“This development promises to lower costs...”
What’s the material deposit rate ? Maybe a pound per hour ?
It is ludicrous to claim that multi-million dollar production equipment producing a pound per hour will “lower costs”.
“What’s the material deposit rate ? Maybe a pound per hour ?”
You are off by a factor of about 150.
Agreed. 17-4 is one of the nicer stainless steel (it rusts like crazy if not protected) to machine. I have a 3D printer. But I can machine something way faster than I can 3D print something.
We don’t have a 3D metal printer at work (yet). They can’t compete with the speed of, say, a Swiss lathe.
But we could one-off surgical instruments for doctors, a custom job.
That’s how the medical device industry got started, engineers and machinists making custom parts for doctors and patients.