This New Office-Friendly Metal 3D Printer Uses ‘Ink’ Instead of Powder
The Gauss MT90 swaps messy powders for proprietary "metal ink" cartridges starting at $150, bringing desktop metal printing to a potentially more affordable price point.
South Korean company Ohsung System, launched a compact metal 3D printer at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week that aims to bring metal part fabrication to the desktop in an office-friendly machine that relies on paste-based metal extrusion instead of powder. The CES Innovation Award was awarded to the Gauss MT90 and Ohsung System.
The Gauss MT90, part of the recently launched Gauss brand, is designed to serve educational, research, and industrial applications, the company says, featuring materials from stainless steel (316L) and copper to titanium and nickel, with options for custom and alloy materials upon request.
Founded in 1993, Ohsung System, has spent decades designing and delivering automation systems across food, logistics, and industrial manufacturing, and is entering the metal 3D printing market with the MT90.
The MT90 model emphasizes precision (layer height of 0.15 to 0.5 mm) and convenience in a very small machine (build volume of just 85 x 85 x 60 mm), enabling it to fit in workplaces with limited space. MetalPrinting says the machine has reduced printing noise and a carbon HEPA filter to improve air circulation and block dust during use.
Setting it apart from metal filament extrusion on, say, a Markforged FX10, the paste-based ink operates at room temperature without the need for high-heat equipment to melt anything (although the material cartridges fit into a heated barrel on the printer itself). MetalPrinting indicates this may reduce shrinkage during sintering to minimize cracking and deformation in final parts.
Like printing with metal filament, parts are not usable right off the print bed and must be sintered in a furnace after printing. One advantage of the MT90 over metal filament is the range of materials and possible custom options, whereas filament is generally only available in stainless steel.
Contrary to claim to be the first metal-paste-based 3D printer, there is, of course, Rapidia’s Conflux 1, which has been on the market for several years, but these technologies are not identical.
For printing versatility, the MT90 supports customizable nozzle sizes ranging from 0.2 mm to 1.4 mm. The platform also offers what the company says is “user-friendly slicing software”.
The proprietary materials, Gauss Ink, are billed as no-mess and quick-swappable.
Price hasn’t been disclosed, but a material cartridge is sold for $150 each for stainless steel. (We found an Alibaba entry for the Gauss MT90 listing the price as between $25,000 and $50,000, but that should be taken with a grain of salt.)
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