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Hello guys, I'm developing a powder bed metal 3D printer, here is my work:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al_zPfBsHaI
I would like to get feedback and ideas about the following issues:
Eye protection
Respiratory protection
Those printers use very volatile powders and I would like to make a product that will not need the operator to be in any way exposed to the powder. The eye protection could be pretty easy but I'm still thinking of a cheaper way than a camera and a screen outside the box.
well there are several reasons metal powder printers are so expensive - you probably know these, but other forum members might not.
1) oxidation. When dealing with really fine metal powder, oxidation is a serious issue. For example, to handle black aluminium powder, you need an explosives handling license - it's that volatile.
Because of this, metal printers need to be completely airtight and the enclosure is flushed with nitrogen to prevent the metal burning when hit with a laser. That's probably the most serious issue of an sls setup - everything going up in flames !
2) really fine metal powders are very dangerous to breath in. Some are actually toxic in such fine particles, but they all can cause respiratory issues. So again an airtight enclosure is essential.
3) this also means that once the print is done. You have to be able to either remove all un-fused powder within the printer chamber itself, or somewhow transfer it to a seperate cleaning station - without exposing it to your work room. At no point should you get the raw powder on your hands.
Honestly I can't think of any cheap way to do any of this.
And how are you getting:
1) a 50 watt diode laser
2) with the correct wavelength to melt metal ?
Metal printers usualy use fibre lasers - the light beam is passed down a fibre optic cable that is infused with rare earth metals to create the correct wavelength to be absorbed by metal - otherwise the beam is simply reflected.
If you can make a cheapish diode laser that can engrave and cut metal - that right there is worth more than buggering around with a seriously dangerous sls machine that nobody in their right mind would have in their workshop.
Having watched your video, be careful !