Students build low-cost cold spray metal 3D printer prototype

techxplore.com

20 points·PaulHoule··6 comments

> Metal powders are dangerous if inhaled

And depending on the metal, possibly explosive.

If you so much as LOOK at Titanium funny you may have a really, really fun time.

Some powders have been known to burn inside the collection receptacles for excess powder while a print is running.

Yep, you have to be very careful when printing with aluminium powder.

An unfortunate example: "Two Workers Killed and Two Injured in Explosion at 3D Printer Plant" https://dustsafetyscience.com/dust-collector-explosion-shang...

homemade rock-climb gear is getting closer *-*

I would have to have a really good reason to need to print rock gear instead of buying from a trusted supplier. Life safety gear is one of those things that isn’t worth the risk to screw around with.

sure... but why not? stuff like Silent Partner are cool and super expensive because they aren't produced anymore. you may also agree with the fact that gear is sometimes expensive for what they really are. and i can see no problem in printing a carabiner that's proven to fail at the same rate of a commercial one, or custom nuts for a specific geography! and can't metal 3D printing be used at industry to lower the costs of production, given it's cheaper than more traditional methods?

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