They have some fun toys on the main campus. This is their metal 3D printer (SLS type). Their party trick is printing hollow titanium "bouncy balls", and they also do a nice line in promotional bottle openers in titanium or stainless steel. I now have a titanium one of my very own.

#3Dprinting #Metal3Dprinting

This is my 3D printed titanium bottle opener. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

#3Dprinting #Metal3Dprinting

@spacelizard man I wish I could 3d print metal at home, that'd be epic

@BridgetClinch Well, it's possible, sort of, if you're pretty wealthy, very patient, and don't care at all about dimensional accuracy: https://youtu.be/tw9VF1V-Lzc

It would be so much better if SLS printers cost 100x less than they currently do though.

How I 3D Printed a Metal Aerospike Rocket at Home

YouTube

@spacelizard

Oh look, we are titanium bouncy balls buddies now :)

@spacelizard wait wait, do they actually bounce?

@daisy They do! Admittedly they don't bounce very high, but they're tough enough and elastic enough to throw at the ground and have them bounce back up into your hands.

They tried the same thing with one that they'd printed in stainless steel, but that just broke.