Melbourne 3D printer manufacturer demos new machine in Germany, claims speed record

Melbourne company SPEE3D has demonstrated the “world’s fastest live print of a metal part” at the Formnext 3D printing expo in Frankfurt, Germany.

According to a statement from the company, the print was part of a demonstration of its new SPEE3Dcell product, which combines SPEE3D’s “supersonic deposition” technology, as well as a heat treatment furnace and a three-axis CNC mill. 

The deposition technique uses a robotic arm holding a substrate, which is blasted with a metal powder to form a part without melting. The company claims a “100 to 1,000 times” speed improvement over conventional methods, which melt metal powder, layer by layer. 

The part was a one kilogram copper sparkless hammer, printed in “just over six minutes,” then finished and assembled.

“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,” said Byron Kennedy, CEO and co-founder. 

“We want to see development in the industry, and we look forward to pushing our technology even faster.”

The Formnext event runs November 19 – 22.