The title Metal 3D printer recently circulated on the Internet is "$ 2 a metal printer" when first saw this topic, I feel sure is grandstanding. The biggest thing I bought for $2 abroad is at the Dollar Shop (a department store that sells for $1-2). Can I buy a metal 3D printer there and go home?
The general metal 3D printer that I know is actually mature. The principle is generally metal powder plus high energy laser beam burning and cooling. However, this kind of SLM-like metal printer, due to the high power requirements of the laser head, the structure of the metal powder and laser head positioning is complex, the main mainstream products are provided by several large manufacturers in the United States and Germany, and the price is high. There is also a low-end metal printing technology. When the last time a friend from the United States visited SZDIY, he mentioned the technique of welding, which melted metal and formed at a high temperature. However, the molding effect I saw was very rough, so it was a penny.
When I think of electroplating, I often just think of the surface treatment, turning the surface of the lack of luster into a metallic shiny thing and selling it for a good price. But when I read this article, I was a little surprised, this Argentine brother is still a bit whimsy. He used electroplating as a method of forming. He placed the electrolyte in the space of a larger ink pen, then added an anode to the inside of the pen, and then used the printed metal panel as a cathode, using a CNC-like device. The contact of the pen with the metal panel induces an electrolytic effect, and the metal ions in the electrolyte are formed on the metal plate. He did, and the print video he provided was a pen that held an electrolytic solution and then metallized on the rotating disk below.
His printed video looks rough, and the dial below makes people feel inexplicable. I can imagine several problems in the prototype. First, use such a large panel as the cathode. The resistance must be large, so the power loss is not low. The second, the most important problem, the effect of electroplating is very slow. When electroplating in the industry, only a few tens of microns of metal can be plated per minute. It is estimated that the printing speed of this printer is slower than the plastic printer we use. Several times. In general, his printer is far from practical.
However, I agree that this program has a few good highlights. First, in theory, electroplating should be able to achieve higher precision. As long as the contact points between the electrolyte and the cathode are controlled, the printing accuracy may reach the current industrial level. Second, if you only need a plating power supply and an electrolytic solution to start printing, this cost is indeed much lower than that of industrial metal printers, and the safety of production is much better than that of the welding principle. Third, various types of electrolytes can be used for printing various metals, and the price is low, and there are stainless steel, copper, gold, silver, nickel, and even plastics such as PP and PVC.
In fact, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to speed up the printing speed of this prototype, but I didn't get a good answer. The main reason is that there is only one electrolyte outlet in the prototype design, and the accuracy is also determined by this nib, so the printing accuracy and speed are contradictory. If you use multiple electrodes, this control will be a lot more complicated, but it is not a direction. There is also a pen in the prototype that can only be vertically downward. If the flow direction of the liquid is controlled, the pen tip can squeeze the electrolyte from various angles, which is also a great improvement.
Finally, to fix it, the estimated $2 is the price of the pen. If anyone believes that $2 can be used as a 3D printer, I am going to order one thousand from him.
Fold Away Table,Hdpe Folding Table,Foldable Camping Table,Outdoor Plastic Furniture
ZHEJIANG HUZOLI METAL PRODUCTS CO.,LTD , https://www.zlplasticfurniture.com