There is also a printer that prints into a pplastic powder dust and binds it with heat from a laser. There are so many variations of the thing that to be honest, I would not invest the money until a better solution comes aloong. The times that ones of these machines takes to print out a 3" tall wine glass can be done in 4 minutes of a small metal lathe. For complex objects, then you have to ask yourself, are you going into the prototyping business? If you have disposable income, these can be fun to play with. If you are handy, for less money, you can build a better machine than you can buy, as far as being able to make a larger object, and it's precision relies on the parts you choose to use to put it together. Zero backlash screws will allow parts with accuracy in the microns. These machines, at anything under $5000 dollars are not quite ready for prime time.
If you do an extensive YouTube search, you will see machines creating sintered metal doors knobs, handles, and watch gears for really expensive watches. The best versions of these machines are the ones you build yourself, at this moment, if you have the equipment at your disposal to do such a thing and the electronics knowledge.
Any machines that relies on epoxy to put the plastic together will make parts that are extremely sensitive to heat. The ones that work by melting plastic lines will have a melting point of the plastic fed into it. The sintered metal machines are thrown into a blast oven and produce solid metal parts.
A Homemade unit;
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This is not new technology, but rapidly changing and evolving technology that could make people, individuals, take control of what they invent, and fundamentally change the way objects are made in this country. You can build these machines at home and use open source software and end up with a machine that is less expensive, and far more capable than the ready made one. That is, if you can build it, and this is nothing that is particularly difficult.
I have the equipment and know how to make these machines. I don't have the physical strength because of my Spinal Cord injury,nor the money, because of my disenfranchisement from the employment of the society I live in. I am unemployable due to my injuries. I do have all the equipment though. If I am lucky, I will either train my son to do this, or others, and maybe be able to make some machines for individuals on a cooperative level. It is possible. Production could be based on individuals in whatever country they are in, not on political nationalism, but rugged individualism. Just dreaming out loud.
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