One of the biggest lessons in developing a desktop LPBF metal printer is that your hardware is only as good as the raw materials you feed it. Lately, I’ve been focusing on improving the surface finish and overall reliability of our prints.
Up until now, our 60W blue laser setup has proven that true laser fusion on a desktop is highly achievable. However, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the surface artifacts on the final parts. Suspecting the powder might be the bottleneck, I recently switched to a new metal powder supplier—and the results speak for themselves.
To test the difference, I printed a technology demonstrator designed to challenge the printer with curves, delicate internal structures, and overhangs.
Here is the breakdown of the results:
-
Left (Old Powder): While we achieved solid fusion, the surface finish is noticeably rough, porous, and inconsistent.
-
Middle (New Powder): This is straight off the build plate with the new powder. The difference is night and day. The melt pool is much cleaner, resulting in a significantly smoother surface, sharper details on the central cone, and cleaner overhanging struts.
-
Right (Tumbled): To see how well the new prints clean up, I tossed the new powder part into a vibratory tumbler for a couple of hours. The result is a highly uniform, smooth, and professional-looking finish that really shows off the geometry of the part.
Why such a big difference? In LPBF, variables like particle size distribution, morphology (how spherical the particles are), and flowability are critical. A better-flowing powder creates a denser, more uniform powder bed for the laser to hit, which drastically reduces spatter and uneven melting.
Seeing this level of quality straight out of a custom Klipper-driven machine is a huge milestone for the Metal-Base project. It proves that with the right materials, affordable metal 3D printing can produce incredibly high-quality parts.
I have now selected https://qualloy.com/ as the advised powder supplier, they share the vision on offering affordable metal 3d printing and their prices are very good for the quality that they offer.
More updates and test prints are on the way. Thanks for following along with the build!