Oooh! "Printing" Titanium Parts!

[Tuckerfan]

Goes from CAD drawing to solid metal!

A new rapid manufacturing and prototyping system that makes 100 percent solid metal parts has been introduced to the market - the ARCAM EBM S400. Employing a patented CAD-to-Metal process, which is based on Electron-Beam Melting (EBM), the highly efficient system produces parts from titanium powder and does so between three and five times faster than other additive fabrication methods. In contrast to laser sintering (SLS), the electron beam fully melts the metal particles to produce a void-free part. The process occurs in a high vacuum, which ensures the part is completely solid, without imperfections caused by oxidation.

Wonder how long it’ll be before someone comes out with an affordable tabletop unit?

[Tikki]

Wow! My supervisor would love that. Part of what he does is machine parts from titanium for medical applications. I don’t think our shop’s owner would want to foot the bill for an ARCAM EBM S400 though.

[Mr.Goob]

I think I saw a prototype for some of this 10 years ago.

Sinstered powdered metal could put a lot of machine shops out of work. The biggest drawback right now is complex internal holes with multiple bores or trepans. Fillets and radius’s are tough too.

I would love to know the price tag on one of these and am skeptical of the three times faster claim.

[CynicalGabe]

Dear Santa:

I have been an especially good boy this year…

[Praetor]

@Tuckerfan

Wonder how long it’ll be before someone comes out with an affordable tabletop unit?

Considering you need high vacuum (10[sup]-6[/sup] torr or lower) for this to work, I’m going to say never. The vacuum pumps you would need to keep a chamber at that pressure would cost $2,000-3,000.

[Tuckerfan]

@Praetor

Considering you need high vacuum (10[sup]-6[/sup] torr or lower) for this to work, I’m going to say never. The vacuum pumps you would need to keep a chamber at that pressure would cost $2,000-3,000.

Well, if demand for those things increases, the prices will come down. IIRC, the costs of stereolithography machines have come waaaay down from when they were first developed.

[matt]

@Tuckerfan

Well, if demand for those things increases, the prices will come down. IIRC, the costs of stereolithography machines have come waaaay down from when they were first developed.

Or else a new technology will develop that gets around the problem altogether!

http://www.acceleroninc.com/plasmawindow/plasmawindow.htm

I’m actually quite excited by this. Forty years ago, to create even a single page document you had to use a manual typewriter, and to create a whole bunch you’d need a typing pool or a lithographic printer. Today, anyone can make superior documents with ease. I’m wondering what a world where everyone can create solid shapes at will would be like!