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The iro3d SPD metal printer

The iro3d selective powder deposition printer (SPD) is the first high quality low cost metal printer available for about $5000 not including a high temperature furnace or kiln.

It works by filling a cruible with sand and metal powder one layer at a time. Metal powder is placed in the shape of the part, while a sand support powder is poured everywhere else. At the top of a part, a long metal powder chimney or runner will be built up from the part.

When the powder is completely poured, an optional shelf is placed on top of the pour. Next metal infill and carbon in the form of coke will be placed on top of the runner. A bulbous crucible top will be placed over everything and filled with sand. The whole crucible will then be heated in a furnace or kiln to melt the infill metal which will seep down into the metal powder. After everything cools off, the crucible can be opened, sand and coke poured off, and you will be left with your metal part and the runner which can be cut or broken off.

The powders are distinguished between a rough and a fine... (RF and FN respectively.) The rough power may have larger particle size and better thermal conductivity. The amount of fine powder used in a print depends on the surface area of the part. A cube will use less fine powder than a heat sink with fins of the same size.

Shipping Costs

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We Recycle

We will use any appropriate, clean sturdy container we can find to ship your powders. For larger orders we often send the powders in well sealed sturdy plastic bags. Please let us know if you have specific packaging needs.

First Order Suggestions:

It can be a bit challenging to know what to get for your first order. Here are some loose suggestions, along with an explaination of how each consumable is used.

Printed objects will be about 60 percent infill metal and 40 percent iron powder. A typical run for a 500g part will take about 100g of coke, 2.5 kg of rough support, 500g of fine support, 300g of iron powder and 400g of copper infill. A predictable amount of infill metal is used for the runner.

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Please feel free to give us a call at (800) 734-3588 if you have any questions.

Stainless Steel Crucible
Usually the Stainless steel crucible is good for roughly 10 runs. It also has a much better seal than the other crucible option we are currently developing which improves the part quality by reducing air mixing during the hot stage. We suggest just 1 or 2 crucibles. Specifications Top and Bottom Half Size: 4 inch (~10 cm) square tubing Total Height: About 8 inches (40 cm) Life: Roughly 10 cycles	Picture Coming $89.95

Stainless Steel Shelf

The Stainless Steel Shelf is used to even out the weight of the infill metal and create a metallic collector to guide all of the infill metal toward the runner. The runner is the metal powder chimney that rises up from the part to the top of the pour. Usually these can only be used once. The current copper infill comes in 3 inch square pieces, and does not require a shelf. We suggest 0 to start. Specifications ~3.5 inches square (9+ cm square) Collects infill material Single Use

Picture Coming $2.49

Iron Build Powder
The build powder holds the shape of the part in the crucible. It is not absolutely necessary to stock the rough Iron build powder, as the fine iron powder can be used in place of rough build powder, but it may not conduct heat quite as well. In your average part you will use about 2x more rough build powder than fine, but the ratio varies depending on the actual part. We suggest 1 bottle of fine build powder and 0 or 1 bottles of rough build powder.
Fine Iron Powder Specifications Bottle of Fine Iron Build Powder Approximately 8.8 lbs (~4 kg)	Picture Coming $44.00
Rough Iron Powder Specifications Bottle of Rough Iron Build Powder Approximately 8.8 lbs (~4 kg)	Picture Coming $44.00

Support Material
The support powder holds everything in the crucible in place. It is not absolutely necessary to stock the rough support powder, as the fine iron powder can be used in place of the rough build powder, but it may not conduct heat quite as well and it is much less expensive. For your average part, you will use about 4x more rough than fine support material. We normally suggest at 1 bottle of the fine powder, and 1 to 4 bottles of the rough support material. You can reuse the easily filtered support powder from one print as the toping-off powder on subsequent prints.
Fine Support Material Specifications Bottle of Fine Support Powder Approximately 7.25 lbs (~3.3 kg)	Picture Coming $49.95
Rough Support Material Specifications Bottle of Rough Support Material Approximately 7.25 lbs (~3.3 kg)	Picture Coming $29.95

Coal/Coke Carbon Chunks
A little carbon in the form of coke goes a long way, and can be reused. We suggest 1 kg to start. Process Material 2.2 lbs (1 kg) bag. Sacrificial	Picture Coming $6.60

Special Copper Infill

This special copper process yields slightly better parts. The amount of copper needed for each print depends on the weight of the print. The object will be about 60 percent copper and 40 percent iron. A typical run for a 0.5 kg part will take about 0.1 kg of coke, 2.5 kg of rough support, 0.5 kg of fine support, 0.3 kg of iron powder and 0.4 kg of copper infill. Some metal is wasted in the infill process in the runner. Process Material Nearly 0.25 lbs, (113 g) Copper Piece Approximately 2.5" x 2.5" x 0.125" (63 mm x 63 mm x 3 mm) Multiple and partial copper pieces can be used simultaneouly as necessary.

Picture Coming $2.32

Occassionaly, larger particlesir find their way into our powders. We strongly suggest that you filter all powders through a 60 mesh screen when pouring them into the printer.

We believe in recycling, and frequently use recycled bottles, boxes, etc.

This product shall not be used to create any object, nor in the manufacturing process of any object, which is controlled or regulated by either state or federal regulations or both.