Recently, a metal 3D printer made headlines online by being called "a $2 metal printer." When I first came across this topic, I thought it was definitely sensational. I usually spend around $200 on foreign items, and the most I can get is from Dollar Shops—stores that sell small items for $1 to $2. Could I really buy a 3D metal printer at home for just $2? That seemed too good to be true.
From what I know, industrial metal 3D printers are already quite mature. They typically use metal powder combined with a high-energy laser to melt and solidify the material. However, these SLM (Selective Laser Melting) printers require powerful laser systems, and their internal structures are complex. Most of the mainstream products come from big companies in the US and Germany, and they’re definitely not cheap. There are also some low-end alternatives, like a technique my friend from the US mentioned during his visit to SZDIY. It involved welding and melting metal at high temperatures, but the results looked rough, so it wasn’t impressive.
When I think of electroplating, I usually associate it with surface finishing—making something dull look shiny and valuable. But after reading this article, I was still surprised. This guy from Argentina had a pretty creative idea. He used electroplating as a forming method. He filled an ink pen with electrolyte, placed an anode inside, and used a printed metal panel as the cathode. Then he connected it to a CNC-like device, and when the pen touched the metal plate, an electrochemical reaction occurred. Metal ions from the electrolyte were deposited onto the plate. The video he shared showed a pen holding an electrolyte solution that plated metal onto a rotating disk below.
The video looked a bit rough, and the rotating disk gave me an uneasy feeling. I could imagine several issues with the prototype. First, using such a large panel as a cathode would create high resistance, leading to significant power loss. Second, and more importantly, electroplating is inherently slow. In industry, only a few tens of microns of metal can be plated per minute. This printer’s speed is likely even slower than standard plastic 3D printers. Overall, it’s still far from practical.
However, there are a few positive aspects to this approach. First, in theory, electroplating could achieve higher precision. If you control the contact points between the electrolyte and the cathode, the printing accuracy might match current industrial standards. Second, if you only need a power supply and an electrolyte, the cost is much lower than commercial metal 3D printers. Plus, it's safer compared to welding-based methods. Third, various types of electrolytes can be used to print different metals—like stainless steel, copper, gold, silver, nickel, and even plastics such as PP or PVC. The materials are relatively affordable.
I spent a lot of time thinking about how to increase the printing speed of this prototype, but I couldn't find a clear solution. The main issue is that the design only has one electrolyte outlet, and the accuracy depends on that single nozzle. So, there's a trade-off between speed and precision. Using multiple electrodes would make the system more complex, but it's not impossible. Also, the pen in the prototype can only move vertically. If we could control the liquid flow direction, the pen tip could deposit electrolyte from different angles—an improvement worth exploring.
Finally, the “$2†price tag probably refers to the pen itself. If someone actually believes that a $2 pen can act as a 3D metal printer, I’d love to order a thousand of them from them.
(Word count: 527)Jiangmen Vanky Stainless Steel Products Co., Ltd. , https://www.vankystar.com