Taking advantage of the fact that an international fair of the CES 2017 draft is being held these days, companies such as markforged They have not been able to resist not only being present, but also presenting interesting news to the public such as the Metal, the new metal 3D printer from the North American company that, as confirmed at the event itself, will be available soon at a price of around 100.000 euros.
As stated Greg mark, current CEO of Markforged:
Until today, metal 3D printing resulted in million-dollar machines that took up an entire room. With the introduction of the Metal X, metan manufacturing is much easier and more affordable than ever. Manufacturers and distributors looking to increase their options beyond CNC machining now have a solution.
Markforged Metal X, a compact size metal 3D printer.
Considering the specifications of the new Metal X, we are faced with a model capable of working with 17-4 stainless steel y 303 by using the ADAM technology, a system that works by depositing the metal layer after layer. These are joined thanks to the use of a thermoplastic binder so that a metal part can be obtained but with the metal granules glued together by means of plastic.
Once the printing phase has finished and we have our piece, we have to go through a synthesizing process in which this thermoplastic is eliminated and the metal granules that are joined to each other are finally tuned. Note at this point that the printer has a build volume of 250 x 250 x 200 mm, height of 50 microns, continuous control of dimensional precision by laser, internet connection and webcam.