws, you will face a crisis if you run out of spare parts. However, if you have a metal 3D printer on site, it only takes a few hours to manufacture a new screw, and the cost will be greatly reduced.
This is the appeal of metal 3D printing, which promises to eliminate costly and often unpredictable supply chains, thereby attracting manufacturers and companies.
At the recent global 3D printer trade fair called Formnext held in Frankfurt, dozens of metal 3D printers on both sides of the samples they can produce attracted crowds eager to solve the problem of spare parts.
However, the hot discussion on Formnext does not just come from the six-digit industrial metal 3D printers of industry leaders, such as 3D Systems DDD and EOS. A new and growing low-cost desktop computer that can print metal parts with easy-to-use wire has become the focus of attention.
These entry-level machines for metal 3D printing are not only designed to produce spare parts, they are also touted as a way for companies to produce metal prototypes quickly and economically, without the need for high cost, high power lasers or other 3D dangerous loose metal powders Printing Technology. Prices for these smaller 3D printers range from US$6,000 to US$25,000, which is in stark contrast to the US$250,000 at the other end of the metal 3D printer spectrum.
“Our customers want a way to produce metal parts as simple as plastic parts,” said Eric Pallarés García, co-founder and CTO of Barcelona-based BCN3D, which recently expanded to New Jersey. "The entire 3D printing industry is chasing metal 3D printing. But the truth is that today, affordable and available solutions (if any) are very scarce."
BCN3D manufactures desktop 3D printers for printing plastic parts. It enters the field of metal 3D printing for the first time and is equipped with an adapter kit that costs about $1,000. The kit enables the company's desktop Epsilon printer to also handle wire and produce small metal parts. In fact, several top brands of desktop 3D printers, including Utlimaker and Makerbot, have tested and approved the use of wire on their machines in 2021.
Raise3D Technologies, located in Irvine, California, is currently one of the manufacturers specializing in the development of 3D printers for metal wires. The company has just launched its first step in metal 3D printing with Forge 1, complementing its existing line of plastic 3D printers. Raise3D collaborated with wire manufacturer BASF Forward AM to develop a printer whose cost is only a fraction of that of a printer that uses a metal power supply.
Raise3D's desktop metal 3D printer will be available in 2022 along with two other machines (a degreasing machine and a furnace), which is essential for the process of manufacturing metal parts with metal 3D printing filaments.
Another top brand in the 3D printing industry, the Dallas-based Polish company 3DGence, also debuted on Formnext for metal 3D printing. Its new Element MP260 metal 3D printer is a compact machine designed to be the prototype of choice for companies performing metal injection molding. Printers such as the MP260 are designed to produce multiple metal prototypes every day, allowing companies that produce metal parts to improve their designs faster and bring products to market faster.
3DGence's new Element MP260 metal 3D printer was launched this month.
3DGence CEO Sebastian Sczasny (Sebastian Sczasny) said: “The number of desktop systems that can print open market wire has increased. Despite the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, the current major industrial Participants continue to grow."
The key player in the desktop metal 3D printing field that all other companies are chasing is Desktop Metal, a Burlington, Massachusetts-based 3D printer manufacturer that went public at the end of last year. The company has since acquired two larger competitors, ExOne and EnvisionTEC.
Desktop Metal's smallest metal 3D printer Studio System is very popular with engineers who want to use stainless steel, titanium and copper to make terminal components and functional prototypes. The company's slogan is that customers can manufacture complex metal parts without being a professional metallurgist or machinist, which resonates with a wide range of professionals.
The large number of small metal 3D printers displayed by many people at the Formnext Expo represents the growing interest of consumers to try 3D printing metal parts before investing in mature industrial machines. 3D printer manufacturers expect companies to use the technology to explore how it can help alleviate supply chain problems, bring metal products to the market faster, and manufacture critical parts near shore.
The simpler metal 3D printing becomes, the wider its coverage. In the past ten years, metal 3D printing has grown significantly in all walks of life, but until now, it is still a lack of entry-level technology.
Although there is strong demand for large industrial metal 3D printers that produce aerospace-grade metal parts and batches of complex parts for automakers and heavy industries, metal desktop 3D printers suitable for offices may just be a new bright spot in the 3D printer industry.