We have featured plenty of plastic 3D printers here on Geeky Gadgets over the years, but this new MiniMetalMaker 3D metal printer, must be the first that is capable of printing in metal.
The MiniMetalMaker is a small 3D metal printer that extrudes precious metal clay rather than plastic and lets you create objects in 3D with a modelling program like Autocad or Blender. Watch the video after the jump to learn more about the 3D metal printer project and see it in action.
Once the 3D metal printed object is fired in a kiln, your design will be composed of high purity solid metal. Metal clays include sterling silver, gold, copper, brass, bronze, iron and steel.
Its creators explain a little more: “The Mini Metal Maker is very exciting to me because it is a unique combination of an artistic material with the field of 3D printing. The Mini Metal Maker prints 3D objects from digital files directly in precious metal clay, rather than in plastic. Once these clay objects air-dry, they are fired in a kiln to produce beautiful solid metal objects of high purity and precision.
Using metal clay essentially replaces the entire wax-casting or lost-wax process ordinarily needed to do this. The Mini Metal Maker will add new capability for the DIY inventor or artist by making fabrication in metal easy and direct. It will be a boon for anyone interested in creating their own gears, miniature mechanisms, or printing detailed jewelry or metal ornaments. The Mini Metal Maker is built around the concept of using the minimum number of parts, reducing the cost to produce and also eliminating many chances for error during assembly. “
The 3D metal printer project is currently over on the Indiegogo website looking to raise enough pledges to make the jump from concept to production. So if you think the 3D metal printer is something you could benefit from, visit the Indiegogo website now to make a pledge and help the MiniMetalMaker 3D metal printer become a reality.
Source: Indiegogo