How we BUILT a 3D printer that can print ANYTHING!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 15 тра 2024
- Micron Desktop SLS 3D Printer, coming in June on Kickstarter, starting $2999. www.micronics3d.com/
Join us on Discord: / discord
Follow us on Instagram: / micronics3d
Find us on Reddit: / micronics
Follow us on Twitter: / micronics3d
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Printer Specifications:
Build Volume: 160x160x200mm
Laser Source: 5W 450nm Diode
Laser Scanner: Closed-loop servo galvanometers
Typical Part Accuracy: ±0.2%, ±0.1mm minimum (PA-12)
Layer Thickness: 100 - 150 µm
Maximum Build Speed : 67mm/hour (Z direction, 150 µm layers)
Typical Build Speed, 10% cross section: 15mm/hour (Z direction, 100 µm layers)
Supported Materials: PA12, TPU-90A (Current) || PA12-GF, PA12-CF, PA11, PA6-GF, PP (Upcoming)
Printer Dimensions: 310x330x700mm
Printer Empty Mass: 19kg
Power Requirement: 120VAC 10A/240VAC 5A
Average Power Consumption: 500W
Operating Environment: 18-28 ºC, max 80% Relative Humidity
Slicer: MicroSlicer
Minimum System Requirements: Windows 10/11 64-bit, Dx11/12 Compatible, 8GB RAM
Supported File Formats: .STL
ATEX certified vacuum cleaner: Not Required
All hardware and software Made in USA
Patents pending, free licensing for non-commercial use available.
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Learn more: www.micronics3d.com/howitworks
0:00 Intro
0:59 What is SLS?
2:12 How did we build one?
2:24 Powder Handling
3:40 Post Processing
4:46 Heating Control
6:00 Laser
7:33 Slicer
8:32 Demo
9:54 Outro - Наука та технологія
Hey everyone, thanks for the INCREDIBLE support! We have tons of interesting content coming up, explaining in much more details how we designed the printer and the cool things it can do.
In the meantime, remember to subscribe and follow us on socials 😁😁
Join us on Discord: discord.com/invite/2heuYC6x9v
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/micronics3d
Find us on Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/Micronics
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/micronics3d
hope your next project is SLM
I want 20 of them! I didn't say I could afford it, but I want it.
Definitely - Subscribe including notification bell. Holy crap, you did really well. Rarely does anyone throw me off my chair, you definitely did it!
may I ask how do you guys manage moisture on powder? also, which level of face mask should I use when refilling or removing powder?
Are you trying to make me use up all of my remaining credit???
Maybe I can get the bank to increase my car loan by the cost of one of your printers as well as some consumables.
Holy shit. $2999 is dangerously close to consumer pricing… well done guys. This is gonna shake things up big time.
That's the idea 😉😉
@@micronics3d i might buy one. :) if this is the price hehe, but lets see
My bet is this hits the market at double that price and doesn't get released until 2027
Micronics is about to become the Bambu Lab of SLS.
😮
That's what I thought too. But usually industrial SLS power consumption are pretty high. So we might have to redo home electrical cable just for this.
If this device ends up being well made, durable, and runs without constant issues or errors, you’re going to be wildly successful. What an incredible innovation
you just said the magic words....constant issues and errors
@@whatyoudo9773well no such thing a 100% perfect machine without problems
Good lord. Almost seems like an April fools joke it's so well thought out and yet still cheap.
"Cheap"
For the technology, it is relatively "cheap".
@@austinmorton5906 That's what I mean, it's like hearing that Ford is selling a decent electric vehicle for $10k all of a sudden. This is significantly cheaper than it's counter parts.
@@austinmorton5906 Yeah sure, but it's still a lot of money.
@@unwohltaeter3071they just beat out the price of the competition by an order of magnitude. Give it time man, give them credit for making something so cheap.
Using unreal engins physik engine to pack the parts has to be one of the greatest moves I have seen in a slicer.
I love how the benchies already showed the issue when packing this way, one of the benchies was nested at such a shallow angle that the 100 micron layer steps were very clearly visible.
@@random_youtube_commenter Sorry, what's the point of your comment? I am geniunely curious. Because if you are being sarcastic, I'd think it's a tad misplaced. Don't you think a programmer smart enough to implement Unreal Engine for slicing could figure out how to constrain it to to only using arc angles (or whatever they called) with a bit more time which should reduce the layer lines considerably? Or even a type of setting where you can choose between max packing density vs. max quality.
8:11 I laughed out loud when I saw the sophisticated method of packing parts by just dumping them in the virtual build volume. But hey, if it works…
It's insanely good, actually
And then you just "virtually" shake it like you would in real life to get them to settle into a naturally optimal position. It's hilarious but genius.
It’s so awsome😂
That’s how some $7000 packaging software works.
So sophisticated it changes the game
People dont understand. The actual hardware even for the big boys is like 30% of what they charge and the rest is like 70% margin. Its how the "industrial" space works. Its all super over priced because businesses are willing to pay for "convenience" and they get raked over the coals. Ive been in industrial sales for 15 years. The differences on margins between consumer products and industrial products is insane. Its the difference between selling to people who cant throw money down the drain and those who can. They have more money then sense and they spend a lot of it... ive ALWAYS have said that ultra expensive 3d printers are going to be short lived as theres to much "consumer/non corp" in the subject. To many people that want to make cool things for the sake of making cool things and not some dude with a spreadsheet seeing hust how high they can charge a company before they wont pay. If i had to guess THIS printer idea started with a a guy who was interested in SLS but couldnt afford one. Then started down the rabbit hole of what the parts cost going directly to the sources or using alibaba and realizing how much markup companies were actually charging on these printers and said "i can do that for waaayyy cheaper and im not greedy ill be happy with 20% margin" then actually followed through. Which is the hard part the follow through. But it was bound to happen because this isnt an industry fully controlled by corporations theres a community..and like any product with a community its usually them who force value on the market through creative ideas not the corporations willing charging you less. Good job guys i cant wait to try one!!!
good read, thx
This right here is the holy grail of hobbyist engineering. Fully isotropic, compatible with regular & GF nylon, and efficient use of the full build volume. The only limitations are very high temp and conductive materials
And a price tag beyond what 95% of the world population could spend on a car, let alone a printer.
3k is a no brainer for me 😂 my car is less then 2k but it drives and is street legal so who gives a shit.@@Argosh
@@Argoshsometimes good useful steps are still out of reach to the people that would only buy an Ender. It could still be good for a garage business. Assuming it works as claimed it’s half the price of Sintratec’s kit. Don’t go looking at the Fuse 1 system.
@@Argosh 3k is about what a high end consumer laptop costs in the US. It fits nicely into the budget requirements of the prosumer and enthusiast market
@@XecularOfficial two years ago, maybe. Now the X1 Carbon exists.
Uh.... wow!!! I'm really looking forward to learning more.
Oh hey I love your videos! I've been trying to reach out for a collaboration but can't find a way to reach you. Can you send us a message on our website?
First I was skeptical ("here we go" attitude). Then I realized the kid is sincere and knows what he is talking about, then by the end I am pretty much convinced it worth a closer look. Then I come in comments and see this!!! Ben from Applied Science channel says "WOW". Now I am 100% in!
I will be getting one because of this comment!
Count me in, this is a small business's dream. Top quality without the mess and high cost (both labor and equipment).
I wouldn't say top quality. That large part did have a bow in it...
Guys what are you doing to me?
The more breakthroughs like this, the less sleeping space I have in my home.
Let me just say wow and count me in as a customer, I feel like this is something worth jumping in its inception phase.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😅
What I love about this is that nothing like this has been done before. It introduces competition to a market that hasn't seen many innovations in years. in the end other companies will have to go back to the drawing boards and offer us better and cheaper products. This product is a huge win for all the end-users
Not just with SLS but with FDM printers too, since now they need to compete with a fully isotropic build process that handles engineering materials with ease
Well done, super impressive, looking forward to you ringing the bell to open trade on Wall Street with your IPO in near future!
Have you been sleeping under a rock? Sintratec and Sinterit are two companies that basically tried the same a few years ago. They went with a price more in the 10k$ range on the first product, but they were new startups trying to shake up the very expensive professional SLS manufacturers too.
@@ProtonOne11 You said it man, it's the price. Any company in the industry would be able to create such a product but none did at that price point. I'd bet most big companies would price such a product higher than their other products due to ease of use.
The Sintratec kit you are talking about was double the price, had a much smaller build volume, wasn't nearly as well thought out and was a kit. Nothing against kits but I'd prefer to have such a precise machine prebuilt for me.
It's the combination of specs, features and price point that makes this special
The analog circuit is genius. Analog is far superior in very specific continuous spectrum use cases, absolutely brilliant. This is a wonderful machine!!!!
Technically it might be possible to build a mechanical computer inside the slicer which makes our slicer turing complete???
Analog pid loops for galvos have been done for 40 years.
@@moki123gYup. Why would you even try to do this digitally? It’s a fool’s errand. I find it hilarious that some companies use FPGAs and DSPs clocked at hundreds of MHz with adaptive PID algorithms to try to approach the response of a simple analog PID circuit!
@@simontillson482 I don't see you making this 😂
@@simontillson482analog pids are just so much more complicated to tune and get right.
depending on the scale it is produced its probably worth saving alot of time by fiddling with analog circuitry and instead ajdust some digital pid parameters to get a good pid tunr faster
As someone who works in industrial 3D printing, the $3000 price tag is absolutely insane. Fantastic work, can't wait to see more about this printer and looking forward to the waves it will cause in the industrial additive world.
Holy balls this looks amazing🤯For the part cleaning, harbor freight sells a fully enclosed sand blasting cabinet for under $250. Could make for an awesome combo for this project. 1000% keeping a close eye on this 🤘
I never thought I'd see the day of me owning a powder system, but at this price it's honestly affordable for the enthusiast, and without all the faff of needing a massive space for post processing
One step closer to metal.
I just got the sudden urge to print a massive solid block of nylon that takes up the entire build volume for no reason.
Based
This is awesome! The use of the Unreal Engine physics is very convenient for nesting.
It will help reduce the waste of powder between pieces, and the foundation for future development is solid.
Yeah, but the minimum system requirements list only Microsoft Windows for his MicroSlicer. I have no problem paying 3000USD for such a machine (if it is working as advertised), but I am absolutely NOT installing Windows. Linux is the way to go, which is also supported by the Unreal Engine.
@@phibel9303just run a windows VM you noob. The fact that you stated such a comment shows you have 0 tech skills.
@@phibel9303 you can always turn water into wine
The unsintered powder is not wasted, it is reused.
@@phibel9303 use wine I guess, or maybe you need proton because this uses unreal engine ans is more optimised that way
This is cool to see, will be interesting to see how things pan out longer term
I guess we just need to wait and find out 😎😎 In the meantime, we are happy to print a few parts for you, just shoot us a message!
@@micronics3d Sounds interesting, will definitely take you up on that offer, how about a toolhead? Stealthburner front face with say, galileo 2 extruder?
This is a big step! We're not quite at consumer level here, but it's not so long ago the only game in town for resin was Form Labs, charging $4,000 for a printer, and not long before that when Makerbot were charging more than $2,000 for what would now be a _joke_ of an FDM printer. There's gonna be a lot of engineers and designers screaming "shut up and take my money", already. Us hobby guys with our $1,000 printers probably only have five or six years to wait before the first viable cheap SLS printers make it into the home workshops.
I think this is below consumer level pricing. Its not a Ender pricing lol but its still good for hobbyist. My Fiber laser was over $4.5k, my cheaper CO2 laser was over $2k, and so many people in those hobbies are paying much much more from a different company. In reality, $8k is considered "consumer level pricing" for hobbyist machines. Look at Glowforge selling their 50w laser for over $8k+ and tons of people are buying them. This will come down in pricing as more companies jump on board but the hobbyist manufacturing niches are full of people willing to pay under $15k to get something they can make money with.
Bonkers. I would love to see direct comparisons with FDM and resin prints. Strength, build time, etc. More in depth start to finish on the print process. Ya'll got me real excited here.
Fdm and sla are no match fo sls. Fdm is inferior in all categories besides simplicity and cost. Sla is closer in capabilities to sls when it comes to resolution and overhangs but is much more brittle
@@tinydiccbandito4953no offense but fdm is quite useful and quite safe overall and the only option today to create multicolor objects. On the other hand SLA are nice minifigures made from chemical hazard. SLS is basically shooting lasers at microplastics and some of those will escape the cleaning process. Again not that great for the environment.
Yeah, if I had only one in my room I'd be the fdn printer, as it's generally safer depending on the plastic used.
Can't imagine a resin printer being safe to print with in the same room I sleep in, and I feel sls would get messy after a print.
@@dtibor5903 Yeah sure, I own an fdm printer and it's a great tool for prototyping. I was speaking mainly about the end product - finished prints. FDM is safer and cheaper but its resolution, structural integrity, print strength, supports and so on are simply worse than SLS.
There is a reason why SLS printers are so pricey and complicated. It's simply because the end product is so much better that for some applications it's actually worth it
@@Tigery760 i have small resin printer, keep it in a cabinet on an enclosed balcony. The printer itself got taped all over to make it almost completely sealed, so right now i can't feel the smell of the resin in the cabinet. All the cleaning tools fit on an old oven pan
for 3K bucks thats actually seriously impressive. You can overcome the last tedious rinsing process by creating a shaker-machine, and by sifting out the material to the bottom, then use a final high speed fan to sandblast the last details, and use the same room for curing.
One word: cost
@@tinydiccbandito49533k is hella cheap
In 5 years micronics is probably gonna be the best professional-hobbyist sls/3D printer company
And in 7 or sooner, they might be undercut by 8 Chinese companies of which a few might be as good hardware wise. So, they will have a few years of making some money and then figure out if they will compete with the lower priced competitors or get out of the hobby market altogether. I for one hope they will try their hardest to be the proper consumer option and then not rest on their laurels like a certain once widely hailed, orange-clad FDM company.
@@AntiVaganza you're a glass half empty type person
@@soapxddd I love when strangers on social media think they know each other;). Well done...
Now, if you know a bit about the history of what happened in this industry the past 10 years, you could also have said I was a pragmatist or realist. I thoroughly respect the undertaking of this and I do hope they succeed. But it's almost guarenteed that if they do, the Chinese will copy everything in a heartbeat and churn out cheaper products.
It has happened over and over again. It's naive to think it wont in this case. And they might very well be able to survive that if they don't fall into the Prusa trap of complacency.
@@AntiVaganza agree. Prusa is such a sad story now though. They squandered their most powerful advantages (rapid open source iteration and a loyal customer base) leaving the market to a closed source competitor that wasn't even in the business of producing clones. This machine will surely be cloned very quickly and it's up to them to harness advantages that give them a competitive market argument.
This appears to be an incredible accomplishment! I really like the ideas you've implemented here, Unreal Engine for the slicer is brilliant.
Building your own galvos and controllers is crazy awesome. I can't wait to see the launch.
I really appreciate your ethos. It looks like you want to deliver a honest project using solid engineering. Your introductory price might be too low. I am getting in line to get one as soon as they start shipping. This looks amazing and more so, I appreciate your ethics.
My heart is so full right now. Bravo
Wait I need this. I actually need this.
Glad to see some movement in the consumer SLS printer field. If only I had a use for SLS printing...
it's pretty much exactly the same as FDM use cases, but parts can be loaded in any orientation and looks a little bit better due to lack of layer lines
@@SergeiSugaroverdoseShuykov Layer lines still exist. It's really just the the support less structure and fusion between the material that's better.
@@SergeiSugaroverdoseShuykov The only issue is that you cant use filaments differently like you would with an fdm printer and you cant really do multimaterial prints with powder layering. I would assume that due to how thin each layer would be, that the SLS printer would take some time to print as well. As someone who uses 3d printers for engineering projects and for the aviation hobby, this desktop SLS printer would be the best thing to have for printing parts that often dont result well on fdms like gears, print in place systems, and anything that you would typically need an injection mold for. However some plastics like foaming pla, which i tend to use for rc aircraft, are not options in SLS printing to my knowledge. If you want strength of a part, little to no imperfections, then definitely get an SLS. This is certainly going to be a must have though.
When you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail
You can always find a use. The price however... Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing price but still out of reach for many
Absolutely crazy! Looking forward to more demonstrations!
fantastic development work. this is extremely impressive and you and your whole team should be extremely proud of the breakthrough that you've made together.
CAN NOT WAIT TO PURCHASE THIS MODEL!
Looking forward to a scaled up models allowing bigger build chambers!
Made my day to see something like this. Thank you. Looking forward to its release. Would love to see a metal printer variation in the future.
Wow I'm seriously considering this, your video is genuine and well thought out. Extremely interesting!
This is amazing.
Actual time to print would be awesome if you can share, and a video start to finish of the post process would also be great.
It looks like you have made a hell of a product.
This is just incredible! I've been waiting for an affordable SLS printing solution, this looks like exactly that! Really amazing job!
Super cool! Feels like it happens a lot in the industry right now! Looking forward to the next update!
Pretty impressive achievement at this price range! well done 👏
Absolutely tremendous guys! Would love to chat more about this machine!
Wow Great job 👏🏽 guys! This is dope. Definitely looking forward to the release
This looks incredible. I am blown away by what you have developed here. You also seem really passionate about this, I wish you all the best and I hope to see this succeed! Hope you will be shipping to the UK!
This is incredible! My dream of SLS printing at home is almost attainable! I will definitely be following along and hopefully be able to order one if they are out next year.
Same, I’ve been wanting sls in the consumer market for years. This is a big win and I’m hopefully able to get one. I imagine demand will be high. Let’s home production can keep up and the wait won’t be too long.
I seriously like the look of this… consumer level SLS??? Sign me up!
Seriously cool! I hope your company takes off!
This is absolute genius. A wonderful work of art! Congrats on every single person who worked on this!
Here I thought 3D printing was plateauing. Nice work!
If you follow commercial products, then yeah I guess they're plateauing.
@@thecamarokid4230 But what more do they need? They're awesome already
@@WhyAliasIdontNeedOne Where are the cross gantry commercial printers then? The can go twice as fast as coreXY.
@@thecamarokid4230 honestly 99% of us do. I like to call the last 5 years the Creality glut, little to no innovation was made until core xy hit main stream a year and a half ago.
I'm hoping to see this pick up steam over the coming years. Seems perfect for mechanical parts I make.
I will buy! Finally a founder I love!
This is just what's needed in the industry!
And I love the down to earth video - great job guys💪
You are an inspiration. I harbor my own 3D printing invention (a new SLA architecture) and watching this has made me itch to go out and make it real. Thank you.
3k is a bargain price for sls.
I am definitely going to buy one when it gets released.
What is the speed of the printer in mm/hr?
METAL. WHEN.
Yeah, was a little disappointed that it's not Aluminum-ready, but... it's still awesome.
when your pockets get deeper, plenty of metal SLS machines on the market
Yeah, got excited when I saw the thumbnail, thinking metal capability. Really looking forward to a hobbyist priced metal printer.
Must be getting close now. Surely it's just a fibre laser instead of what looks to be a diode laser that they are using. A fibre laser Engraver is around 3k
Would they need an inert gas input for a metal one to avoid fires? 🔥
Coming from experience with older printers like these. This is extremely impressive. I’m keeping an eye on this great job!
Crazy, just plain crazy, well done bringing this tech to a nice price tag! You've just made yourselves a spot at the top!
I'm really interested in this! $2999 is definitely too expensive for me, but the price is pretty reasonable for enthusiasts because you can print so many things at once, and you don't need supports either. And this is the least expensive SLS printer, by far.
I did want to ask though, how accurate is it when printing small figurines (like warhammer miniatures or other small figurines?)
They already stated the max layer height in the video, Layer Thickness: 100 - 150 µm. Resin printers go down to 10 to 50 µm.
I agree on the price. If this technology ever gets to half that I'd be very interested, but that is still probably years out. I can see this being great for smaller shops though. Set it up on a workbench somewhere and print out any part you want.
@@DigitalJedi Same. This will be good for engineering companies, fab shops, and super enthusiasts, but this isn't hobbyist level yet. I bet we'll be seeing a lot more options in the next 5 years though - there's a lot of players in the desktop SLS space right now trying to compete for the best mix of price to feature set.
I had them print a dnd mini for me and I am not super impressed to be 100% honest.
Very interesting. Is the slicer available to review before launch?
Yeah, we are polishing up a few details right now and it will be available on our website soon :)
I would love to try out out. @@micronics3d
Look forward to following your journey. I use FDM printers but would like to see SLS as a feasible option.
This is amazing! I am looking forward to launch!
This is mind-blowing with some incredible innovations. Congrats!
I spent more then that on all my 4 bambulabs x1c. I wanna see a few more hands on videos but I'm already sold.
And your 4 BL printers are toys compared to this. SLS is industrial manufacturing.
@@LilApe cool story bro
@@rebuilt_riders2261 Go play with your toys that sell your data to the CCP
All the sudden all of my FDM printers don’t seem as shiny and cool anymore lol
It's cool for quick cheap prototyping. There are other printers for better quality prints, but post processing takes time. FDM, as soon as it's done printing, you can test it.
Does this make my X1 Carbon obsolete?
Great work. Looking forward to seeing more from you.
Very interesting. These are the kinds of progress stride we need.
"You say 'to change material' you just need to change the bucket, that's what a well-known 3D printer brand told me. 'To change material, you need a second printer.' The second printer costs $49,000."🤣
How about the risk of explosions? Isn't this pulver going to be dangerous?
I read about someone who works in a company that had to spend ten thousands (or more), more than the machine cost, to explosion-proof everything before using one of these machines.
Sounds like the same type of person who buys an industrial fume extractor so they don't die from the "horrible fumes" of their PLA prints.
@@JD2jr. In contrast to FDM printing fumes, sintering really is dangerous.
@@JD2jr. You are discounting something using a straw man, building a fictional character and then equating the two. Not a good way to reason or argue.
@@johndewey7243 no, I'm saying it's probably the same type of person (who I've met the real versions of so no "building a fictional character" here).
Plastic powder used in SLS is way safer than metal powder used in SLM.
Wow you guys really went above and beyond. Yall are definitely going to shake things up.
Brilliant - the self-contained material unit is such a great idea.
Besides the price of the machine, the crux of the problem for small-scale production workshops (here obviously, I'm not talking about the R&D departments of large companies that use SLS for prototyping) will be in reality on the price of the nylon powder.
Today, such material is sold at an insane price wrt its chemistry: Formlabs, which has set the standard, sells PA12 for $100/kg (VAT and shipping excl.). No matter how you deal with the numbers, in the end ASA costs $30/kg only (PLA and PETG, even less! But take ASA for its good mechanical and thermal properties for technical products). That means that each product made with the FDM technology costs 70% less than the same object made through SLS.
Sure, an SLS machine is able to output more objects per hour (I let post-processing aside...). But this is a non-issue for FDM in print farms, due to the cheap nature of these printers. You just have to add a few more. Hence, 2 or 3 FDM printers will produce the same amount of objects per hour as one SLS printer, still with an inferior total purchase price, and still using the same ridiculous price per unit weight for the consumable raw material.
There's no denying that a technical product made with SLS has some superior qualities. But I seriously doubt that such final product could compete on the market with the same product made in ASA, if the selling price of the SLS-made product has to be 230% higher to keep the same production cost and margin!
As a consequence, as long as the price per weight is not cut in half (at least) for nylon material, the SLS nut won't be cracked.
Alas, I have even more serious doubts you will follow this high road, since with such an aggressive price for the hardware, you'll have to make up for it on consumables… exactly like ink printer companies. I hope you'll prove me wrong. If so, I will be one of your first customers!
The printer is an open-material platform so you are free to use any 3rd part materials as mentioned in the video. SLS powder cost is high but that is going to drop when it become popularized, just like filament and resin prices over the last decade.
You are also ignoring the cost of support material. With the SLS you can reuse with FFF you have to throw away
@@GabrielDeVault I haven't forgotten it, I just deliberately didn't mention it. You're right that support material is thrown away with FDM (and SLA) and that this does not exist with SLS. But alternatively, with SLS the thick walls are necessarily always fully solid (100% infill) whereas in FDM the solid inner parts are typically made of air with 15 to 20% infill. So you're gaining somewhere what you're losing elsewhere. IMHO the lack of support materials is not the feature that makes SLS attractive (even if it is also a good thing due to the absence of any remainting scar after surpport removal); the real strength of SLS is its high yield per hour (by multiplying models throughout the build volume) as well as the isotropy hence strength of the parts produced. I readily admit this.
I take back what I said in my previous comment about the "speed" of SLS technology. With "3000 mm/s" and packing several pieces manufactured at once in the whole volume of the build chamber, it seems exceptionally high… in appearance only.
Here I'm not talking about the structural advantages of nylon parts, but purely about production costs and yields, PA12 vs ASA parts, when both are possible (which isn't always the case, but in my case it is).
I made a precise calculation for my own project (a fairly large technical product produced in small series and assembled from several independent parts) which takes 5h40min to manufacture in ASA on three builds in a Bambu Lab P1S, a $700 closed-enclosure FFF printer. Alternatively, I calculated that I could manufacture five of these objects at once using SLS technology. Not "at once" exactly, as it would take two print chambers consecutively, filled to at least 25% on an Inova or a Micronics, two new machines costing around 3500 dollars VAT incl. each (there's nothing else cheaper right now, and the Inova is DIY, sold as a kit takin several days to assemble).
Taking into account heating time, manufacturing time and cooling time, it would take me over 56 hours (more than two days!) to manufacture these five parts in SLS, which comes to over 11 hours per unit. That's exactly TWICE as long as it takes me now to produce the same part in ASA on an FFF printer, a machine that is also 5 times cheaper. Therefore, for the same acquisition cost, I could buy 5x Bambu Lab P1S as a small print farm instead of a single Inova or Micronics machine, and be TEN TIMES more productive. And I haven't added the post-production time in the SLS cycle to unmold the cake, take out the parts, vacuum the dust, sift it, sandblast the parts, even then dye then let them dry (so that they no longer have that dirty gray color): hours more!
I'm not even talking about the fact that ASA filament is three times cheaper per weight than PA12 powder (it may change in the future, admittedly).
I was REALLY excited about upcoming low-cost SLS technology, but my hopes were dashed by this realistic calculation and pragmatic consideration.
In conclusion, I don't know how people who sell small-batch production made with SLS printers (especially those that cost ten times as much) manage to cope financially. Sure, another use for SLS tech is functional prototyping instead of small-batch manufacturing, but in this case a density of 25 to 30% in the print chamber is rarely achieved, so the cost per unit skyrockets.
YMMV, but I honestly don't see how.
Idea: add a little vacum of some sorts on a xy gantry to make infill possible without adding holes in the model. While this reduces strength and increases machine cost, it can reduce the cost of per piece and weight greatly
no.. solid dense models is where it's at
easier said than done
Wow this is awesome. I’d been hoping someone would make one of these things at a reasonable price. This could be a game changer. Great job.
amazing! Looking forward to a scaled up models allowing bigger build chambers!
Incredible! I've always wanted to see affordable SLS. This will be a game-changer!
Incredible! So exited to see the next episodes! Great job guys! 💣💣
This is incredible, and I'm really excited to see where this goes.
this is genuinely awesome, i was waiting YEARS FOR THIS!!!
Sounds almost too good to be true! I'm very excited to see these units ship, and see people start using and reviewing them
This looks amazing! I'm super excited to see how this works and whether I'll finally be able to get an SLS printer in my shop!
wow, have been waiting so long for this kind of desktop printing machine for my independent small business.
I wish I could have you on my team.
Bravo. Great work!
Absolutely amazing, I will definitely be buying one for my company when it comes out!
This is an amazing design and using UE as your building block for your slicer is genius!
Innovative stuff - you guys are surely going places!
Thank you, I was waiting a long time for someone like you to show up
Brilliant engineering work. Simply genius.
How amazing, great job on this project. I may not buy the first gen but this is something I'll have my eye on, I wish you great success!
Guys, I really hope this thing delivers. Thats disruptive stuff you got there with brilliant ideas! Looking forward to it!
Amazing! You're starting a revolution man. Good luck, hope you succeed!
Absolutely fantastic work and I'm super excited for the future of this technology.
It's still a few years away for me, but I can definitely see more wide-scale adoption of this.
so many cool innovations, I love it can't wait to see in action
Wow, that is awesome. I just saw sls printing in real life, and it is really cool. I want one now 😊
hobbyist next level and possibly for production, very nice!
what a fantastic solution definetly a game changer with the pricing. well done
this was a fantastic watch, excited to follow the community and see where development goes!
Well done. This is extremely useful: I’ll probably get one asap. Good luck!
Amazing! Looking forward to see reviews and get one
Looks absolutely great
Well done introduction, very exciting.
This is so cool. Great job!!
I hope this can ship to the UK, and looks like you've "aced" it. Well done, SLS at that price point and the lateral thinking to achieve your progress so far is top drawer. Subscribed and liked👏
Dude this is so cool. WAAAAYYYY beyond me, I have one super cheap FDM printer and I can barely handle that at the moment but best of luck to you guys, this is AWESOME!
Awesome, well done fellas!
absolutly amazing work u guys done here! if i had the need for one I would get one
Really looking forward to seeing how this goes. A "home" SLS machine has been something of a holy grail I've wanted for a long time now.