How Filamet™ Metal 3D Printing Works

Filamet™ is a metal composite filament from The Virtual Foundry that prints on standard FFF/FDM 3D printers and, after thermal debinding and sintering in a kiln, becomes a part made of real metal. No proprietary printer is required.

The process in four steps

  1. Print. Print the "green" part on your existing FFF/FDM printer using a 0.6mm hardened steel nozzle. Filamet™ prints similar to PLA. Scale your 3D model up in your slicer to account for shrinkage during sintering.
  2. Debind. Place the green part in a kiln, packed with refractory ballast in a crucible. As the kiln heats up, the plastic binder cleanly burns away. Filamet™ uses a purely thermal debinding process, with no hazardous chemical baths.
  3. Sinter. The kiln continues to the sintering temperature of the metal (for example, about 885°C–1232°C for stainless steel), fusing the metal particles into a metal part. Using our instructions, you can expect around 90–95% density.
  4. Finish. Sand, tumble, brush or polish the sintered part as needed.

What you need

Shrinkage you need to plan for

Because the plastic binder is removed, parts shrink as they densify into solid metal. Expect an isostatic shrink rate of approximately 5–7% for Copper and Bronze, and 10–12% for Stainless Steels.

Materials

The Filamet™ range includes Copper, Bronze, Stainless Steel 316L, Stainless Steel 17-4, Aluminum 6061, Titanium, Inconel® 718, M300 and H13 tool steels, high carbon iron and silver, plus tungsten-based Rapid3DShield radiation shielding filaments. Ceramic and glass Filamet™ filaments are also available. Copper Filamet™ is our easiest material to print and sinter, and a good place to start.

How it compares to other metal 3D printing systems

Traditional metal 3D printing systems cost upwards of $100,000, require proprietary hardware, and rely on multi-stage chemical debinding. Filamet™ lets you use an existing FDM printer and a single-step thermal debinding process, with no chemical solvents.

Is sintered Filamet™ conductive?

In spool form, Filamet™ has a PLA binder and is not conductive. After sintering burns off the binder, the part has the same conductive properties as the metal it is made of.

Next steps