The Team
We are a team of mechanical technician, precious metal expert, systems engineer and designers with very creative ideas. We like to think of ourselves as individuals that do not just think outside the box but outside the room the box is in, but in the same time keeping in mind that the basics in the box is just as important.
George Kriel: With an expansive background in Mechanic's, metal properties, design and manufacturing processes, all-ways looking to find new and more cost effective processes to manufacture objects, yet in the same time keeping the environment in mind.
Extra input
Peter brier: Is an all-round "maker": tinkering with Electronics, optics, mechanics and software. He seeks to make technology available to others. Via his work in the last 15 years for industry and research, but also in various open-source and educational projects. Currently he is also working on 3D printing of food (for a dutch independent research institute), and making open source laser controllers available to everyone (www.LaosLaser.org).
Peter will help during development with generic stuff (software, printhead/encoder interfacing) all his work will be open source.
What is the i-AM 3D ??
i-AM 3D ( ink additive manufacturing 3D )
Unlike most other 3D printers that use a plastic filament or a powder as material to build a part the i-AM 3D uses a liquid ink as material that is deposited with an inkjet print head according to the design.
The ink is then cured (sintered) by means of a laser that is guided by galvometer scanners.
Where are we in the process ??
At this stage most of the hardware, electronics and software of the machine is done and we have a functional machine (printer) Albeit with a test print head (ink shield – Nicholas C Lewis – a Kickstarter project )
We won’t bore you with all the hard and software spec’s, but If you really want to know just drop us a mail and we will share with you.
As for the laser and Galvo optics, we must yet purchase together with the correct print head and drive electronics’.
That is where we need your help, so we can buy the correct Print head, Galvo scanners and laser to finish the prototype machine and start testing the parts. (Density, tensile strength and durability) to make the i-AM 3D printer a reality.
About the ink (material)
We experimented with a lot of ideas and processes to come up with the perfect product(ink) for the application and believe that we now have three precious metal inks (gold, palladium and platinum) for the application process. (patent pending) More inks to follow, Titanium, Aluminum and alloys thereof.
The current inks were tested using the test print head and laser(hand held) and curing (Sinter) the ink in an oven at very low temperatures.
Ink can be cured(sintered) on a wide variety of substrates. Paper, plastic, metal ect.
The cured inks were also tested with a laser spectrometer (assayed) and returned positive results.
Why ink ??
With all other 3D metal printers (powder bed) you need a lot of extra material to manufacture (print) a part. Example a powder bed printer with a build volume of 90mm x 90mm you would need 1 kg of metal powder (gold ) to start the process, although the metal powders is recyclable it comes at a very high price and for every different material you would need a kg to start off with.
With our concept and machine (printer) you would only need the amount of material that is needed to make the part and between 2 and 3 % extra.
That amounts to a huge saving in material and cost not to mention the minimal cost to the environment.
Our Inks contain only natural elements.
Palladium metal ink
Palladium metal ink printed on paper
Palladium metal ink cured(sintered)
Fully cured into a metallic metal and 100% conductible
Assayed with laser spectrometer = 99.9% Palladium
Project development
Once we have the prototype printer complete and all relevant test done, we will manufacture the final product (printer) that will go into production.
It will be a table top model
Dimensions:
Length: 600mm
Width: 400mm
Height: 480mm
What we need
- Print head with drive electronics
- Galvometer scanner
- High power laser
- Conversion software
What you get
Unlike most of the campaigns on Indiegogo whereby you can get some form of product, reward or a discounted price, our campaign is very different.
What we can offer is making you part of the machine, (printer) making you part of its DNA
I bet you are now very curious, so let me share with you how we will do it.
Every contributor’s image (sign, symbol or whatever image that represent you) will be part of the livery of every machine, furthermore the printer will have a full monitor as the front(face) that will be able to show videos, content, advertising, ect. and your image or will also be displayed.
Besides the above there is some other perks.
We are quietly confident that the i-AM 3D printer will be one of the first 3D printers that manufacture metal parts, to go into space as the printing process and application lends itself to it.
Most of us will most probably never get to space, but your image might just make it into space with the i-AM 3D
If you feel the need to help us make the i-AM 3d printer a reality but are unable to do so financially, please spread the word, use the Indiegogo share tools. Every bit of help we can get will help us all evolve and create a better world.
All donations received will go towards buying the parts as mentioned, even if we don’t make our target the funds will go towards buying the parts and we will honor our perks to all contributors.
