Engineer Creates a Unique 3D Metal Printer for Just $2 — Prints in Gold, Platinum, Iron & More

3D Print ^ | February 26, 2015 | Eddie Krassenstein

[null and void]

Ah. My new tagline!

[taxcontrol]

I could see a traditional FDM printer with an aluminum foil covered bed that has been grounded being used. This could possibly allow pistol barrel manufacture which is currently a weak spot in the printing of firearms.

[null and void]

Faster to make a mandrel of the bore in a low melting point bismuth alloy and bulk plate it.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Maybe $2 in parts/materials, but what is his time worth?

T'ain't $2. What he designed was the PRINT HEAD. You still need all the mechanical stuff to move that print head along the various print paths. And that stuff costs way more than $2.

Of course he "has" made a major contribution to 3D technology.......electroplating is certainly a very powerful technique. But it involves many dangerous chemicals to work. Not knowledge your average "maker" hobbyist is likely to have.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Clever idea.

It's got to be glacially slow, though.

What do you expect for $2?

For $2K you could have a thousand of them.

[Montana_Sam]

He might consider 'Kickstarter.com' for venture capital.

[roadcat]

I use kits that I bought from Caswell Plating. They work, but slowly. And the plating solutions are expensive, I think they cost from about $12 to $20 a bottle, which varies from 4 oz to 8 oz or so, depending on the metal desired. For small work a pen is used. Larger work uses a wand wrapped with a cloth. I've used these to plate door hinges, door knobs and plates, wall sconces, door knockers, etc. Also done some car parts. It takes a lot of time to properly plate an object. Sometimes you need to plate with another metal before the final metal in order to make it "stick".

I don't see how this could be easily done with a 3D printer process, I foresee many problems in trying to build a sufficient layer of metal.

[Fresh Wind]

I’ve done quite a lot of nickel plating using supplies from Caswell.

Yes, the process is very slow, and I’ve noticed you can’t really speed it up by increasing the current-the quality will suffer.

To make the process work in a 3D printer, you would have to provide a way for new solution to be pumped into the “pen” to replace the metal ions as they are plated out of solution.

An alternative might be to do the 3D printing in a bath of the solution, but that might limit detail quality.

I would also wonder about the strength of anything made by this process-delamination can sometimes be a problem.