Do You Print in Metal?

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It might be the most commonly asked question during my years at GoEngineer, and it was easily my least favorite question to answer. “Do you print in metal?” It may surprise you to learn, but having to answer “no,” or more commonly “not yet,” isn’t actually why I disliked that particular question. Over time I’ve become adept at fielding the question in ways that kept their interest and channeled their excitement toward tangible options.

It wasn’t saying “no” that killed me, it was admitting that what they wanted didn’t yet exist.

Our users didn’t just want metal printing technology – they wanted metal printing that was as simple, affordable, safe, and easy to use as plastic printing. But it simply wasn’t available.

Desktop MetalAnd then along came Desktop Metal…

If you haven’t heard by now, Desktop Metal is a 3D printing startup based in Burlington, MA. The company formed in 2015.  The company has spent the last two years in quiet development of its hardware and software. And, it managed to draw about $97 million in funding from Google, BMW, Lowe’s, and Stratasys to name just a few of its high-profile investors.

Fortunately for me, I got to visit its headquarters the day before their launch in April and I was blown away by the quality of its team and technology.  The company’s lead Application Engineer spent the day with me. I asked hundreds of questions trying to poke holes in its technology. I couldn’t!

Studio Printer

Their Studio system is an office-friendly, affordable metal 3DP solution. It consists of three machines:

  • Printer
  • Debinder
  • Furnace

Their MIM-based printing method is essentially FDM printing with bound metal powder.  Rods of material (about 30 alloys to start with) are laid down in beads, in layers ranging from 15 to 300 microns tall, and measuring up to 12 ”x 8” x 8”.

Debinding and Sintering

The debinding machine washes away the binding agent, prepping the part for sintering. The furnace is a hybrid system that uses microwave-assisted convective heating to reach upwards of 1400C, successfully sintering the parts based on precisely calculated thermal profiles.  The workflow between machines is managed by their cloud-based software.  The software deserves recognition for its intelligence and beautiful UI.

This is all available for around $120,000 by the way. Simply incredible.

GoEngineer is proudly partnering with Desktop Metal to offer its full lineup of machines. They are expected to arrive in Q4 and are available for pre-order today.

Plastic 3D printing is still important and will remain the cornerstone of the Additive Manufacturing industry for the foreseeable future. Stratasys and Desktop Metal have partnered together! Next week I will share my thoughts on how the two might live in harmony, side-by-side in our offices and yours.

In the meantime, please share your comments and questions! If it happens to be “Do you print metal?” I will finally, and emphatically, say “YES!”

 

GoEngineer

GoEngineer delivers software, technology and expertise that enable companies to unlock design innovation and deliver better products faster. With more than 30 years experience and thousands of customers in high tech, medical, machine design, energy and other industries, GoEngineer provides best-in-class design solutions from SOLIDWORKS, Stratasys, CAMWorks, Altium and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). For more information, visit goengineer.com.

@goengineer