How much does a metal 3d printer cost? This is an expected market research when looking to buy anything – you definitely want to know the price, so you can decide on your choice of getting it, and that includes a metal 3D printer.
Just a couple of years back, metal 3D printing was only associated with two sets of people (aerospace manufacturers and medical equipment makers)
But today, technolgy has shifted so much that nearly every sector needs 3D print metal spare parts to keep their production going. These include – manufacturers of automobile, bicycles, aluminum, hospitals – dentistry professionals 3D print bridges, jewelers 3D and more.
There is little to none industry that have no need for metal 3D printing because it’s become more varied and more accessible than ever before.
As a result of this demand, the price of 3d metal printers have skyrocketed and since these metal printers vary in size, types and functions these have also contributed to its increment.
There is no one-answer-all to, “how much does a metal printer cost?’ But this article will give you the base price range for some metal 3D printers available.
Price of Metal 3D printers
Well, as we said they are expensive. Professional metal 3D printers can cost anywhere between $1,500 to $500,000, which is significantly higher than plastic 3D printers.
These prices may exclude other costs like: material expenses, expertise, maintenance, and post-processing equipment which needs to be factored into the overall investment.
Yes, your thoughts are right, it’s a huge disparity in price range because there are tons of ways to 3D print metal parts.
Whether you’re printing with metal filament, metal powder, or metal wire will decide which technologies is most effective to work with.
There are also metal-infused resins, rods, and metal pellets providing material options, producing parts with different attributes as well as targeting various industries and uses.
Some Metal 3D Printer Brands and Prices
Brand: Prusa
Printer: i3 MK3S+ w/enclosure
Aprox. Price: $1,500
Brand: UltiMaker
Printer: Method
Aprox. Price: $4,500
Brand: BCN3D
Printer: Epsilon Series
Aprox. Price $9,100
The above priced metal 3d printers could be said to fall into the least affordable. There are several other brands and types that are sky high expensive and of course offers diversified performances and super strong parts.
Factors to consider when buying a metal 3D printer
Selecting which metal 3D printer to invest in is a matter of identifying your needs and production descriptions.
This will help you settle on information and priorities like detail and shape, size, strength, type of metal, cost, printing speed, and volume. Once you can determine all of the above you can determine the best metal 3D printer for you.
Cost of metal 3D printers
The sky high prices of metal 3d printers make it quite difficult for startups and small to medium-sized businesses to afford.
Even at that, it is important to know the cost of industrial metal printers that best suit your business needs.
Material
What material type do you or your 3d printing company mostly work with, steel, aluminum, stainless steel, copper, tungsten, titanium, cobalt, nickel-based alloys, etc. What kinds of designs do you make? Knowing this will help you in choosing which 3d printer best deliver the services you offer smoothly.
So, why is metal 3D printing so expensive? Apart from the printer and equipment cost, there are many other factors that contribute to the final part price. In the next section, we’ll break them down to help you better understand why your DMLS or SLM printed part costs as much as it does.
Workload
How is your company’s daily to weekly workload and jobs on average? Determining, this will help you know the quality of metal 3D printer you need that can efficiently support your productivity level without overworking its parts.
Factors that affect the cost of 3D printing
Though, we scantly mentioned demand of these technologies affect their prices. There is more to it. Some of which are:
Material Cost
Different printing powders have varying costs. Standard aluminium and stainless steel powder typically cost about $50 – $100 per kg, while specialty metals like nickel super alloy or are even more expensive, ranging within $300 to $600 per kg. This, clearly is bound to affect printing prices.
Print Time
Different cost-per-hour rates are graded for different material types. Also, the hourly rate of a job can be influenced by factors like part complexity in design and delivery, energy consumption and operating costs.
Post-Processing Cost
Post-processing of metal 3D printed parts is no doubt a labour-intensive and time-consuming operation.
Due to the inherent characteristics of metal, removing support structures is usually more challenging than with plastic, as well as achieving a smooth surface finish on metal parts. All of which is reflected in the printing prices.
Post-process CNC machining might be necessary for even tighter tolerances in certain features of DMLS and SLM parts, adding to the overall time and contributing to higher costs.
FAQ
Is metal 3D printing cheaper than CNC machining?
CNC machining is often more practically profitable for manufacturing parts with tight tolerances and solid builds.
On the other hand, metal 3D printing allows does same in the its building complex geometries, lattices, internal features, or hollow metal parts.
In terms of higher volumes, metal printing costs do not yet compete with CNC machining due to inability to scale.
However, metal printing technologies are advancing and automation is progressive, they may be become more competitive with CNC machining.