iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

[c1ue]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

The volume of material that is at the melting point is very small. At any given time the feedstock is a room temperature powder. It is much safer than lost wax casting where the metal is poured in. A lot of artists in Colorado work with molten brass/bronze to make sculptures. A 3D laser sintering printer would be much safer.

Given this context - yes, a 3D laser sintering printer is much safer than melting masses of metal to be poured into a mold.

However, the temperatures in question are still non-trivial. As was noted by the 3D enthusiast's cautionary article - even for some types of resin 3D printing, there are safety issues associated with temperature in that even some resin 3D printers' output cannot be safely handled immediately post-production.

For metal sintering - the feedstock being room temperature doesn't mean the created object is room temperature. If the object has any degree of enclosed volume, then the ability to dissipate heat is directly a function of melt temperature vs. print time vs. volume enclosed. I can see all sorts of scenarios where this can result in accidents - for example, air bubbles enclosed becoming heated such that a rupture occurs which shoots burning hot bits of metal everywhere.

Plastic is OK for a start, but this technology needs composites and metal to reach full potential and we're well on the way.

I agree, but I wonder just how expensive sintering materials are. Powdered metal likely requires a whole lot more processing, thus the raw material expense seems likely to be much higher due to this as well as due to material cost. The mechanics of sintering metal also would seem to require much higher grade of materials and processes, which would drive the capital equipment cost up as well.

[EJ]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

My impression was that current additive manufacturing (3D printing) with metals uses a laser to sinter the metal powder into a solid object. I don't think this is particularly high power, though it could be somewhat dangerous. Generally high power lasers are operated at a fairly light duty cycle (100W pulse at 0.5% duty cycle only consumes ~1W average power with a 50% efficient laser).

http://www.optomec.com/Additive-Manu...-Manufacturing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nk8wOJQViM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYbw1oSzPVA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zApmGFDA6ow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Px6RSL9Ac

Shapeways describes the process of making a 3D printed stainless steel object as follows:

3D printed stainless steel has a slightly pitted surface finish for that vintage, steam punk look. This material can be polished smoother for jewelry, structural parts, and anything in between. Shapeways 3D printed stainless steel is very strong and rigid with similar properties to 420 stainless steel, except it is infused with a bronze content of up to 30%. This gives some Stainless Steel objects a slightly bronze hue.

To print in stainless steel, we deposit small drops of glue onto layers of stainless steel powder. Then a new layer of powder is spread and the process repeats until we have a fully printed tray. We then carefully take the printed objects out. In this stage of the process, the objects are very fragile – similar to wet sand. Next, we sprue the objects together and infuse them with bronze. Items closer to the bronze infusion start point will absorb more bronze. These items might look more golden than other items. We are working on standardizing the colors, but in the meanwhile, there will be some color differences in the models you may receive (see picture above). Then, we cut off the objects from the tree and polish them with a tumbler. Depending on how fragile the printed objects are we use different polishing media. This is why some objects may have a slightly shinier surface than others. After polishing, we spray on a sealant and ship to your doorstep.

This material is watertight, is dishwasher safe, not recyclable, and not foodsafe. It is heatproof to 831C/1528F degrees. Higher temperatures may significantly change material properties.

Correcting my previous post, the multi-step process does result in a solid steel and bronze object rather than one of grains of steel glued together but applications are limited due to the structural priorities of the resulting metal. The 3D printing and finishing process imposes these design rules.

[c1ue]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

The 3D printing and finishing process imposes these design rules.

That looks like an opportunity for the IC layout folks to reuse their technology. Design rule checkers are employed to ensure that both custom and machine physical blueprints are manufacture-able and will have some modicum of usable lifespan - basically software engines that verify all manner of physical attribute rule sets (the design rules). Of course, these aren't cheap - creation of semiconductor design rules is a major endeavor, but perhaps orders of magnitude easier for 3D printing purposes.

[EJ]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

That looks like an opportunity for the IC layout folks to reuse their technology. Design rule checkers are employed to ensure that both custom and machine physical blueprints are manufacture-able and will have some modicum of usable lifespan - basically software engines that verify all manner of physical attribute rule sets (the design rules). Of course, these aren't cheap - creation of semiconductor design rules is a major endeavor, but perhaps orders of magnitude easier for 3D printing purposes.

I think that is exactly how this technology will evolve. The printers themselves will change little as they have changed little since 2005 when I did due diligence for Trident Capital on a 3D printer company: lower cost of goods, lower prices, and improved design and printing software.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

I think that is exactly how this technology will evolve. The printers themselves will change little as they have changed little since 2005 when I did due diligence for Trident Capital on a 3D printer company: lower cost of goods, lower prices, and improved design and printing software.

At least one company (ProtoMold) has implemented this design rule checker for automatic manufacturing.

This company does not do additive 3D printing.
Instead, they do conventional CNC machining of standardized aluminum tools (cavity and core mold parts) for plastic injection molding.

The real magic is their software engine. A customer can upload a 3D solid model of the part from, say, ProEngineer or SolidWorks. The software engine checks the design rules (wall thickness; draft angles; need for slide actions versus open-and shut tooling; knit lines and mold flow...) and spits out a quote for price and delivery. Upon purchase, the engine creates toolpath files for the CNC machines and very little human attention is required as the mold is machined in their plant, and the mold operated to create your plastic parts in their plant

Same business model to create low-volume custom CNC metal parts.
These guys have been quietly successful at this for many years now.


http://www.protomold.com/ppclanding4...FZFaMgodin8AUQ






P.S. Any young engineer learning the ropes for designing plastic injection molded parts should have one of their free "cubes" noted on their home page.
It's the best learning aid / sample I've ever seen to show the basic tricks of the trade.

[LorenS]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

Given this context - yes, a 3D laser sintering printer is much safer than melting masses of metal to be poured into a mold.

However, the temperatures in question are still non-trivial. As was noted by the 3D enthusiast's cautionary article - even for some types of resin 3D printing, there are safety issues associated with temperature in that even some resin 3D printers' output cannot be safely handled immediately post-production.

For metal sintering - the feedstock being room temperature doesn't mean the created object is room temperature. If the object has any degree of enclosed volume, then the ability to dissipate heat is directly a function of melt temperature vs. print time vs. volume enclosed. I can see all sorts of scenarios where this can result in accidents - for example, air bubbles enclosed becoming heated such that a rupture occurs which shoots burning hot bits of metal everywhere.

At any Lowes or Home Depot, for under $400 you can buy a LincolnWeld 225 welder that draws 50A at 220V. That's almost 10,000W in the arc. By comparison a laser sintering machine is trivial. We're talking net energy input significantly less than a toaster oven.


Yes, safety concerns are non trivial for this kind of work, but I don't see any reason a well designed metal printer could not be a home safe, affordable tool in the next few years. The working chamber needs to be either evacuated or filled with inert gas - so they will never be "cheap" compared to the plastic machines, but the benefits of the material properties are worth it.

Microwave ovens have a similar set of safety problems. Microwave radiation is not visible and your touch reflex won't work either, so the machine needs to be designed properly to allow safe operation. I think building a metal working printer as not that much more complex or difficult and only an order of magnitude more expensive.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

At any Lowes or Home Depot, for under $400 you can buy a LincolnWeld 225 welder that draws 50A at 220V. That's almost 10,000W in the arc. By comparison a laser sintering machine is trivial. We're talking net energy input significantly less than a toaster oven.


Yes, safety concerns are non trivial for this kind of work, but I don't see any reason a well designed metal printer could not be a home safe, affordable tool in the next few years. The working chamber needs to be either evacuated or filled with inert gas - so they will never be "cheap" compared to the plastic machines, but the benefits of the material properties are worth it.

Microwave ovens have a similar set of safety problems. Microwave radiation is not visible and your touch reflex won't work either, so the machine needs to be designed properly to allow safe operation. I think building a metal working printer as not that much more complex or difficult and only an order of magnitude more expensive.

From Wikipedia:

Sintering is a method for creating objects from powders. It is based on atomic diffusion. Diffusion occurs in any material above absolute zero, but it occurs much faster at higher temperatures. In most sintering processes, the powdered material is held in a mold and then heated to a temperature below the melting point. The atoms in the powder particles diffuse across the boundaries of the particles, fusing the particles together and creating one solid piece. Because the sintering temperature does not have to reach the melting point of the material, sintering is often chosen as the shaping process for materials with extremely high melting points such as tungsten and molybdenum.Sintering is traditionally used for manufacturing ceramic objects but finds applications in almost all fields of industry. The study of sintering and of powder-related processes is known as powder metallurgy. A simple, intuitive example of sintering can be observed when ice cubes in a glass of water adhere to each other.

For metals, the process is usually called "powdered metallurgy" and the parts usually called "powdered metal" parts. Again from Wiki

Powder metallurgy is the process of blending fine powdered materials, pressing them into a desired shape or form (compacting), and then heating the compressed material in a controlled atmosphere to bond the material (sintering). The powder metallurgy process generally consists of four basic steps: powder manufacture, powder blending, compacting, and sintering. Compacting is generally performed at room temperature, and the elevated-temperature process of sintering is usually conducted at atmospheric pressure. Optional secondary processing often follows to obtain special properties or enhanced precision.[1]
Two main techniques used to form and consolidate the powder are sintering and metal injection molding. Recent developments have made it possible to use rapid manufacturing techniques which use the metal powder for the products. Because with this technique the powder is melted and not sintered, better mechanical strength can be accomplished

Many little parts like this are made that way

[c1ue]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

At any Lowes or Home Depot, for under $400 you can buy a LincolnWeld 225 welder that draws 50A at 220V. That's almost 10,000W in the arc. By comparison a laser sintering machine is trivial. We're talking net energy input significantly less than a toaster oven.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. You can fill your gas tank with 20 gallons of pure inflammable hell, but there are a plethora of safety mechanisms around that - plus you don't directly interact.

The above welder - your typical home enthusiast isn't going to be buying or using that.

Yes, safety concerns are non trivial for this kind of work, but I don't see any reason a well designed metal printer could not be a home safe, affordable tool in the next few years. The working chamber needs to be either evacuated or filled with inert gas - so they will never be "cheap" compared to the plastic machines, but the benefits of the material properties are worth it.

I agree they can be made safer, but that is a far cry from safe. The welder above isn't safe - and everyone involved knows that very clearly.

Microwave ovens have a similar set of safety problems. Microwave radiation is not visible and your touch reflex won't work either, so the machine needs to be designed properly to allow safe operation. I think building a metal working printer as not that much more complex or difficult and only an order of magnitude more expensive.

The microwave oven isn't used to create new products - it is used to heat up food. Notably - you cannot put metal inside the microwave oven because the result is a very high energy no no event.

Context matters. Are commercial jet planes safe? Quite so - because laymen (with few exceptions) don't have any control or access over them.

[Polish_Silver]

software and traditional metal working

I am using "protocase" for my first product. They have a great downloadable cad program, which helps me design an L type steel sheet metal enclosure. It gives me a turnkey price quote, and I can add silk screen coloring and powder coat finishing.

I end up with files, which I can also submit to my local sheet metal shop for a quote.

The manufacturing method is not at all novel, but having cad software that I can use to get a base line price is great.

The web site also taught me loads about fasteners, tolerances, etc.

[verdo]

Re: software and traditional metal working

If I can 3D print an x-wing, the iTulip consensus should be unanimously positive, without even one exception

[c1ue]

Re: software and traditional metal working

If I can 3D print an x-wing, the iTulip consensus should be unanimously positive, without even one exception

If you can buy one already for $16 - why would you bother?

http://www.amazon.com/MACHINES-DIE-C.../dp/B00832YQGG

And on the note of actual revenue generating uses for 3D printers...

Why bother with copied house keys when you can go straight to the ATM:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08..._atm_skimmers/

Vid Cybercrooks in Australia are using 3D printers and computer-aided design software to manufacture ATM skimming devices.

New South Wales Police recently arrested and charged a Romanian national with fraud involving the use of an ATM skimmer made on a 3D printer to fleece Sydney residents, Australia-based iTnews reports.

Police in Sydney set up a dedicated taskforce in June after recording an increase in cash machine theft offences.The taskforce identified one gang that targeted 15 ATMs across metropolitan Sydney, affecting tens of thousands of people and stealing around AU$100,000 (US$92,000).

Commander of the NSW Fraud and Cybercrime Squad, Detective Superintendent Col Dyson, told iTnews the gang was using 3D printers and CAD technology. Two unnamed banks are being targeted.

"These devices are actually manufactured for specific models of ATMs so they fit better and can’t be detected as easily," Det Supt Dyson explained.

"Parts of the devices are internally fitted, either by the offenders moving part of the slot and replacing it with their own, and pushing circuitry into the machines. [Another model] is so small it’s entirely self-contained and entirely pushed in, with some force, into the card slot."

Skimmers are designed to fit around the card slot of cash machines in order to read and extract data from the mag stripe of cards as they are pushed into a compromised machine. The devices are often used in conjunction with a hidden miniature pin-hole video camera, or an unobtrusive keypad overlay, to record PIN data.

The collated information, sent to fraudsters using mobile phone technology or stored for later retrieval, provides enough data to clone a magnetic-stripe-only credit card. Fake cards are then used in combination with stolen PIN information to make fraudulent withdrawals. Pictures of hardware-based ATM skimming devices, fake cash machine fascias and more can be found in a blog post by cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs here.

Skimmers have been used by fraudsters for years but introducing 3D manufacturing into the process has obvious advantages to cybercriminals, according to veteran IT security expert Paul Ducklin.

"Crooks can quickly try a new design (or tweak an old one) in order to make their devices as surreptitious as possible," Ducklin explains in a post on Sophos's Naked Security blog. "The better a skimmer fits, the more smoothly it blends with the ATM's shape, and the closer the colour, the more likely it is go unnoticed."

"Also, 3D printouts can be made on demand, so that the crooks can quickly replace skimmers that have been detected, removed and destroyed," he adds.
Previous controversial uses for 3D printers have famously included blueprints for "printing" parts for firearms at home. Home-made plastic gun parts routinely snap under the stresses of firing, if they work at all, but that hasn't stopped the issue of the “Liberator” 3D-printed pistol and derivatives from creating a media fire fight storm.

In response, Danish 3D printer maker Create It Real has decided to ensure [PDF] its products can't print a gun. Manufacturers might conceivably decide to do something similar to prevent 3D printers from being used to manufacture ATM skimmer parts.

One blacklisting snag might be that while blueprints for the Liberator gun are out there in public, any CAD design for an ATM skimmer would be a closely guarded secret.

If preventing the abuse of 3D printers isn't an option, we can at least attempt to bolster consumer awareness about the threat posed by ATM skimmers.

A video from the Queensland Police Service stars Fiscal the Fraud-Fighting Ferret, who tells consumers how to spot ATM skimmers and guard against the possibility of fraud when using cash machines.

The use of ATM skimmers is a problem worldwide. Extensive background information on the problem in Europe can be found on the European ATM Security Team's website here

[ProdigyofZen]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

I want to thank everyone who responded to the question above. My apologies that I did not contribute to the thread as I have little expertise/research/knowledge regarding 3D printing and I have been terribly busy the last month or so.

Again, thank you to everyone who lent their knowledge/expertise to the discussion on 3D printing.

[touchring]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

I wondered if any of the BMW dealers tried to print some parts themselves. ;)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...breakdown.html

[LazyBoy]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

http://now.msn.com/paul-mccarthy-mas...nd-for-his-son

$2000 printer, $10 materials

A more functional, commercially available prosthetic hand... $20k?

[ProdigyofZen]

Re: iTulip consensus on 3D Printing?

http://now.msn.com/paul-mccarthy-mas...nd-for-his-son

$2000 printer, $10 materials

A more functional, commercially available prosthetic hand... $20k?

Small mom and pop manufacturer's leverage technology like 3D printing: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-1...one-tools.html