Open Source 3D Metal Printing ! (Page 2 of 2)

There's lots of old CRTs on scrap heaps - use electron beams! :-).

I wonder if you could use an 80 watt co2 laser to fuse aluminum or something..

I figure if it has to run all night, it would be fine.  Also, I wonder what would happen if you mixed in like graphite or something with the aluminum to get a bit of black in there to help reflectivity..  Though I guess that would make it a bit impure.

If only I had a big freaking laser to shoot at various bits of metal.. lol

Does anyone know ow a wax formulation that can be converted into filament and then printed?  Perhaps a mix of 3d printing and traditional investment casting methods could provide a relatively low cost method of making custom metal parts.  I imagine the wax would need the right combination of high and low molecular weight species to enable filament formation while still being able to melt away from the investment shell.  Goes without saying, may need to operate the extruder at low temps and have a good fan or other method for layer cooling.

Thanks Manx.  Very cool that PLA can be burned out to yield a decent cavity for casting.  For very delicate structures I still wonder if some lost wax filament for 3D printing may yield an improvement.  Just thinking the wax may melt away and not result in as much residual ash.  I see that there are companies offering 3D wax printers for dental applications ( such as the 3Z Lab Cast 3D) and that there are many wax compounds available, but not necessarily any that have been made into filament that works well with our printers.  Perhaps a combination of Parafin with minor additions of higher MW polyethylene or propylene would retain some nice melt out characteristics while still setting up quickly enough to be converted into filament. May be over thinking it though and should just try burning some PLA and go from there.....

I like it !!!!

and you could have a crayon dispenser that the printhead could 'pull' from like a pen changer on a plotter... this way you would be able to do long prints that may require hundreds of cc's of crayon printing ink.

Sweet video link on Thingiverse by 3DTopo. Especially like the break dancing moves at the end.   Would like to give investment casting a try, but one or two hobbies at a time may be a good policy to maintain domestic tranquility ( it's a good thing I can't golf)

I do like the crayon printing concept though for hobbyists- would have a massive color pallet to choose from....