3 ms·

It makes zero sense to do this for metal but then have to remachine the result for precision or finish. Their "reckoning that it's cheaper" seems highly inconsi

It makes zero sense to do this for metal but then have to remachine the result for precision or finish. Their "reckoning that it's cheaper" seems highly inconsistent with the cost of most billets and the speed of most VMC/HMC/etc They do offer an integration kit. https://meltio3d.com/metal-3d-printers/meltio-engine-integration-kit-vertical-machining-centers/ https://meltio3d.com/metal-3d-printers/meltio-engine-integra... But the print times listed here are totally unimpressive. Take the turbine blade. 6 hours 16 minutes for that is nutso. Here's one being machined: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6OFvkDfIvUw https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6OFvkDfIvUw This is common speed. See https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oCqTEWknC40 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oCqTEWknC40 for another example. The end result of the printed turbine blade is worse than a roughing bit. Which, as you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4qjHWeznTKc https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4qjHWeznTKc Can do it much faster. If you want mirror finish, it's a bit slower. Still not 6 hours. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5yCRXcIGSs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5yCRXcIGSs That's the best case - the other models timings are even worse. No commercial machine shop should could afford these timings - they'd go out of business instantly. Someone making their own stuff (IE in-house machine shop) maybe. Also, the automation is hugely lacking. The integration kit/etc looks like it would block any useful automatic loading/unloading. This might be a useful technology someday, but as long as billets are cheap and machines are fast, this would have to be very cheap and very fast to be useful. But it's not - it's 230k for the m600, and 150k for the m450. You can get a fine 5 axis VMC for that pricing.

nine_k 2y ago
I suppose that re-machining only makes sense if you need to machine only few surfaces, e.g. the flanges of a complex pipe / manifold. I suppose that complex geometries with thin walls is where metal 3D-printing mostly shines, because such things are rather hard to make in any other way. Also I think that if printing a whole blade + machining does not make sense (but can be a demo of sorts), printing only a small chipped / worn area onto an existing blade + machining it may make sense, if the bond is strong enough.

nine_k 2y ago

I suppose that re-machining only makes sense if you need to machine only few surfaces, e.g. the flanges of a complex pipe / manifold. I suppose that complex geometries with thin walls is where metal 3D-printing mostly shines, because such things are rather hard to make in any other way. Also I think that if printing a whole blade + machining does not make sense (but can be a demo of sorts), printing only a small chipped / worn area onto an existing blade + machining it may make sense, if the bond is strong enough.