iro3d/ YouTube
iro3d metal part
A metal part produced on the iro3d printer.
The vast growth of social media has enabled anyone with internet access to have a voice and have it heard. It’s catapulted countless people within countless fields to fame, and has now provided iro3d with a platform to introduce itself to the additive manufacturing space, via Joel Telling, YouTube’s 3D Printing Nerd.
iro3d is a one-man band operating in the Seattle area. That man is named Sergey, and he’s designed a desktop metal 3D printer, which produces strong, high carbon steel objects - other metals and alloys are also being explored. Costing $5,000, the printer has positioned Sergey ‘in between markets’ – too costly for most consumer/ hobbyist/ DIY users, and not proven enough for most industrial players. He’s looking to sell beta versions of his machine to customers in the State of Washington, so he can then expand the band, and develop more to get the business off the ground.
“iro3d is mostly me, and I have a friend and he has his own company. He will be selling the consumables,” Sergey explains. “I did all the development and the research for the printer and I talk to many friends, including my business partner, they give me feedback and we have a lot of interesting discussions. But it’s mostly me… for now.”
His friend’s company is called TriDPrinting and the consumables he will be selling as Sergey’s venture gets off the ground are the powders and the crucibles, which make Sergey’s method of 3D printing possible.
iro3d/ YouTube
iro3d milling cutter
A milling cutter manufactured on the iro3d printer.
The iro3d process uses metal powders to build parts and sand powders for support. Powders are laid down in a crucible, the print heads picking up material from one of four containers (fine and rough metal and sand powders), and depositing them at a rate specified in the splicing software. When the part is printed it is then fired in a kiln for several hours at high temperature. Once this phase of the process is complete, a wire brush is used to remove excess powder from the part.
An update on iro3d: 4 customers and details on the machine's Selective Powder Deposition process (Oct 2018). Read more.
In one of his own YouTube videos, Sergey showcases a printed milling cutter, which also has a brief cameo in the 3D Printing Nerd coverage of iro3d. This part took about 24 hours to print, and was baked overnight, and such is the sturdiness of the carbon steel material, grinding ‘took a while’.
The specifics of the process Sergey is keeping to himself for fear of bigger companies stealing a march on him. He also says the machine is only as expensive as $5,000 because he is developing the machines alone at a rate of one per month. Sergey believes the machine is simpler than most plastic desktop 3D printers out there, and as production volume goes up, the price will go down.
He also recognises the need for modifications. Changes are needed within the firmware, the current electronics board is an 8-bit micro controller which is ‘very slow’. Meanwhile, the software, which he wrote himself, needs to be enhanced, he needs to tinker with the printer’s mechanics, and he wants to implement some safety mechanisms. But with those alterations, and some feedback from beta customers, Sergey is imagining his machine being leveraged for one-off tool making and prototyping.
There is a confidence in his process, and the resultant products, that it can be a viable option for industrial users. The machine boasts a 32 x 30 x 10 cm build chamber, can print objects durable enough to be struck by a hammer several times, and is among the cheapest of its kind in the market. And until recently, nobody was aware of it. A 3D Printing Nerd YouTube review may just be the start.
“Before Joel published his video, nobody even heard about iro3d, nobody went to the website or visited the [Facebook and YouTube] pages. It was a very lonely place,” Sergey told TCT. “Now it looks like people are starting to show an interest. Hopefully soon there will be a beta customer who will buy the printer and use it and make sure everything is okay. There will be some changes to made, we will make them, and when that’s done we can start selling to other states.”
iro3d/ twitter
iro3d printer
A yellow version of the iro3d printer.
