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Use this Mcor technologies type of 3D paper printer to cut thin sheets of metal rather than paper. Each thin piece of solderable metal is coated with a thin film of soldier top and bottom, or just top or bottom for the first and last metal sheet that is cut. The printer stacks the cut sheets together
with a solder/heat compatible adhesive, or a metal adhesive if higher heat handling solder is not needed, to make a 3D metal object. If using solder, the object is "fired" in a 180 190 °C /360 - 370 °F common kitchen oven to melt the solder and bond the metal sheets together to create a 3D metal object. Expansion and contraction during heating and cooling would be calculated into the design for various metal types.
EDIT 2013-02-02 Additional ideas regarding combining sand casting or lost wax casting in order to economically produce products from iron or other more robust non-solderable metals (see links)
Edit 2013-01-27: I should add that this desktop printing concept is designed to be low enough in cost to place in home workshops or a small business with access to a common household oven or no oven at all if metal adhesive only is to be used rather than solder - when using aluminum or tin foil for example. This machine is designed to work only with relatively inexpensive solderable metals rather than materials like titanium or platinum. Existing 3D metal printers are larger and more expensive, and the 200 watt lasers needed for these machines are illegal for a commoner to own.
On another note: For kicks thin sheets of magnetic material could be cut to make a 3D object. The printer would not assemble to objects. A human would assemble the pieces like a puzzle similar to (see link)
Stackable 3D puzzles
http://www.blinkx.c...gHviJ7zVEiNKRzyIrXQ
A 3D printer could make a stackable, magnetic 3D puzzle in this style [Sunstone, Jan 27 2013]
Cost of laser sintering metal printing as of 2010-01-25
http://directmetall...intering-costs.html
$650.00 USD for a part Sized - 1 1/2" Tall 1 1/4" Wide 1" Long 20 micron layers [Sunstone, Jan 27 2013, last modified Feb 02 2013]
For finer resolution, try this
3D_20Printing_20in_20a_20Vacuum
Another way to print metal in 3D [Vernon, Jan 27 2013]
3D printers for lost wax casting
http://ostrevolutio...st-wax-casting.html
DIY arc furnaces are affordable, produce temperatures in the range of 6332°F and may be able act as the lost wax casting burnout kiln as well as melting metal. If the "ceramic shell mold material" is robust enough to handle the temperature required to to melt cast or malleable irons, the ceramic shell mold could be filled with metal powder and placed in the arc furnace. The melting and pouring of metal would be eliminated and only the "release" procedure would be required. See also low cost "Freeze casting" [Sunstone, Jan 29 2013, last modified Feb 02 2013]
3D printing layers of metals using adhesives or welding
Layered_20prototyping
I only searched for 3D printers originally. I just noticed a duplicate idea in some ways. The solder on the metal sheets and household oven is the unique economical goal this "3D Metal Printer" post. If thermite welding is a low cost, legal for the commoner (the exothermic chemicals may no longer be for sale to individuals at least in some western countries) and can be performed in the home workshop I think it is a beautiful idea [+] [Sunstone, Feb 02 2013]
The melting temperature of metals
http://www.engineer...e-metals-d_860.html
The heat required by a DIY arc or type of furnace to produce objects from patterns and molds [Sunstone, Feb 02 2013]
Lost wax casting procedures
https://en.wikipedi...ki/Lost-wax_casting
Wax is generally used for the copy of the original model. If wax is difficult for a common 3D printer to work with, a styrofoam-like material could be printed and would easily melt during the burnout process. Polystyrene is mentioned in at least one ceramic shell mold patent. If a ceramic shell mold will not support the temperatures required to melt iron, a common sand mold would be used. I don't think it would be practicle to melt powdered metal in a sand mold unfortunately, so pouring would be required. Internet searches show metal can be melted in low cost microwave ovens and iron can be poured in ceramic shells [Sunstone, Feb 02 2013]
Solderability of various metals
https://en.wikipedi.../wiki/Solderability
Semi-solderable and non-solderable metals [Sunstone, Feb 02 2013]
[link]
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This could work out soundly. + |
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This could work out soundly. + |
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Not to go against the grain (but then to do just that), there are a few things. How would thin sections be prevented from toppling during firing? Or during assembly if there is no adhesive? Or if there is glue, what kind is compatible with firing without offgassing and causing delamination? What about surface tension of the molten solder, won't it pull and distort anything non-symmetric? |
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Other than that, I think this could work out soundly (+) |
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Pesky engineering issues. I hear the sound of thinking... |
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// How would thin sections be prevented from
toppling during firing?// |
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Easy. Just specify a few holes in each piece,
which line up with one another. Then, during
assembly, drop metal pegs into the holes. If the
shape doesn't have any region which would allow
for pegs running the full height, then use multiple
pegs in offset holes. |
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You might also want to clamp the layers during
firing. |
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The suggestion of magnetic layers is quite nice,
since (if the layers were all magnetized north-up,
they'd naturally stick together). However,
magnetic materials lose their magnetization at
high temperatures. |
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// coated with a thin film of soldier // |
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Is there some sort of IED involved in this ? We disapprove, at least if it involves injury to Western troops. Obviously, if the victims are poor people in hot countries far away, we withdraw the objection. |
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He's only planning on using soldier tops and
bottoms. |
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Not sure how this is different to Selective Laser Sintering... maybe the soldering part? |
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//Believe this to be mostly (if not fully) baked.// |
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If you read the idea (the big thing at upper left of
this page), it starts with: "Use this Mcor technologies
type of 3D paper printer to cut thin sheets of metal
rather than paper." |
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So, while I can't be sure, I think the idea here is to
use metal and solder rather than paper and glue. |
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Laser sintering is OK, although it's a bit tedious (the
machine spreads a thin layer of powder; then fuses
selected areas, spreads another layer...). And since
when is an advancement a prerequisite for an HB
Post (before answering, please pause to reflect on
the Bee Releasing Jam Filled Banjo Leg). |
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Arcam is a Swedish(?) company that makes Electron Beam Melting 3D printers, which is supposed to be the premier technology for printing high-quality metal parts. |
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Karen Taminger is the NASA engineer who has pioneered 3D Electron Beam Melting Freeform Fabrication, and there are plans to put such a printer on the ISS. |
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Do a Google search for "Metalicarap" and you'll see there is some group of do-it-yourselfers trying to make their own cheap Electron Beam Melting printer for around the cost of a used car. |
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Metal is the killer app for 3D printers, IMHO. If that can be done at reasonable cost, then it will change the world. |
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Laminated metal products have been around for a
number of years. The layers are usually held together
with rivets. I have several pair of special-function
pliers that are made of laminated metal. One could
replace the rivets or solder with adhesives to obtain
approximately the same result. |
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Forget about all of the sintering and soldiering. If you want
to make something lasting out of metal, you don't fool
around trying to glue it together, you weld it. |
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The cheap and easy way would be contact resistance
welding, a common method used to construct things like
monocoque car bodies. |
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The really cool way to do it would be what I will call
(because I don't know if it exists, and what it's really called
if it does) cryovac molecular welding: the process is
performed in a vacuum chamber, where two perfectly-
fitted parts will be hit with a jet of liquid nitrogen just
before they are brought into contact. As they slowly warm
in the total vacuum, the weldment will bond on the
molecular level as the crystalline matrices of the two parts
shift back to their regular structure and rearrange around
each other. |
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