If you look at the wrenches in the cover photo of this post, you will immediately notice that there is something different about them. Unlike classic metal tools, these developed by the startup Desktop Metal have a perforated internal surface, with numerous cavities. The interior of these keys uses a "gyroid" style filling, typical of 3D printing, to give support to the internal structures while saving material.
Light and robust: the tools of the future
The result, you see, is a functional wrench, but with almost 30% less mass and weight. This production complexity is only possible thanks to 3D printing. Keys are created by a process called Single Pass Jetting (SPJ), a new metal 3D printing technique. The wrench prototype serves more than anything to demonstrate the potential of the company, which offers a wide range of metal 3D printing machines, both for industrial and consumer use.
How this new type of printing works
SPJ printing promises to produce remarkable results, and not just for tooling: the printed parts have a much higher and more uniform density (up to 99%) than other methods of metal 3D printing, and are also faster to produce. Single-pass jetting or binder jetting printing technology uses a binder material in a vat of metal powder to create metal products, instead of using lasers to fuse the metal powder. Once the part is made, it goes through a process of sintering, which causes the metal pieces and the binder to melt.
Conclusions as light as a feather
In conclusion, 3D printing is opening the doors to a world of possibilities, even in the field of workshop tools. We may soon find ourselves with lighter, stronger tools, but we all know this is just the beginning. Thanks to the evolution of metal 3D printing processes, we will be able to say goodbye to the heavy and bulky tools of the past and welcome a new era of light and robust tools, ready to revolutionize the world of manual work.
