SPEE3D builds world’s fastest live print metal part at Formnext
November 21, 2019
SPEE3D built this 1kg hammer head in just 10 minutes, live at Formnext
During a live demonstration at Formnext 2019, SPEE3D printed a 1.012kg copper sledgehammer in just 10 minutes and 2 seconds, using the company’s patented metal Additive Manufacturing technology.
SPEE3D’s system uses a process it calls ‘supersonic 3D deposition’ to deposit metal powders by using a rocket nozzle to accelerate air up to three times the speed of sound, delivering manufacturing-grade, high-density metal parts.
Injected powders are deposited onto a substrate that is attached to a six-axis robotic arm. In this process the sheer kinetic energy of the particles causes the powders to bind together to form a high-density part with normal metallurgical properties. This allows metal parts to be produced 100 to 1000 times faster than with existing AM methods.
“What we demonstrated here is really just the beginning. We believe ours is the fastest print demonstrated live at a show like this and we challenge other players in the industry to print a 1 kg part faster, whether it be metal, plastic or ceramic. We want to see development in the industry, and we look forward to pushing our technology even faster.” stated Byron Kennedy, co-founder and CEO of SPEE3D.
The live event was part of a larger demonstration by SPEE3D of their new product SPEE3Dcell, said to be the world’s first 3D printing production cell. SPEE3Dcell combines a SPEE3D printer with a heat treatment furnace and a computer numerical control (CNC) three-axis milling machine.
For the entire duration of the Formnext fair, SPEE3Dcell is being demonstrated live and in just six minutes, the machine will be printing sparkless copper hammers, finishing them, and assembling them on the trade show floor, demonstrating how SPEE3Dcell enables significantly faster, lower-cost, and more scalable production than traditional casting or other 3D printing techniques.
