The End Of Metal Tracks - DIY Metal 3D Printing

Development of a DIY metal 3D printer, printing 316 stainless steel.
This project aims to establish a cost effective opensource metal 3d printing platform. Subscribe for future developments & announcements.
Forum: www.metalmatters.co
BMAC: www.buymeacoffee.com/metalmatters
Artwork/Music:
HOME - Puzzle
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Papers referenced:
"Effects of sulfur concentration and Marangoni convection on melt-pool formation in transition mode of selective laser melting process"
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
"A Computational Model of Melt Pool Morphology for Selective Laser Melting"
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
"CALCULATION OF THE FOCAL LENGTH OF A TWO-LENS SYSTEM - AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT"
www.researchgate.net/publicat...

[@tjdjultima]

When people ask why I exclusively watch KZbin instead of other streaming services, videos like these are great examples of why. Very interesting project, instant sub

[@gordonbelfort7176]

Same, glad that I'm not the only one 👍

[@djzwa3t]

Same. I subbed as well xD

[@jabatheshort660]

Only KZbin videos? No other certain sites that are a ‘hub’ of videos

[@djzwa3t]

@@jabatheshort660 He said exclusively, not only YT 😅

[@Matteo-jd6mt]

I feel this very hard

[@CharlesVanNoland]

This is clearly a very excruciating project with all of the debugging and failures. I commend you for sticking with it.

[@JohnJones-oy3md]

Five years from now we'll be buying an Elegoo or Creality version on Amazon for $169 on Black Friday, lads. All thanks to this clever fellow.

[@o0julek0o]

You're pioneering the metal 3D printing movement dude. You might be the next Josef Prusa.

[@badgermcbadger1968]

Uh

[@DemetriosMPapadakes]

Wow. Open source is a divine gift to humanity. You know why. Thank you. Can't wait.

[@JohnJaggerJack]

Have you tried pulsating the laser power? Like 70% half power, 30% max power? The idea is to heat up the material without melting it and when, locally, the material is hot enough to fuse with out sputtering you increase laser output to melt that spot and throttle it down fast so it can cool off. Sort of like tig welding.

[@additivealex4566]

Great point, if I'm remembering correctly, EOS uses a similar technique, as well as a heated build chamber.

[@manthanpatel45]

@johnjagger jack I have pulsed laser . Gets similar results. But trying to get better results.

[@manthanpatel45]

@@additivealex4566 Yea it's true .Do you use Eos ?

[@additivealex4566]

@@manthanpatel45 yeah I have some experience using two different EOS machines.

[@manthanpatel45]

@@additivealex4566 Do you own machine or operating machine?

[@danmurphy5660]

So glad you have kept going with this mate. Well done.

[@jana171]

I just know that you will nail this bad boy at some point... love this project !!

[@TheNerfherder1000]

This is the coolest project i've ever seen. A homemade metal 3d printer... Incredible

[@caddyguy5369]

I thought about pursuing a home brew metal printer a few years ago. It's awesome to have found someone that actually did.

[@danny36120]

I can't elaborate because I am NDA'd out of my mind. however, love your project and determination. a suggestion and associated considerations. Try enclosing your machine/workspace, and pressurize it with helium. Why? Considerations. 1 - Typical commercial Laser powder bed fusion use argon atmosphere to reduce oxides and improve porosity etc. but 2 - the plume (thermal laser plasma, metal powder interaction) results in denudation in front and around melt pool - to reduce melt powder denudation as laser moves, a pressurized atmosphere is desired to mitigate/reduce plume size hence reducing powder denudation beside laser trace. 3 - argon at 5bar produces plasma due to fibre laser interaction with stainless build plate and plasma increases plume denudation because thermal increase and reflections, helium does not produce this plasma, yet reduces denudation due to increased surrounding pressure, at 5bar you will achieve 99% porosity

[@metalmatters]

Thanks for the feedback. Helium isn't getting any cheaper though :/

[@danny36120]

@@metalmatters that is true. The trick i have found is to pressurize the build area. But pressurized air has oxidation issues. Pressurized Argon has plasma/denudation issues. If the stars ever allign, give helium at 5bar a try. In the long run, this may be cheaper anyway since assuming you obtain 99% porosity, your control algorithm for z height control becomes manageable/predictable - this is crucial and is increasingly crucial for each additional layer. Either way, keep on keeping on! Love your work!

[@ltpetsema876]

Might I ask u guys both where I could learn/read more about this stuff? Where I’m from nobody is working on this stuff and I really wanna learn more about it

[@metalmatters]

@@ltpetsema876 Research papers mainly. Some are free, some are not. I've posted a few here: metalmatters.co/forumdisplay.php?fid=25 I'll post a few more up there soon.

[@joelmorris375]

When using helium, you may need to reduce laser power or increase travel speed as helium allows for greater energy efficiency. Also should be able to utilize mix of argon/helium. Not sure what ratio woul be best for this application but 75/25 argon/helium works very well for tig welding stainless while 25/75 works better for welding aluminum. Hope this helps. Cheers.

[@Borgedesigns]

This project is so cool , the prospect of consumer metal printing in the future is unbelievable

[@Shrouded_reaper]

Consumer metal printing is never going to be a thing because the government will step in.

[@DiThi]

@@Shrouded_reaper Why?

[@Shrouded_reaper]

You think they will let the populace have access to technology that let's them print a machine gun in their house?....

[@DiThi]

@@Shrouded_reaper It's harder to make a gun with that than with existing tech: there's already 3D printed designs in plastic of guns that only requires a few, easy to source, metal parts to complete. Also, all of them require ammo which you can not 3D print.

[@Shrouded_reaper]

@@DiThi Is it harder now? Yes, that's the point, because it won't be in the future. Is injection molding still easier to do at home than making a plastic object from a 3d printer? Plastic guns require metal components still and are not proper weapons capable of taking rifle cartridges and lack rifled barrels. Every one you see is a 9mm platform, not a threat to government goons in level 4 plate. And yes you can make your own ammo at home with a cheap press, very easily.

[@CristiNeagu]

If you have trouble with droplets at the start and end of tracks due to acceleration, why not separate the acceleration from the start of the track? As in: start moving, get up to speed, and only then turn on the laser. That would decrease the working surface, but might help.

[@lio1234234]

Sounds like a good solution. A more permanent solution that might work would be controlling laser power based on velocity

[@gobble_gang]

I was just thinking you could just design the gantry to have counterweights on both sides to eliminate backlash.

[@CristiNeagu]

@@gobble_gang Backlash is caused by the driven nut having play on the lead screw. There's way to minimise this, usually involving using two nuts, or by using a controller that takes backlash into account.

[@Amipotsophspond]

2:56 if the plastic swipe care still proves too stiff you might try car window wipers for the rain, think about how they just glide over ice not losing anything at all. and because they come from any where they should be cheap and easy to replace.

[@MikkoRantalainen]

Car window wipers may have too soft rubber/silicon which scoops too much of the powder. The material is pretty strong otherwise.

[@sparkyferret550]

Hello, I am extremely impressed with your progress. I have done a lot of research and postulating on these systems so I Was thinking maybe I could help or clarify somethings. SLS Printers don't actually melt the material they sinter it. This is better because as you can see the pooling and controlling of the molten materials is quiet an issue. The SLS machine also have heated chambers. The reason for this is so that the exposure to the laser is incredibly short and cause the particles to bond to each other. So I think you have done phenomenal work but that might be the two areas that might be an issue. I really hope you come right :) Another thing, the scraper should be extremely flat material that cannot generate a static charge, perhaps like a gauge plate edge?

[@StormBurnX]

Looking forward to that closed loop control!! This is improving at a wild pace man

[@frequentlyfascinated]

WOW! I saw some of your older videos about this project, but hadn't watched any since. I'm super impressed with how far it's come since then! Awesome work

[@metalmatters]

Thanks!

[@theofficialczex1708]

Excellent results so far! Many variables to control and tune.

[@chemieju6305]

Our physics professor told us about the laser-acceleration issue once. Aparently the trick is to accelerate first and then turn on the laser, then turn it off before decelerating. Maybe a toolpath for lasering a square could look like the weird hastag sign on an apple keyboard? Other than that, the work you do is absolutely amazing, you might very well become the one to make metal 3d printing available to normal people!

[@metalmatters]

I nearly tried implementing a ramp but I think I will pursue an opto-mechanical switch instead. If I can run the laser at full power and modulate heat input that way, I think I will stand a better chance of preventing excess heat drawing in adjacent powder.

[@chemieju6305]

@@metalmatters keeping the laser at a constant power sounds like the right thing to do, even if you COULD match the ramp to the acceleration of the motor you just showed that you cant compensate power by going slower. Im not 100% sure what you mean with modulating, are we talking a PWM approach?

[@docBol1980]

In commercial scanners a run in an out path is provided to let the galvo’'s get up to speed

[@klausbrinck2137]

8:39 Use a kitchen-blender, used for making smoothies and crushed ice. It makes powder so fine, that you have to keep its lid closed for a while when ready, or a cloud of fine dust will fill the room.

[@justinmoritz6543]

What an amazing project! This machine you have developed in incredibly impressive! I really hope you keep going with this project and keep developing it further 😁

[@A.Roger__]

Great Video...... more of this please❗ The topic of DIY Metal 3D printing is becoming more and more important❗👍

[@marsgizmo]

great progress! 👏😎 wonderful job!

[@dc37009]

Kind of a Holy Grail Project ! ...Fusion, and Metal 3DP... Whenever I complain about TS'g my own Tech Pipeline I'll think of You !!! ~Very Inspired !

[@drewgossage8842]

Just come across your channel, and boy has it been great going through your uploads. Thank you soo much for your incredible work and dedication toward such a fantastic project. Keep up the awesome work👍👍

[@SilvioTisato]

This is awesome! I'd suggest writing to some companies that make metal powders if you haven't already, I'm sure you can find one that would want to sponsor the development of a diy sls printer, at least with some powder

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

Unlikely. Most of the SLS methods used for that are patented still.

[@WimsicleStranger]

I've just found this and I've gotta say that it is fascinating! I'm definitely going to be following this project closely.

[@cgrosbeck]

Fantastic work!!! To get thin layers, galvos with mirrors are used for speed at lower power and an inert gas argon chamber preferably under vacuum

[@horatioyen256]

this guy is amazing, I like that you don't simplify the information and explain things well love it

[@jbrownson]

I love following your project, thanks for posting

[@IlanPerez]

wow. Truly amazed how much you know about all of this. Looking forward to your next vid...

[@carbonarne675]

What a crazy video that took a lot of effort

[@alf3071]

this will be the next revolution in 3d printing because the parts will have real strength

[@johnnycash4034]

This is very very impressive. Seriously. You have some skills to be proud of.

[@jamesmartz4755]

Nice work! In 2008 I met a material engineer who designed a metal 3d printer with pretty good results (at least the ones he showed publicly). He did the powder layer spreading method similar to yours, but then used an adhesive sprayed through a hacked inkjet printer cartridge... Once the print was done, he'd sinter the parts in a furnace.

[@wanderingknight10]

We need more people like you with this level of creativity..keep up the good work big guy! 🤟🏽

[@emilyzhang8127]

Great, easy to follow video. Your video-making skills has come a long way!

[@fibre17]

Nice work, I admire your focus and determination.

[@scottwilliams895]

First time watching your work, and I'm impressed!!

[@alexbaronov4736]

Amazing job👍 As someone who has trouble finishing projects, I am impressed.

[@zachjonas4231]

amazing work! Just found this channel and definitely subscribed to follow this build!

[@andrewfromphysics2921]

The card recoater is GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!

[@WickedMachineWorks]

Bro, amazingly thorough and thoughtful. Well done and keep up the good work!

[@pahafico2]

Unbelievable! Fantastic work!

[@Trump_y_Gore_Won]

Fascinating! Thank you for posting this video.

[@jimmimak]

Thanks for sharing. You want to accelerate before turning the laser on and turn the laser off before decelerating so that you are always moving at constant velocity while sintering. This should help with those blobs on the ends of the tracks.

[@derekzimmerman2522]

Keep going man your work is impressive. This must have taken a ton of effort.

[@additivealex4566]

I really hope my other comment posted, unfortunately I seem to have lost it. I'm going to try and sum up what I said. I have experience in working with SLS and DMLS printers, specifically the EOS M290. For wipers, you can google "use cases of different re-coater configurations EOS" for a writeup that goes into detail about the re-coater blades in the EOS M290 DMLS machine. In short, they use a HSS parallelogram shaped blade which is ductile enough when coming in contact with the print, while in other cases a ceramic blade is used. More info on the writeup. For the build environment, we always pumped down the machine and filled it with argon. The build volume is also heated. As someone else mentioned below, you could pulsate the laser, which If I'm remembering correctly is something that is also done on the EOS M290. The EOS M290 also has a large filter cabinet which requires the filters to be replaced when switching materials or on occasion once the flow through them drops below a certain point. I believe the filters could have been capturing spatter which would have been blown into them by the flow of argon which traveled across the build surface. After printing on an EOS machine, the powder should be sieved as well, which I believe is done to remove anything in the stock powder which exceeds the size of the rest of the powder.

[@metalmatters]

Didn't see your previous comment. Thanks for your insights Alex. Do you recall what sort of pressure the build chamber is held at?

[@additivealex4566]

@@metalmatters I'll have to look back at my pictures to see if I have anything, or I'll ask around. If anything I could pop in and take a look as well. I'll let you know. Great work man.

[@glotrim]

Wow fantastic prototyping

[@wktodd]

Excellent project, just subscribed

[@MuntyScruntFundle]

This is all well and good, but what we all want to see is a benchy!!

[@seanmcelwee5034]

Regarding the fiber end and how you noted the original connector was open ended, this is likely using an air gapped ferrule. This will mount a cleaved fiber so it has an optical face but will not have any epoxy near the end face. For any high power application this is usually preferred since it reduces the risk of epoxy related thermal damage/thermal runaway. Using a standard connectors thats polished with epoxy mounting the fiber in connector up to the end face runs higher risk of damage.

[@Flare1107]

There are a few guys that have put together their own CMM using epoxy and sand/granite/special concrete for the base to reduce vibration. Cheap, just need molds. Might be worth establishing your machine and then fiddling with optics, speeds, etc

Really cool project hope you get the results your looking for

[@darkshadowsx5949]

you should try lowering the laser power near the end of the line travel to reduce heat build up and raised blobs. it would be similar to linear advance controlling filament pressure in a nozzle.

[@sgullage]

Part of the code could limit output of the laser to the *actual* speed, compensating for the acceleration issue. Additionally, the code could have a slight pause between telling the servos to move and telling the laser to turn on. That little buffer will allow the head to get up to speed or slow down. Downside is reducing the effective print area

[@Waitwhat469]

@@sgullage I like this method more. Honestly, the closer you can get to actual temperature to target temp you can make it the better. It might even be worth it on larger builds to have passes being near more recent passes to compensate for residual heat.

[@AlexandreGuiss]

Is this system using Marlin, Klipper or other open source movement controller? The code for Pressure Advance / Linear Advance in them is open source too, and could probably be used to control the laser intensity and speed/acceleration of the system based on a couple of variables.

[@stefanmayer444]

Glad to see you not giving up. 👍 As one famously said: Metal matters! ;-)

[@jackburton5085]

Tnx for this new video. Good progress!

[@sausage5849]

Fantastic! Hopefully one day we can build one ourselves.

[@scifactorial5802]

Fantastic work! Its the first video of yours that I've seen and I already cant wait for more. If you end up trying some other additives to the powder a ball mill should be a very cheap and easy way to improve the mixing. Just be careful and take all precautions that come whith milling fine metals, if your process is good some metals have a tendency to self combust...

[@Gripoll1]

Nice project man, maybe activating the láser while machine is running or controlling initial power would help you eliminate the start and finish melt accumulation.

[@cytherina]

very cool! keeep us updated!

[@stevesloan6775]

Really amazing watching your progress. I have FDM and resin 3d printers, but this is so next level..!!!! 🇦🇺🤜🏼🤛🏼🍀😎

[@hullinstruments]

That little puff of smoke at the end of the fiber can be the most disheartening thing in the world. I feel for you! On the plus side….. in my case it’s always uncovered my unknown ability for cursing. You’re really kicking some ass with this. I just found your channel, and It’s really impressive. It really is a new golden age for lasers, photonics, and equipment available to the home workshop DIY crowd! I think that’s wonderful. There are several ways to mitigate the fiber issues and guarantee immediate shut down before thermal runaway. But it might be a bit too finicky in your situation. All of my fiber laser fun is usually done on an optical breadboard, but you’re really fighting in the trenches with all of that quick movement, And unique mounting. Sadly my experience does not stretch that far. So I would be a bit shy to suggest anything. But you’re really on a roll, and this is some of the best photonics/laser stuff I’ve seen on KZbin in a long time. Marco reps, breaking taps, Les’s lab, and zenodilodon….. they all have some insane and helpful laser content on their channels. I’m sure you’re aware of them but I thought I would leave them here just in case. It’s like heaven on KZbin these days for REAL laser and photonics content. I never cared much for the balloon popping/burning laser pointer videos, but I love to see the science and stuff like this! Good luck! 👍🤘

[@metalmatters]

Thanks!

[@YuriPetrovich]

Fantastic work. You're an early pioneer.

[@forgeteverythingyouknow5413]

Massively impressive, man.

[@jasonstraurss6974]

Very cool project! I am a qualified 3D print technician, I've worked on EOS printers before, primarily the EOS m290, its really cool to see how much you've overcome and implemented that is in line with existing high end metal printing techniques, I can suggest that you look at "skywriting", cold prossess 3d printing temp balances and nitrogen scrubbing for some potential improvements. Super cool project, I think what you've done with the recoter head is very cool!

[@metalmatters]

Thanks Jason. Can I ask, what is the typical build chamber pressure of the machines you work on?

[@jasonstraurss6974]

@@metalmatters in most cases a light positive presure of 0.3 bar, strangely in the case of aluminum a negative presure of 0.5 bar

[@bikefarmtaiwan1800]

That was very interesting! Well done

[@mv2woods]

Brings back memories of the early days at Xact Metal. You appear to be working thru these issues similarly to how we did. Keep up the good work. Reach out if you have any questions.

[@metalmatters]

Hey Matt. I sent you an email, although from my personal email due to problems with my mail provider. Just checking in case it has been marked as spam.

[@mv2woods]

@@metalmatters Got it! In the process of replying 👍

[@thewhiteowls1320]

Hi friend. You might to consider an laminar air flow across the powder bed. Looks like there is significant amount of spatter around ur scanned tracks. Metal vaporises under laser and condense when it hit the cold air. Those metal condensates attenuate your laser beam and by removing them with a laminar air flow, the melt will be much more consistent. The air flow ought to flow into a HEPA filter tho..

[@sebastianuhl]

Awesome progress!

[@kretieg2943]

Might I suggest looking at Hitachi CPM White #1 steel. It is an extremely pure steel with sulfur and phosphorus content at .25% or lower. It is just iron and carbon. It is in powder form. It could be one less variable for you to deal with in that the material is very chemically uniform and it could be simpler to calculate how it will respond to heat. Japanese master smiths use it to make blades that can take an edge like no other. I own several Japanese knives. The White #1 blade has an edge that will cut your name in two.

[@brianbak6405]

Hat’s off for your hard work sir 😎👍

[@sorry4all]

how about doing this in a vacuum environment? I think it may help get rid of molten metal getting spit everywhere caused by thermal expansion of air.

[@barebaric]

I imagine that would cause issues with heat dissipation.

[@shawnderrick1952]

I agree....those look like kind of messy weld beads with spatter.Some sort of argon or other type of welding gas flow might smooth the depositions right out.

[@augurelite]

This is SO impressive

[@HuwFerris-John]

Less than 1min in to your video and I love your humourous presentations style!! Slapped that sub button hard

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

This is so impressive!

[@scifactorial5802]

Silly thought - would it possible to first run the laser out of focus over the printed region to partially sinter it to combat the powder being dragged in to the melt pool?

[@atari7001]

I second this thought. General Electric uses this strategy with their metal printers…

[@albanmourier]

@@atari7001 Yes but those are electron beam melting machine, not laser melting machines, they have huge magnetic effect on the powder and thus needs this pre sintering. Denudation (removal of powder due to gas displacement) is inherent to this laser process. Process parameter have to be fine tune to minimise it, but it will always be here. I would suggest to go faster, limiting the heat applied to the melt pool and thus evaporation of material causing this powder suction

[@tdtrecordsmusic]

I've watched this way more than 3 times.

[@damonvanopdorp2905]

I can't say that I understand half the terms, but I do enjoy trying to follow along :)

[@TheSwissGabber]

Instead of controlling the power supply you could bypass the current by shorting the powersupply. Add a MOSFET in parallel to the laser and turn it on when you want the laser to be off. This way the current in the power supply is always flowing(should help with ramp up) and you can stop the laser very fast since a MOSFET turns on in nanoseconds.

[@metalmatters]

Inductance/overshoot will kill the diode block if the rise/fall times are too short. At the moment it is slower than it could be, erring on the side of caution.

[@Ironwright]

I would add mass to the machine base. It appears you have a lot of gantry sway going on e which is going to effect your focal point. Another thing to consider is the machine may not be reaching your specified speeds. The distances travelled are shorter than the acceleration the machine is capable of. It would also be best to eliminate any sharp turns the machine has to make. Radii help prevent the machine having to stop and then accelerating on another access. The bigger the radius the longer the machine has time to accelerate the new axis motion up to speed.

[@MikeJones-mf2rt]

This is incredible! 👏🏻

[@TheRainHarvester]

Sorry for the interruption....But who else is SICK of seat geek commercials?!!?! Never saw this project before... Cool!

[@perrylewis]

This is incredible!

[@dwaynesykes694]

No one I'm aware of in the industry has cracked dimensionally-perfect additively-manufactured metal parts. CNC giants like DMG Mori or Hermle "solved" the problem by sticking additive metal systems inside 5-axis CNC mill-turn machining centers. Folks need to accept that additive manufacturing is much like traditional casting, it'll get you close to the desired shape, but tight tolerances will always require machining.

[@martylawson1638]

I think your slow switching times are due to your power supply. The actual laser junction should be able to turn on and off in micro-seconds and modulate in nano-seconds. (fastest turn on will happen if you idle the laser diode sub-threshold before applying full current) You'll want to get a cheap "test dummy" laser for testing, but you could get real gains in power controllability if you leave the bench supply on continuously, and use a custom circuit to regulate the laser current. The simplest and safest is probably a parallel shunt regulator to steal current from the laser when you want to reduce power output.

[@scifactorial5802]

Can these diodes be modulated in power easily? If the power can be adjusted contnously then it shouldnt be too hard to take in to account the acceleration and start/end and make a function that calculates the power output to ensure the same laserpower gets dumped in every mm. Otherwise PWM? If you want to go ham it should be possible to make a program that takes 3D printer gcode and calculates laser output power for the whole file based on the movement speed at each moment. So you could use a normal slicer for a file then just run it through the described program and get metal laser gcode.

[@martylawson1638]

@@scifactorial5802 Don't need to do that much work. The 3D printing slicer already does all this. Just need a circuit to translate extruder steps to laser pulses.

[@scifactorial5802]

@@martylawson1638 Very good point, I don't know how I missed that.

[@nathanpallavicini6687]

Yew getting there bud. Nice work

[@mophie6941]

Sorry for my word but holy shit this is amazing

[@chebhou]

Great results !

[@see.be_games]

Love the content, keep it coming!

[@klausbrinck2137]

2:47 When u notice, that this guy has never heard of Wall Street... :-)

[@vmiguel1988]

I think you could eliminate a lot of issues with a galvo scanner 😊

[@metalmatters]

You and I both

[@southerntommygun1353]

Just an FYI; I used to use the epoxy, shear and polish method for fiber throughout the 90s but unicam connectors have become the mainstay for fiber connections unless you're doing fusion connections on single mode.

[@couldhaveseenit]

wowee great work!

[@ruaridhmitch]

Awesome video, great to see you're back at it! In your travels have you found any literature regarding what limits the size of the build area for a single laser LPBF printer?

[@metalmatters]

Not explicitly. I think internal stresses/warping and how well you can model them will determine your limits.

[@Deathbynature89]

This is awesome. Subscribing

[@stefanguiton]

Great video!

[@joelmorris375]

To reduce or possibly eliminate the build up at the end of the run, ramp down power a few mm before end.

[@Torskel]

Mini-SLS, nice.

[@rcpowres]

Great job