Editor's Pick: Calculating the cost of binder jet 3D metal printing

ExOne Company has launched a new online tool for estimating the cost of using high-speed binder jet 3D printing as an alternative to using traditional product methods. 

The ExOne Production Metal Cost Calculator is designed to provide manufacturers with a per-part estimate for binder jet 3D printing a precision metal part so they can quickly compare the technology to other forms of traditional and additive manufacturing. 

The company says certain assumptions are made based on the user’s choice of material, machine, dimensions and volume. The calculator then compares the use of an ExOne Pro Series printer with the cost of building the part using traditional fabrication methods. 

The calculator compares the use of an ExOne Pro Series printer with the cost of building the part using traditional fabrication methods. Image courtesy of ExOne. (Click here for full-size image.)

“As customers compare new binder jetting options in the marketplace, we wanted to provide greater transparency into the affordable costs of binder jetting with ExOne technology,” says John Hartner, ExOne’s CEO. “Our new estimating tool takes a comprehensive range of costs into account, such as initial capital investment, throughput speeds, material, binder, replacement printheads and more.”

ExOne offers four binder jet 3D printers, which the company says compete with similar models from Digital Metal, Desktop Metal, GE and HP. 

ExOne’s production-ready lineup includes:

• X1 25Pro large metal 3D printer, which launched in 2019. It offers a maximum build rate of 3,600 cc/hr;
• X1 160Pro extra-large metal 3D printer, which is in production at ExOne’s German facility and shipping to customers soon. With a maximum print speed of 10,000 cc/hr, the 160Pro is ExOne’s 10th metal printer; and 
• InnoventPro, which comes to market in late 2021 with a 3- or 5-liter build volume and is a faster version of the Innovent+. Final specifications for the InnoventPro will be released closer to production in late 2021.

ExOne says its complete family of Pro series printers are qualified to 3D print more than 20 materials, including 11 single-alloy metals, five composite metals and four ceramics. Printable metals include 17-4PH, 316L, 304L, Cobalt Chrome, Copper, H13 Tool Steel, Inconel 718, Inconel 625, M2 Tool Steel, Titanium and Tungsten Heavy Alloy. 

The ExOne Production Metal Cost Calculator is now live here.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.