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http://phys.org/news/2013-12-scientists ... metal.html

Thought this looked interesting. Not a ton of technical details, but the picture is cool! I'd know more about it if the caption were more in depth

Seems pretty interesting, not sure in what manner the welder is used but maybe it fuses the different layers together? I don't know but I wish they mentioned where the open source plans were!

A MIG welder is often called a "wire welder" because it has a nozzle that feeds metal wire into the weld. There's a feeding mechanism that pushes out the wire, controllable amperage to fuse the metal with more or less "heat"... It really is a hot-end and a cold-end that's already designed for metal wire instead of plastic filament...

It seems so obvious, but I would have never thought of it. The simplicity of using a welder is just genius.

A cheap wire welder is $110 (http://www.harborfreight.com/90-amp-flu ... -8494.html) that's less than many of us already pay for a hot end and a cold end just for plastic!



I don't think that open source plans exist yet because it's a new idea. Maybe I'll have to make those plans

Jimustanguitar wrote:A MIG welder is often called a "wire welder" because it has a nozzle that feeds metal wire into the weld. There's a feeding mechanism that pushes out the wire, controllable amperage to fuse the metal with more or less "heat"... It really is a hot-end and a cold-end that's already designed for metal wire instead of plastic filament...

It seems so obvious, but I would have never thought of it. It will be interesting to see what happens in the rep-rap community with this. There's some real potential that's pretty exciting.

I will be easy to see who is using one, just look for the burned down houses or the houses that glow at night because of all the electricity they use.

Yep, you'd definitely need an all metal machine. Probably enclosed with ventilation like a laser cutter.


The gears are starting to turn. I might just be crazy enough to try this.

Eaglezsoar wrote:

Jimustanguitar wrote:A MIG welder is often called a "wire welder" because it has a nozzle that feeds metal wire into the weld. There's a feeding mechanism that pushes out the wire, controllable amperage to fuse the metal with more or less "heat"... It really is a hot-end and a cold-end that's already designed for metal wire instead of plastic filament...

It seems so obvious, but I would have never thought of it. It will be interesting to see what happens in the rep-rap community with this. There's some real potential that's pretty exciting.

I will be easy to see who is using one, just look for the burned down houses or the houses that glow at night because of all the electricity they use.

They're not too bad. 110 volt one would work. Turn down the power and up the feed rate. Just enough to melt the wire but not enough to slag out the layer below. Bridging will be a pain in the ass though.

I would love to be able to print metal with a filament type 3d printer. It is possible, it would just take some time to figure everything out.

For example - Machinist have been using wire welders on lathes for decades. Say you have a large shaft (like 10" in dia) that is worn out. All you have to do is indicate the shaft in on a lathe and place the end of the welder on the tool-post (usually a special jig or fixture is made to hold the gun). Then set your speeds and feeds on the lathe, and start the bead from the welder. The trick is timing everything so the bead from the welder will slightly overlap. That way you have a fresh surface to machine. If its done right by a good welder/machinist, you wont even be able to tell that the shaft has been reworked once machining is finished.

CJGerard wrote:I would love to be able to print metal with a filament type 3d printer. It is possible, it would just take some time to figure everything out.

For example - Machinist have been using wire welders on lathes for decades. Say you have a large shaft (like 10" in dia) that is worn out. All you have to do is indicate the shaft in on a lathe and place the end of the welder on the tool-post (usually a special jig or fixture is made to hold the gun). Then set your speeds and feeds on the lathe, and start the bead from the welder. The trick is timing everything so the bead from the welder will slightly overlap. That way you have a fresh surface to machine. If its done right by a good welder/machinist, you wont even be able to tell that the shaft has been reworked once machining is finished.

I've seen that done on the inside of a tube as well. Not sure what part it was, but it was for the really big machinery at an open pit gold mine. They'd lay in a bead or two, then ream it to the proper inside diameter. It actually rotated the stinger inside the part, since the part was waaaaaaay too big to rotate.

Yea... The more I think about this, the more it's obvious that this has already been done in several different variations, people just aren't building machines and doing this at home yet.

There's nothing new about welding robots, and people definitely use welding for various additive processes. Maybe just not for hobby prototyping.


Has anyone stumbled upon the university from the article's open source plans and documentation? There weren't links to it in any of the articles that I read about them.

Jimustanguitar wrote:Has anyone stumbled upon the university from the article's open source plans and documentation? There weren't links to it in any of the articles that I read about them.

Here ya go, I found it while surfing on thingiverse

http://www.appropedia.org/Open-source_metal_3-D_printer

Its definitely doable, so this may end up being my next project.

I don't usually re-post, especially my own, but I thought the links in this one might lead to some useful info.

http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... 430#p20430

It's cool but I bet it's a mess. I like the idea of laser sintering ground up metal particles instead, like what NASA uses.