Ultimaker Brings Metal Injection Molding Technology to Desktop 3D Printing

Desktop metal 3D printing is something of a holy grail within the industry. While metal 3D printing processes do exist, they are very expensive and require large machines that are unsuitable for desktop use. Even the least expensive SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) 3D printers compatible with metal powders start at around $40,000 and often cost several times that number. But desktop metal 3D printing may soon become an affordable reality, thanks to a new Metal Expansion Kit from Ultimaker that harnesses metal injection molding technology.

Metal injection molding (MIM) is a metalworking process in which fine metal powder, mixed with a binding agent, fills cavities in a mold through a method similar to conventional plastic injection molding. The parts are fragile after they come out of the molds and require additional conditioning steps to become usable. That conditioning removes the binder material to leave a "green" part. The green part then enters a sintering oven that fuses the metal powder, resulting in a solid, dense metal part. The downside of MIM is that it retains the constraints of traditional injection molding, which limits the complexity of the part geometry.

Ultimakers new Metal Expansion Kit combines the geometric versatility of 3D printing and the strength of MIM parts in a convenient desktop package. The kit works with the Ultimaker S5 dual-extruder 3D printer. The kit contains two print cores and two filament types. The first filament is BASF Forward AM Ultrafuse 17-4 PH and the second filament is BASF Forward AM Ultrafuse Support Layer. It also contains Magigoo Pro Metal adhesive and special green part packaging.

After swapping in the two new print cores, users can setup prints as usual within Ultimaker Cura slicing software. The Ultimaker S5 will then print the green part as it would with any other material. Once the green part finishes, users can ship it to a post-processing facility in BASF's network. Within 10 business days, BASF facility will perform the debinding and sintering conditioning. They will then mail the finished part back to the user.

If a user wants to switch back to standard plastic 3D printing, it is a simple matter of swapping to the original print cores.

Ultimaker hasn't yet announced pricing for either the Metal Expansion Kit or the BASF conditioning process. But they do anticipate that the kit will be available for order sometime this summer.

While the post-process conditioning steps may deter many users, this system is quite appealing. At a relatively low cost, users can print several iterations of green parts until they get the results they require. Then they can send the final iteration into BASF for conditioning and receive back a usable metal part.