Desktop Metal is the name of the company that wants to turn the 3D metal printing world on its head with printing systems that are many times faster, safer and cheaper than the vaunted systems - so much better that they want to compete with mass production processes.
The number of design firms and home users who have desktop 3D printers is increasing, and affordable plastic materials are also encouraging the use of these printers. At the other end of the spectrum, hi-tech companies are using laser-melted metal printers - an expensive and often still slow process that is not easily scalable.
A number of founders of Added Manufacturing, the broader name for 3D printing, are now running the company Desktop Metal whose technology and machines are expected to provide the long-awaited boost to 3D printing. If they can deliver on their promise, the company will provide metal printers that are 100 times faster and 10 times cheaper to buy, while also using materials that are 20 times cheaper than those used for existing technologies. The company offers two systems: a studio system specifically designed for rapid prototyping with low-cost metals and a production system for mass production.
Studio system: rapid prototyping
The studio machine is more like an FDM ABS plastic printer than other metal printers. The rod-shaped metal parts are bonded with a polymer binder and delivered in cartridges. The range of metals is large and similar to the capabilities of a powder injection moulding system. These include aluminium, copper, bronze, steel, various types of stainless steel, titanium and more than 200 alloys.
The studio system allows metal prototypes to be manufactured quickly and affordably. The studio printer prints parts from layers of bonded metal. The parts are then passed through a dissolution bath where the polymer binder is largely removed. Finally, the parts enter a sinterover. That oven distinguishes the Desktop Metal process. Here, the metal part are heated to just below its melting point, causing the binder to burn and the metal particles to fuse together to form a high-density sintered metal. However, the most important revolution will be introduced next year: the production system.
Production system for mass production
Speed has been at the heart of the development of the production system: the production printer produces over 8 dm3 of complex parts per hour; over 100 times faster than a laser-based alternative. The production printers are based on Single Pass Jetting technology, which is explained in the video below.
Unlike the studio printer, the production machines use powders that are bound by a binder solution during printing. The relatively cheap injection moulded powders are used. According to the company, the lack of tooling and setting costs allows metal parts to be 3D printed so cheaply that it can compete with traditional manufacturing processes for the first time.
The rest of the process -binding and sintering- is broadly similar to the studio system. The print resolution is around 50 microns, roughly the thickness of a human hair.
