You probably know that high end industrial 3d printers can
print metal objects by using laser or electron beams on fine metallic powder
but Vader is something completely different. Vader aims at small companies or
professional workshop environments by implementing proprietary Magneto Jet
Printing (MJP) and magneto hydro dynamics (MHD) ceramic print head technologies
to reduce the machine cost.
It uses molten metal and jets it in small droplets onto a
surface similarly to a standard ink jet paper printer and by connecting the
metal droplets a 3d object can be made. It could be considered world’s first
molten metal 3d printer! Since one of the design ideas behind this machine is
to make it widely available, the material it uses had to be widely available
and cheap so the main material is molten aluminum wire.
While the basic technology sounds easy in theory and has
been used even 20 years ago in the past for some applications, there are still
many difficult technical obstacles to overcome. These obstacles include
reaching complex requirements like developing a print head that is resistant to
abrasive properties of molten aluminum by using ceramics, magnetic containment
and getting drop-on-demand molten metal droplets.
Vader is founded two years ago by Scott and Zachary Vader ,
a father-son team. With Fall of 2015 being the time frame for the release of
first working pre-production Mark 1 prototype. The price range of the first
machine should be around 250.000 US .D which is much cheaper than currently
available commercial metal 3d printers.
Hopefully the Vader team will be successful in bringing
their machine to the market and start the race for affordable metal 3d
printers. I want one! And I know some of you want one too! Vader Systems
company page: Star http://www.vadersystems.com/