3D metal printers available these days mostly carry a price tag of at least $250K, which puts them pretty thoroughly out of reach for pretty much everyone aside from large corporations. Argentinian engineer Gastón Accardi, however, has been working with 3D printing technology for more than a decade, and has been working on a prototype of a 3D electroplating metal printer. His very first prototype was put together with cheap parts -- the initial prototype cost him just $2.00. The electroplating technology is a far cry from consumer technologies like FFF and SLA types, and Accardi's 3D printer takes the very concept of electroplating beyond the basic. He has plans to mount a 4-axis CNC machine with the electroplating system to make a system more similar to an FFF-based 3D printer. His process is so far a very slow one, and he's seeking investment to create future iterations that might one day become available for sale. Find out more about Accardi's plans and machine in the full article: http://3dprint.com/47065/argentinian-3d-metal-printer/


Below is a photo of Accardi's 3D electroplating machine: