Pure Metal 3D Benchy, Printed at home!

Here's a 2 minute video showing each of the steps required to FFFMetal 3D Print the classic "Benchy" on an Ender 3D Printer.
The process took place over about 24 hours, but this shows you everything that needs to be done to execute this process.
Printing metal parts using Filamet™ from The Virtual Foundry is a process known as FFF Metal 3D Printing. Filamet™ is a type of 3D printing filament that is made from metal powder mixed with a thermoplastic binder material. This unique filament allows for the creation of metal parts using a standard FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) 3D printer.
The process involves loading the Filamet into the 3D printer and then printing the part in the same way that any other FFF filament would be printed. Once the printing process is complete, the part is then placed in a simple furnace or kiln where the thermoplastic binder is burned away, leaving only the metal powder behind. The metal powder then fuses together to form a solid metal part.
The advantage of using Filamet™ from The Virtual Foundry is that it allows for the creation of metal parts using a standard 3D printer, which is much more affordable and accessible than traditional metal fabrication methods. Additionally, the process is faster and more efficient than traditional metal fabrication methods, as it eliminates the need for tooling and reduces waste.
The Virtual Foundry offers Filamet™ in a variety of different metal powders, including bronze, copper, iron, stainless steel, and tungsten. This allows for a wide range of applications, from prototyping to small-scale production.
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Use Instructions: thevirtualfoundry.com/help/
TVF Shop: shop.thevirtualfoundry.com/
Write to us: [e-mail]

[@shandor2522]

Why isn’t there audio or text? I had no idea what was going on until reading the Virtual Foundry website. BUT ultimately someone deserves a Nobel Prize for making metal prints accessible to ordinary mortals!

[@Tyrone-Ward]

Very cool

[@simonandreasen6958]

I'm very intrigued by this topic, and have some questions
What is the dimensional accuracy of these parts, compared to regular industrial powder metal sintering?
What polymer is used as binder, PVB, regular PLA or other?
Are there any other other additives in the material like anti oxide agents or similar?
Is there any textbooks or documentation on the topic of sintering to learn more about the details, and process?

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

Great questions. Dimensional accuracy is the same as other #FFFmetal techniques. You can use BASF Ultrafuse for reference on this topic.
The binder is 'PLA Compliant'. It's almost pure PLA, but we add some secret ingredients to keep the filament from becoming brittle when we make it into filament. Its melt temps and other properties are nearly the same as PLA. For printing, we tell people to use a generic PLA slicing profile, but up the flow-rate to 125% (or so) and tune from there.
We don't add anything to the binder as antioxidants or fluxing agents. We're doing lab experiments with this concept, but these aren't in any of our stock materials.
There is a growing library of research and reference materials that talk about 'The Virtual Foundry' by name. We keep a list of links here thevirtualfoundry.com/research-and-whitepapers/ . But for the most up to date information it's best to do a search on the various Scholarly Articles archives. Google does a pretty good job of aggregating them, but we often find unlisted material. scholar.google.com At last count, there were about 90 academic papers written about our materials. Well, 90 that use our name explicitly. There are many, many more papers that don't directly cite us but are still useful.
You can find info and talk to other users on Discord and Reddit. Links here: thevirtualfoundry.com/community/
Our goal is to make Metal 3D Printing available to everyone. We hope you'll join our growing community!

[@johnm.gerard1718]

This is a good video but.... I'd like to know somethings that it would be nice if you talked about on the video. Like from 6 years or so ago when Foundry was first producing their metal filled filament up to now that it is 2023; is the filament any easier to print. Did they make any improvements, etc. And would I need to buy a kiln.

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

Great idea. We'll work on a video like that.
In the meantime, yes the filament is dramatically easier to print. We use a Filawarmer to help ease the path from spool to printer and several materials like copper and bronze are flexible enough to print without it.
Back in the early days, we used Magic Black Powder to make a kind of slurry that coated the part and supported it during debinding and sintering. No more! These days, we use simple Sintering Powders to support part shape and manage oxygen during these processes.
You do need a kiln if you want a full metal parts. Your kiln should have a programmable controller and be able to maintain the sintering temperature of the material you are working with. Those temps are all listed here: thevirtualfoundry.com/products/
Reach out to us at [e-mail] any time

[@JohnSmith-dp2jd]

What kind of porosity do you get with these prints? Does the plastic act like slag inclusions in a weld?

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

The porosity depends on how much you densify the part.
When following the instructions on our website, you'll see 7-10% shrink (material dependent) which results in 80-85% density. Holding the sintering temperature longer means your part will further densify (shrink).
Shrinking by 20% means your density will be in the high 90's%.
thevirtualfoundry.com/debind-sinter/
There is no plastic left post-sinter. It is vaporized entirely.

[@42468]

what % volume of the filament is metal?

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

The short answer is that all of our materials are about 60-64% by volume.
The longer answer is that it's very difficult to get any agglomeration of particulate matter much beyond that level of density. We got it this high by using careful blends of particle sizes.
Here are the details on the topic, it's more interesting than it sounds. ;-)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_packing#:~:text=Recent%20research%20predicts%20analytically%20that,will%20yield%20a%20regular%20packing.

[@42468]

@@TheVirtualFoundry I see, using a variety of particle sizes allows for lower binder content, i.e. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonian_sphere_packing

[@krollmond7544]

Whats the largest volume you can use? And can you resuse all that powder?

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

The largest print you can process is dependent on the size of your kiln and your willingness to experiment. This podcast will give you a bunch more detail about large parts: th-cam.com/video/2Foqe2HNxSE/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
The Sintering Powders can be reused. This video post will give you all the detail on that topic: th-cam.com/video/tC3w_cvLScs/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared

[@krollmond7544]

@TheVirtualFoundry hey thanks for the response I appreciate it!

[@gokhanceterez1043]

what is the price of the furnace ?

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

That's up to you. You can use any furnace or kiln you like as long as it has a programmable controller and can hold the sintering temperature of the material you're working with for several hours.
For convenience, we carry a few kilns which you can see in our shop: shop.thevirtualfoundry.com

[@AbhishekMukherjee0]

Going to Google you guys but you should put up a store link!
For a print on an ender3 to come out that well after home sintering is impressive. What's that oven spec'd at? The only thing keeping from metal printing is having to send it out to get finished.
I'm sure I'll find this info when I look it up but doesn't hurt to share it here too.

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

Seems obvious now... thevirtualfoundry.com/

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

Direct link to store is... shop.thevirtualfoundry.com

[@PokeAmp]

i own 4 3d printers and never printed one of these lol

[@colelofgran1949]

Same lol

[@TheVirtualFoundry]

Well when you do, I hope it's made out of Metal!
Honestly, I resisted for many years. It IS a challenging print. I'm hoping to prove a point.