3D printing in metals

Edit:
This would appear to be a 3D printed pattern that is burned out in an investment process, and then cast with aluminum or some other metal using the typical investment casting method.
So not really 3D metal printing at all, but rather investment casting, like lost PLA, if I understand it correctly.

I will have to read up on this method.
I don't understand it yet.


the service has been launched as a more cost-effective alternative to Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS).
“By combining additive manufacturing with investment casting, we get the best of both worlds:


https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/metalmaker-3d-launches-rapid-prototyping-service-for-3d-printed-metal-parts-142735/


https://metalmaker3d.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDIW8kITAM0&t=52s



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Yes - they can 3D print the wax master then do normal lost-wax casting, plus there are other materials now they can print the master in. The powder type laser process can do even finer details/thinner parts than the investment process, I think. I had a steam shovel bucket printed directly in steel a year or so ago, quite impressed with how it came out.

It would be interesting to get quotes on an engine block or some such in both processes and different materials, and see how the prices compare.

Some concerns with the laser-type metal prints are said to include the following:

DMLS or Direct Metal Laser Sintering is a technique which can be classified under an additive manufacturing (AM). In this technique, metal powders are used to manufacture the parts or components in a layer by layer fashion.
This technique is widely adopted by manufacturing industries, aerospace, automobile, naval, biomedical and other industries. Recent developments of high power laser and fiber optics have also enabled DMLS to process the metallic powders in an efficient manner.
So far, the DMLS process has encountered several issues or challenges during the operation.
These issues or challenges are metallurgical defects (balling, porosity and delamination), microstructural change and evaluation of mechanical properties such as high residual stress, tension and compression behavior, surface roughness and wear analysis.


Source:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/direct-metal-laser-sintering

Things have moved on in the ten years since that article was written so watch what you find with Google. And if the current metal prints are OK for aerospace, F1 cars, etc then likely to be more than upto what we need from our models.

One of the big advantages of the printed waxes over conventional is you don't have to worry about getting the wax out of a silicon mould and you also eliminate the need for a master and the silicon mould to cast the waxes in. But still being a two stage process is more costly than printing straight off with metal but does offer a wider range of metals.

Another advantage of the online suppliers is they offer instant quotes so you can soon get an idea of what a printed metal part may cost even just by uploading a basic design. Then with the knowledge of likely costs can then develop the design to suit whether you still want to use 3DMP or more traditional casting/fabrication/cutting from solid.

If it is a small item it may well fall within the minimum job cost that a lot of the online companies use so worth playing about with quantities or grouping jobs together. Those two prints I posted earlier would have cost me about £50 each had I ordered them individually but the two cost £55 when put on one order.

Costs are partly based on volume so it is also worth roughing in any holes or cavities. As an example I priced the solid version of the attached pump up to get an idea of costs. I then went back and added all the cores and roughed out holes and the cost came down by 20%. It only cost me a bit of time infront of the 'puter rather than having to make several core boxes and mould the cores.

It is an impressive technology.
Changes the options/perspectives of how one can build model engines, with some interesting twists.
Sort of leapfrogs right over CNC, and over a lot of traditional casting methods too.

3D printed metal is not in the cards for me at the moment, but I can see where this would be and already is very useful already to many in this hobby.
I expect this method to continue to become more popular over time.

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Looks like I am late to the discussion.
Here is a 3D printed metal thread that has been around for a while.

https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,7391.0.html


and also a more recent thread here:

Post #1401:
Part 45    3DP printed metal parts for the coolant, crankcase vent and exhaust pipes
https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,5142.msg301784/topicseen.html#msg301784


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Craftcloud offer brass and bronze printing.

Quote from: Fj45 Craftcloud offer brass and bronze printing.

As I said earlier they do not print brass or bronze. Same for just about all the other outlets.

They print a wax and then investment cast from that

I ordered these aluminium parts for the Westbury Seagull engine from Craftcloud on 20 April. They arrived from Hong Kong today. It cost little more to have the safety net of getting two of each part. There is a carburettor body, and the bearing housing and the volute casing for the water pump. Generally the parts seem very good, but I have not yet examined them in detail.

I had been rather stuck on these parts, expecting to have to make some tricky little fabrications, and not finding a good way to do the volute in particular. Printing them has been a whole new thing. It allowed me to design a proper progressive shape for the spiral that is mostly D shaped in section, ending in a full circle, and which has a cross-sectional area proportional to the angle swept. This took a while with a spreadsheet for the cross sections and then figuring out how to get a good model in Onshape. Good in theory, but the surface roughness of the printed part will not be as good as machined passages.

Now I have to work out how best to machine the little buggers. I did consider including 'chucking pieces' but decided against for these items. 

Some interesting pieces  I will be following with the progress   

I had some printed by another outlet a few years ago that were directly  printed in bronze. Most places, not all, do as Jason said, print wax then cast. Lots of jewelry  done that way.