3D Printing

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Quality of 3D printing versus injection molding (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Are consumer level 3D printers able to print plastic objects of similar quality to ones produced using injection molding? Or is 3D printing useful mostly for the prototyping stage before a design is finalized and a steel mold is produced for injection molding?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

In industrial use (so not consumers) the main use for 3d printing is indeed rapid prototyping,

Sig Sauer and Walker Defense have both done some very cool things with mass-produced printed metal. Sig is, for instance, making silencers for their Spear rifles (at least the ones chambered in .277 Fury/6.8 x 51mm) that can't be done with traditional subtractive machining. Walker Defense makes a very unusual compensator that also couldn't be made with traditional machining; neither of those could readily be made through molding either. It's not cheap, but they're still mass-produced items. The surface finish isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn good.

These are both currently beyond the capabilities of home printers, since people don't generally have the ovens needed to sinter Inconel parts.