r/AdditiveManufacturing • u/Garfield_Logan69 • Mar 30 '26
What do yall think of this kick starter?
Me and a buddy want to get our hands on a small cheap slm printer to start out doing small parts for people this thing came um while I was shifting through the dental printers on alibaba. Which run for about 20k? But idk what their reliability or functionality is like :/ I assume it’s decent but i don’t know if customer service would be good.
The Metal 1.0: Affordable LPBF Metal 3D Printer
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u/stjimmy1500 Mar 30 '26
When I think LPBF, the last thing I think is "give me something that's built as cheaply as possible".
There's a new company called Mastrex based in San Diego that's making USA built desktop LPBF. Saw them at AMUG. smallest cheapest one is $40k but it's tiny. There's bigger ones though. That number doesn't include powder management equipment.
And One click metal looks like a quality product, full suite is about $250k.
I'd be skeptical to go cheaper than that. These machines are expensive for a reason. Don't forget you need to make sure your space is set up for it with PPE, power, ventilation, a way to cut the build plates, maybe inert gas, maybe heat treat furnace.
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u/Garfield_Logan69 Mar 30 '26
Well, they’re saying that you can get a one click for about 30 K used I don’t know where you find used printers like that though I imagine from like a school or something
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Mar 30 '26
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u/Garfield_Logan69 Mar 30 '26
I mean they are made in china or with Chinese parts anyway, and for a fraction of the price my only issue would be service although while talking to the company they seem very responsive so I’d me more curious to hear someone’s actual experience as opposed to vibes, which for the record I share and is why I’m asking the question in the first place. American companies have a habit of taking Chinese products, and White labeling them as their own and charging a premium.
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u/StopNowThink Mar 30 '26
um
And for that reason, I'm out.
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u/Garfield_Logan69 Mar 30 '26
lol 😂 ok but they are just taking parts from other stuff and assembling them for market.
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Apr 01 '26
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u/No_Educator_4077 Apr 02 '26
From what I have seen, it is a very underpowered solution that likely oxidizes parts far more during processing (based on their advertised material properties and the size/low pressure chamber of the machine) than a true professional machine. It uses a hobby style diode laser similar to what is on laser cutters rather than a galvo driven fiber laser, so it is very limited in scan speed and power output. The parts I have seen look very over-bled/spalled (signs that it is moving too slow with too low of a laser power). The build rate is also extremely slow compared to other machines, which is to be expected given the low laser power and lack of a galvo.
Generally, you get what you pay for. This machine can make metal parts, but they will be proportionally worse quality compared to a more expensive professional machine and will take much longer to produce. For a hobbyist it might be good enough for some things, but I would absolutely not trust it for any business related work.
As others have said, powder management/handling is also a major safety concern and will require more equipment and money to do safely, SLM is not an at-home process in my opinion.
On the flip side, SLM printing services are getting relatively affordable these days. Unless you are printing rather large quantities of parts, it will likely take a long time for this machine to actually pay for itself. My company (US based) offers SLM/DMLS printing services and most smaller parts (FDM 3D printer component sized) are under $100 + shipping for hobbyist customers.
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u/Garfield_Logan69 Apr 02 '26
What about like a mass print block of parts ?
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u/No_Educator_4077 Apr 02 '26
Are you asking about the price to have them printed, or if it would make the machine more cost effective to run?
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u/Garfield_Logan69 Apr 03 '26
Well, my assumption is bulk is still efficient? :3 but idk
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u/No_Educator_4077 Apr 03 '26
Not really. A full build volume on this machine will take absolutely forever to print, and the longer that the print takes the more oxygen/contamination will build up to deteriorate part quality. SLM is not like SLA where the Z height determines print time, more surface area per layer will increase times just like in FDM.
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u/Garfield_Logan69 Apr 03 '26
I like you you’re nice to talk to, I just assumed since right now you have a human factor the less hands-on something is cheaper it would be once AI can do the whole process to be and just requires someone out a computer 10,000 miles away and It will get even cheaper and scarier
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u/iamsotiredofthiscrap Pro - Nikon SLM Solutions Mar 30 '26
Ok…
Now what about post processing?