🔥 Metal Binder Jetting 3D Printing: Powder to Metal Mastery!

How it Works:
1️⃣ Spread metal powder (stainless steel, bronze, etc.)
2️⃣ Jet polymer binder to glue complex shapes layer-by-layer
3️⃣ Green part emerges (fragile but intricate geometries!)
4️⃣ Magic step: Sintering (furnace shrinks & densifies to 98% solid metal) OR infiltration (pour bronze into steel skeleton)

#MetalBinderJetting #3DPrinting #Sintering #infiltation #wow3dlearning

#OpenSLS: #OpenSource #Arduino-controlled selective #laser #sintering of nylon & #biocompatible #polycaprolactone (PCL):

-potential to produce PCL scaffolds useful for cell studies

Paper: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147399
Web: https://andreasbastian.com/opensls
GitHub: https://github.com/MillerLabFTW/OpenSLS
#DIYbio #lab #3Dprinting #SLS #instruments

Them: Whatcha thinkin' bout?

Me: oh yknow.. cement production 🤔

#Cement #DasConkCreetBabey #Sintering

Let's take a look inside that Calibration Cat printed in stainless steel!

Analysis thread to follow 🧵

#fdm #3dprinting #sem #sintering

3D Print Glass With a Laser Cutter

We're all familiar with FDM 3D printing, and some of the more well-heeled or adventurous among us may even have taken a faltering step into the world of SLA printers. But for most of us there's a step further in 3D printing that remains beyond our reach. SLS, or Selective Laser Sintering, creates prints from powder by melting it layer by layer using a laser, and has the advantage of opening up more useful materials than the polymer stock of the other methods. It's not entirely unreachable though, as [Kenneth Hawthorn] shows us by using a laser cutter to produce SLS prints from powdered glass.

He evolved the technique of repeated fast passes with the laser to gradually melt more glass together as opposed to slower passes. He achieved a resolution as low as 0.1 mm, though he found a better glass color when the laser was less tightly focused. It raises the concern that glass powder is abrasive and thus a threat to any mechanism, thus he's being extremely careful with the fan settings.

This may not be quite in the league of an SLS printer costing thousands of dollars, but it's a technique that bears more investigation and could no doubt be refined for more custom fused glass creations. He tells us he was inspired by a previous Hackaday post about sintering sand, and of course we'd like to remind readers of a 3D printer that did the same job with the power of the sun.

#3dprinterhacks #lasercutter #powderedglass #sintering #sls

3D Printed Copper Rocket Nozzle Costs Under Two Grand

You don't think of hobby-grade 3D printing as a good method for creating rocket nozzles. But [Mister Highball] managed to create a copper nozzle using a common printer, a kiln, and some special copper-bearing filament.

The copper filament is about 90% metal. Virtual Foundry recommends preheating it before printing and you have to sinter it in an oven to remove the plastic and leave a solid metal piece which will, of course, shrink.

The results were not great at first, but the final run looked pretty good. You'd do well to take note of any advice on using the filament since it is quite a bit more expensive than regular PLA. There are clearly some very specific steps you need to follow to get good results.

Of course, you also need a kiln and the other equipment you need to handle molten metal. While it is impressive that you can create a metal part this easily, it still isn't as easy as a normal print and it isn't much easier than simply casting the part using a lost PLA technique.

While 3D printing rocket parts isn't a new idea, earlier efforts haven't used cheap FDM printers. We are looking forward to having a real metal 3D printer one day.

#3dprinterhacks #copper #metal3dprinting #printing #rocketnozzle #sintering #virtualfoundry