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The article might be interesting... but it's paywalled, just FYI.

The hero that we need ...

Additionally for the SLS metal parts I have dealt with you need to keep them in a protective atmosphere or their surface corrodes as well as managing temperature within a certain temperature range. Semiconductor fabs do this so I guess I buy the idea of pods racing around on robots between machines which can align to the partially completed wafer to c

That's the one thing that I don't like about 3D printing. In my first year, I have made many things with my 3D printer from ABS and PLA (or PLA+). I have used both with 100% infill (basically a solid structure) and others with varying percentages of infill (different patterns that support the structure, but there are alternating gaps).

Some structures I have printed function well and withstand abuse. I have made a few props which have held up just fine. I have made structures to support wooden shelves that h

"Has anyone told these guys about injection molders?"

These machines can build hundreds/thousands of completely different metal pieces at the same time, you'd be changing molds for years on your injection molder.

Here's a non-paywalled link; https://archive.is/EMcLe [archive.is]

I've watched some industrial sintering machines in action. A powder is raked across a surface and one or more lasers draw a layer. The build platform drops slightly, fresh powder is spread across, and the next layer is illuminated. The machines I saw did work continuously, but the article claims "Typically, the printer has to take breaks because it also gets too hot".

Their technique claims "18 lasers fire nonstop while conveyors move plates in and out of t

Sintered metal is strong enough for the many purposes for which it is intended, and that's why they make it.

Motorcycle companies need warehouses too, even if owned by an actor... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

>(2) the internal structure of the part can be specified and spatially complex. That's an advantage over casting, yes, though strictly speaking you don't need a 3d printer to do that. Turbines use honeycomb structures already for the good strength-to-weight ratio. Interestingly, there are modern turbines that use single-crystal airfoil blades, which are made with an exotic casting technique.

> The notion that a 3D-printed product is a single part is a false interpretation. Each "pixel" (or whatever you call it) is a part with some risk of failure at the interface with the next

What makes this comment especially stupid is that things like powdered metallurgy and welding both fall under the same broad category of additive manufacturing where the processes are essentially the same as 3D printing, but somehow these methods are just as strong - sometimes stronger - than parts machined from billet.

There are 3D printers available at all prices. You can get a very basic one that's not very good for about $100. It only makes very small prints (under 10x10x10cm (or about 4"x4"x4"), and the prints aren't great quality, but we're talking $100 here.

If you're willing to spend more, $500 gets you an Ender printer, which is considered to be great value for money - with reasonably big print area, ease of use and high quality prints. In fact, because of this, there is practically no reason to spend more for a 3D

I'm curious, what about the cost of materials, electricity, and any other operating costs?

A reel of 1kg PLA, the standard filament, is about $20, also at Microcenter. You can pretty reliably get it for around $10 online, but we'll

Materials and electricity are not that much really. Most of my prints are not that large (a couple of inches across) and cost pennies in plastic and electricity. The biggest cost is time. Hobby 3D printing is still relatively slow, even when all the tricks are used such as input shaping, core XY, direct drive.

That said, making a mold for injection molding is very costly and time consuming. For iterating prototypes a sub $1000 3D printer works very well. Very quickly, though, you realize that you need se

I have a 3D printer. I use it to create prototypes. It's fairly slow and not exactly what I'd call "cheap". It's kinda ok for a single item because it just ain't feasible to create an injection molding tool for a batch of 2-3 items, so that's its use case.

How does this translate here?

I could see the "single item" case, but how is this superior to the old school production of just CAMing it out of a block of metal?

With a 3D printer the size of a shipping container anyone could do that. Unfortunately, a shipping container doesn't fit in my hobby room.

Yet still doesnt have the balls to post under a username you spunk gurgling twat

No one buys a 3D printer because it's "cool". They buy them because they are practical and fun. In reality 3D printers are about as "cool" as pocket protectors and wearing suspenders to school.

Seems like the optimal solution to making metal items is to use AI for planning the entire series of actions for modern milling machines. The question is how to train the AI.

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