BCN3D – a Spanish manufacturer of FDM / FFF 3D printers, announced the introduction of the Metal Pack package containing Ultrafuse Metal Filaments from Forward AM (owned by BASF) for its line of 3D printers from the Epsilon series. The package will enable the company’s customers to easily upgrade their equipment to be able to produce metal parts. After launching the new BCN3D cloud and purchasing Astroprint, the company continues to expand its hardware solution.
The update expands the range of application applications for BCN3D customers, especially in the areas of spare parts, functional prototypes and tooling, and is aimed primarily at the pharmaceutical, food, automotive, aerospace and manufacturing sectors. Manufactured parts behave practically the same as those produced in MIM or CNC technologies, being at the same time more user-friendly, even in office conditions.
The Metal Pack includes Ultrafuse 316L and 17-4 PH materials, a new metal hotend and special accessories. After the 3D printing process, the debinding and sintering processes can be performed externally through Forward AM’s authorized network of service providers.
The production process is divided into three steps: 3D printing of parts using BCN3D Epsilon printers, followed by debinding and sintering according to industry standards, which can be done through companies belonging to the authorized Forward AM network. The result is a final part that is almost 100% made of solid stainless steel.
In the printing process, the Ultrafuse 316L and 17-4 PH filaments contain a high level of stainless steel in combination with polymer binders, which allows them to be easily 3D printed. The binder content from the printed part is removed by a catalytic binder removal process. The next step is to subject the parts to another sintering process at temperatures just below the melting point of the metal, which causes the metal particles to coalesce. The material achieves its final properties by final sintering.
The Metal Pack will contain one spool of Ultrafuse 316L and one Ultrafuse 17-4PH (both weighing 3kg), Magigoo 316L which is also compatible with 17-4PH, two new “M” hotends and new BCN3D brass wipers dedicated to metallic filament. BCN3D will also publish an add-on for Stratos, dedicated to metal 3D printing, which will include printing profiles developed for the Epsilon BCN3D series. The package price will be € 1,099.95 (excluding taxes).
Source: www.bcn3d.com
