Metal 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, is a process applied to create 3D parts from a data file. It usually includes solidfying and buliding up thin layers of metal material to make complete parts. The technology enables to produce complex shapes which cannot be created by traditional techniques such as gorging, casting and machining. This article introduces new design possibilities with the following ten metal 3D printers with top quality and affordable price.
- DOBOT Magician---Desktop Metal 3D Printer
DOBOT Magician is one of the latest desktop metal 3D printers on the current market. This 4-axis robot arm is specially made for maker and STEAM education, for it can be further developed with main open-sourced 3d printing softwares such as Repetier Host and Pronterface. Connected with Stepper Motor and Planetary Gear Reducer, DOBOT Magician maintains the repeatability of 0.2mm and maximum running speed of 320°/s, which ensures it can 3D print metal accurately in a short time. Besides 3D printing, DOBOT Magician can achieve functions of writing and drawing, laser engraving, Graphics programming, picking and placing just by changing end-tools. DOBOT Magician provides metal 3D printing service and is with low cost , which is affordable from kids to the elders, comparing with expensive industrial-grade ones.
- Kodama’s Trinus---A 3D Printer with Metal
Trinus is made of industrial-grade parts, both its frame and internal components are of excellent aluminum and steel. Because of it stable structure, Trinus can print at the speed of 70mm/s .Scaled down from industrial machine, Trinus’c core is a single-axis slide. No loose belts or plastic gears, this 3D printer is accessible to common makers. Because of its low production costs by reducing a number of components, Trinus is also one of the affordable metal 3D printers on the current market.
- Markforged---Metal X 3D Printing Service
Markforged claims that its Metal X is a breakthrough in metal 3D printing.The company revolutionizes technology of 3D metal printing with composite carbon fiber, which makes a great progress in additive metal manufacturing.Metal X makes innovation faster and uses a new technology to deliver mental parts overnight at a lower cost.
- DMLS--- a 3D Printer for Metal
DMLS( the direct metal laser sintering)--- sometimes called a metal 3D printer or a 3D printing in metal. A laser beam is used to melt 20-40 micron layers of metal powder on top of each other to create metal part. Although metal powder is spread across a build platform and melted which is different from a plastic filament being extruded, this process resembles 3d printing.Parts in DMLS are fully dense metal with excellent mechanical properties. Other metal 3d printing processes exist which use a binder, although they produce parts which are not fully dense metal. The DMLS process can produce complex geometries which traditional cnc machining processes are not capable of. The document you should prepare is just a CAD file in STL format before DMLS.
- Sciaky EBAM 300 – Metal Filament 3D Printer
Sciakys's EBAM technology will be a good choice for you,if you want to 3D print huge metal structures. It offers nearly any size with machines built on demand, which mainly applied in US defense and aerospace industries.Sciaky states that the EBAM 3000 is one of the fastest commercial 3D printers.It can print a 10-foot-long metal structure in 48 hours at a rate of approximately 15 lbs. with this metal 3D printer forgings can be finished in 2 days which used to take nearly a year.
- Fabrisonic UAM – Ultrasonic Metal 3D Printing
Another 3D printer applied to large metal parts is Fabrisonic UAM (Ultrasound Additive Manufacturing Technology). The 3-axis CNC mills made by Fabrisonic has an added welding head for additive manufacturing. The metal layers will be cut firstly and then merged together through ultransound.The largest 3D printer made by Fabrisonic is SonicLayer 7200,which volumed 6″ x 6″ x 3″ (2 x 2 x 1.5 meters).
- Concept Laser XLine 1000R--Powder Metal 3D Printer
Concept Laser XLine 1000R is the largest powder mental 3D printer on the current market with a volume of 630 x 400 x 500 mm, and its max scanning speed is 7m/s.It was developed for the tool-less manufacturing of large functional components and technical prototypes with material properties which are identical throughout the range. The centrepiece of the X line 1000R consists of a high-power laser in the kilowatt range which enables an increase in productivity of up to a factor of 10 compared with standard laser fusing machines available on the market.
- KamerMaker---3D Printing Metal Parts
The KamerMaker used to be one of the first large-scale metal 3D printers with the volume of 14 cubic meters. It was also the first 3D printer which applied RepRap FFF-type technology to build a house on the canal in Amsterdam.
- Matterfab---3D Printing in Metal
MatterFab develops the first based powder bed fusion metal 3D printer in US.It lays down a thin metal onto a bulid plate and then uses a high- power laser melt that metal powder onto the layer under it.Compared with other commercial metal 3D printers,which are expensive and out of reach of most people, this metal 3D printer made by MatterFab is accessible for everybody.That is because the price drop of high precision sensors, computational power and some other core components.
- Toshiba's 3D Printer for Metal
Toshiba, a Japanese company, says its metal 3d printer can print stainless steel and iron at a speed of 110 cubic centimeters per hour, which is 10 times faster than printers on the current market. Instead of laying down a whole bed of powdered metal first, Toshiba's printer lays down powder and sinters in tandem,and then forms a soild metal part. Therefore, it is called a power-bed 3D printer.
