3D Printing Update - Home Made 3-D Metal Printer

remember this?




this is there method in more detail:




============ Here's another project:

The Man Who's Making A Home 3-D Metal Printer
Plus other ways to get your ideas cast in steel, bronze, and bismuth alloy
By Francie Diep Posted 06.18.2014 at 5:39 pm



Steve Delaire's Metal 3-D Printer During a Movement Test Photo from Molten3D

Sure, manufacturing companies have 3-D printers that are able to weld metal pieces. You can even send designs to Shapeways to get them printed in steel. But wouldn't you want your own metal 3-D printer at home? One California man is making it happen. DIY hobbyist Steve Delaire is working on making a home 3-D printer that lays down wire, layer by layer, and welds it together.

Delaire has shown his machine at a San Francisco Bay Area Maker Faire, where Slashdot talked with him and filmed his machine. Delaire posts his problems and progress on his blog. A few days ago, he wrote about why he wants a 3-D metal printer:

"One of the motivators driving the creation of this project is to create an affordable welding robot that can be taught to weld better than me. A machine that is happy to weld hour upon hour and only asking to be fed in small quantities of electricity and production consumables."

For those looking for a short-term solution for making metal designs at home, Make magazine recently published a story about how to make plastic molds that are able to cast metal, using a conventional home 3-D printer.

here:
http://www.popsci.com/article/diy/man-whos-making-home-3-d-metal-printer

================= BONUS ==============

The First $299 3D Printer Hits Its Kickstarter Goal In 11 Minutes
Posted Apr 7, 2014 by John Biggs



Lots of things can happen in 11 minutes. You can grill a nice steak, you can bake a pan of cookies, or you can raise over $400,000 to build an ultra-compact 3D printer that, for a brief period, cost a mere $199. Called the Micro, the printer smashed its Kickstarter goal of $50,000 and is now well on its way to becoming one of the most interesting projects on the site.

Created by a team in Bethesda, MD, the Micro originally sold for $199 for early birds and his since risen by $100. It’s a tiny printer, to be sure, with a 4.5 cubic-inch build volume and a special internal spool that holds the filament inside the printer’s case. It can build objects 4.5-inches high, which isn’t much but it’s enough to have a bit of fun.

Now, for the tough question: can M3D pull this off? The case for the printer itself should cost a little less than $20 and the extruder, pieced out separately, probably costs about $100 or so. A very simple extruder costs $65 retail, so you could reduce that price slightly. Shipping will cost a few dollars – probably $12-$20 – depending on where it’s manufactured, so the $199 model was definitely a loss leader. That said, $299 is an entirely feasible price for a mini 3D printer.

The founders, Michael Armani and David Jones, have done something quite intelligent: they’re building a very bare-bones printer with some very interesting software. If this image is any indication, you’ll be able to search for an open-source object and print it right from the app. The app resizes the object and prepares it for printing and the wee printer does the rest. It also has a self-leveling print bed, an amazing addition at the price.



I doubt this will be the last $199 printer we see – the price will soon fall precipitously and when HP gets into the mix things will really change – but even at $299 this seems like a nice little entry-level device. Caveat emptor, though, because if this campaign takes off I’ll be very curious to see when and how these guys are able to ship all of the printers they sell.

video here:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/07/the-first-299-3d-printer-hits-its-kickstarter-goal-in-11-minutes/