Personal 3D printers have a limitation: materials. Typically used with plastic, many people would like to 3D print in metal. Now there seems to be an option for personal metal 3D printing: the Newton3D, “built from the research of Esteban Schunemann, PhD student at Brunel University”.
We don’t know very much about this mysterious device. There’s only a web page with a brief explanation, an extrusion video and a form to be put on the pre-order list.
It seems that the Newton3D uses a two-step process: a metal clay is 3D printed using a standard extrusion approach, followed by a firing which presumably burns off the clay, leaving a metal object. The site claims a resolution of up to 0.4mm in a build volume of around 125 x 125 x 50mm. Not big – but it is metal.
There’s no exhibition of finished metal objects, which is kind of critical to evaluate the technology. We’re hoping that the Newton3D proves out in the future, as there really aren’t any feasible metal solutions for personal usage. If the product works and is appropriately priced, it could open up a whole new world for personal printing.
Via Newton3D
