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IndustryArena Forum > MetalWorking > MetalWork Discussion > Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?
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  1. #101
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    Apr 2006
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    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    Agreed Mactec54 ...
    http://free3dscans.blogspot.com/ http://my-woodcarving.blogspot.com/
    http://my-diysolarwind.blogspot.com/

  2. #102
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    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    I want to see someone making the piston and liner (and bearing mounts) for a small model aeroplane engine using a 3D printer with ZERO further machining. The engine must run of course! Then I will believe.
    Making the 'castings' by 3D metal printing and then machining those 'castings' on a conventional mill - you could probably do that today.

    Cheers
    Roger

  3. #103
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    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    Quote Originally Posted by RCaffin View Post
    I want to see someone making the piston and liner (and bearing mounts) for a small model aeroplane engine using a 3D printer with ZERO further machining. The engine must run of course! Then I will believe.
    Making the 'castings' by 3D metal printing and then machining those 'castings' on a conventional mill - you could probably do that today.

    Cheers
    Roger
    GE is already involved in making turbine parts of their engine using 3D printing technology. Also see following video:
    https://youtu.be/W6A4-AKICQU

    The technology is still very new and the mechanical properties including fatigue strength of 3D printed material is not up to par..... Heat Treatment, Forgings Hot Rolled Cold ro0lled annealed Quenched stress relieved parts have different strength (enhanced mechancial properties) as compared to presently 3D printed part...though these shortcomings will be overcomed in near future (thats my opinion only)...
    For current technology i believe surface finish is not great and somehow surface machining or coating to be carried out...
    http://free3dscans.blogspot.com/ http://my-woodcarving.blogspot.com/
    http://my-diysolarwind.blogspot.com/

  4. #104
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    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    Hybrid 3d Printed and Milling machines are already in market... However, i believe on NDT's (Non Destructive examination) might show defects or anomalies in such parts,...
    http://free3dscans.blogspot.com/ http://my-woodcarving.blogspot.com/
    http://my-diysolarwind.blogspot.com/

  5. #105
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    Apr 2013
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    1899

    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    Quote Originally Posted by mactec54 View Post
    starting price is around $130,000.00 by the time you get all the other equipment needed for the process, this price includes the vacuum furnace all materials are extra, Hydrogen , Argon and other Gas Etc, so can't be compared as a commodity item like a dishwasher TV, although some TV have reached $ 20,000.00 it still can't be compared
    Yes. That was my point. ...and even if in time it may become cheaper it will never be cheap enough for the every day hobby user, apart from the fact that it requires quite a large floor space, so even if it is affordable for some people for hobby, it requires a separate building or a very large room, AND some significant safety measures. The process is simply far too complicated, even if this advert is trying to imply that it is simple and done in an ordinary office...

  6. #106
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    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    Quote Originally Posted by Khalid View Post
    I don't know why I belive the man can and will conquer the metallurgy of any material... I am a believer.... May be you think i am a mad man..but , i believe so far whatever man thought he achieved.. This might be offtopic but i believe that many inventions that didn't come out due to the fact it harms the current business..the guys either given money or shot dead whatever.. Though i am a mechanical engineer and somehow believe the laws of thermodynamics and conservation of energy ..but whenever i read the PERPETUAL MACHINES are impossible then i think that it should not be thought in SCHOOL...this is because when your mind is seized you cant think out of the box...
    I always think big..living in the same world and always connect the Past with Present and then interpolate the Future... May be i am wrong but i believe What the man imagined so far He made it possible... A decade back i never thought and it was almost impossible to think that Casette Recorder, VCR, Floppy disk, CDs will wiped off from the planet.. Just think what harm to the business to the investor in wiping off technology.. suppose today there is an alternative source of energy that can swip gasoline... (Though i believe scientists might have some advancements in this field but the big oil companies and investors just shut them down..may be...)...
    I just went offtopic and sorry for my fractured english..but i always think that Impossible it self says I-M-Possible.... everything is possible.... (opened the can of worms)...
    The death of cassette recorders and vinyl records could easily be predicted already FOUR decades ago, at the time of the audio CD introduction in 1979. It was obvious that it will have an impact on the industry, not only for audio, but eventually also for video, computing and photography. I don't know about Pakistan, but the death of cassette recorder was a fact already around 3 decades ago in Sweden. Never the less, it did NOT do any harm for the industry, that's ridiculous to say. New technology is ADOPTED by the industry, it is DEVELOPED by the industry, not killed. Yes, some companies disappear because of new technologies, but some new ones evolve BASED on new technology and knowledge.

    The reason why audio CD killed vinyl records and audio cassettes was simple, the sound quality is undoubtedly better (even if some analogue sound fans disagree) than ANYTHING a cassette recorder ever can record in the format they were recording. This is not the case regarding CNC machined material vs. 3D printed. You must realize that the two technologies are DIFFERENT and not competing, but COMPLEMENTING technologies. Even if both are based on synchronized motion, 3D printing is not an evolution of CNC machining, and in fact not that new at all, almost four decades old. My first contact with 3D printed boxes for electronics was in the mid/late 80's, the company I worked for used it for prototyping before making/ordering forms for molding to test the form and the design. So, none of this is new, and weaknesses/strengths are well known and studied.

    I think being enthusiastic is good, but ignoring facts, science and history is a bad thing. I don't believe in conspiracy against knowledge, I don't believe that inventions are killed by industry, state or any human being. I also don't believe in miracles and no, everything is NOT possible, only in our dreams, but don't confuse limitless and uncontrollable dreams with science or vision. Dreams are NOT predictions, they are just dreams. No, not everything what humans imagined so far has NOT become reality and some things will NEVER become reality at all, because when we imagine something, we can ignore science, but when we try to realize what we imagined it becomes impossible because of physical or other scientific facts limiting the possibilities.

    ...but as I mentioned before, I am ready for travel at, or above the speed of light if that ever becomes possible...

  7. #107
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    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    Quote Originally Posted by Goemon View Post

    The reason I think that 3d metal printing has the potential to surpass milling is their use of a laser to shape parts. It provides the opportunity for shaping with far finer detail that is possible with an end mill. Plus the a ability to form complex internal support structures in the wall of metal parts has limitless potential.
    Shaping for fine detail using laser, or milling/grinding/polishing is indeed possible, but remember that it is only possible for the appearance and the outside of the objects, not for cavities. If you use a laser cutter to shape a 3D printed object then you are using a 3D printer and also a CNC, which is kind of killing the possibility of replacing the CNC with a 3D printer.

  8. #108
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    Sep 2006
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    6463

    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    If never a truer word was said it is.....AT THE MOMENT...……...this is just a way of saying that back in 1940 the walkie talkie radio sets used valves to amplify current to make it possible to transmit over a short distance.....…...now we use IC's etc to transmit around the World..

    At the moment, the 3d printer cannot replace the CNC machine……...but give it time.

    There was this 80 year old guy who invented a time machine...…..he went back to when he was 10 years old...……...it took him 70 years to get back to today because as a 10 year old he didn't have the knowledge to get back to the future again......LOL.

    In post #103, Khalid showed us a guy who printed a working jet engine.....that was not made with a CNC machine, normally it would have been.

    The point is, you must design parts to suit the manufacturing process, not the other way around, otherwise we would still be making things out of stone......eventually we will be printing parts in metal just like we microwave a pie in minutes instead of heating it in an oven for much longer.
    Ian..

  9. #109
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    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    Agreed Ian.. Strong points from both sides.. By the way , when i said everything is Possible then i mean YES but it has Time Constraints applied... A day will come when my grandson will see this post and proud on me considering me a visionary person ( <0.0000001% chance)..might he hold a 3D printers that do not need any post-processing of the parts and much more better tolerances then the existing CNC machines...
    The only way i think is the invention of high temperature and mechanical strength fine layer coatings (may be advancement in nanotechnology lead such materials) that will be applied after the part in a PROCESS way to get the finish we desire ... It will be the same process like our MachineShop, we do CNC lathe operation, then Milling Operation, then CNC drilling and finally grinding ... In case of 3D printer we will only do one operation that is 3D printing and later Finish Coating of some advanced material (that is not invented yet)....Ohhhh i am day dreaming..thats my fault... i dont know why i dream....
    http://free3dscans.blogspot.com/ http://my-woodcarving.blogspot.com/
    http://my-diysolarwind.blogspot.com/

  10. #110
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    Sep 2006
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    Re: Are 3D printed metal components going to replace milling?

    Heh Heh....a dream is reality waiting to happen...….hang in there, coming to your neighbourhood soon.

    At the moment cheap 3D printing for the hobbyists is still a very basic producer but then so is cheap CNC machining …..for the hobbyist......as you go up the ladder the results from exotic solutions get better but at a price.

    Who really cares if you have to do some minute fine finishing when you're into 3D printing...…..expecting to have the ultimate end product untouched by Human hand is a dream...…….waiting to happen.

    I see 3D printing in metal as another form of sintering......if it fulfills a need and can compare to a solid cast or raw material metal item then it's green for go......you just have to design around it's limitations, same as for a die casting or green sand casting.....some after handling is an expectation.

    Can CNC totally replace manual machining......no never...….can 3D printing totally replace CNC machining...…...the batteries on my crystal ball need recharging.
    Ian.

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