Metals Enter Desktop 3D Printing with The Virtual Foundry's 'Filamet'

MADISON, Wis., March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Filamet, the product now offered by The Virtual Foundry in Madison, Wisconsin, allows anyone with a standard desktop 3D printer to manufacture metallic objects. The initial offerings for customer reserved-orders on Kickstarter, a crowd funding website, include copper, brass, and bronze. A revolutionary change in desktop manufacturing begins with these basic metals.

"In the near future," says a spokesperson for The Virtual Foundry, "additional products in the Filamet line will contain a variety of elements ranging from ceramic and glass, to silver and gold."

Filamet mixes traditional plastics with powdered metallurgy. Filamet has a composition of around 85% pure metal, which The Virtual Foundry project manager, Bradley Woods, says, "Looks, feels and oxidizes almost exactly like pure metal."

Filamet, which enters the market through Kickstarter, could revolutionize desktop 3D printing, further fueling personal and short run manufacturing. "From the first release in the Filamet line of products, we need only minor formula changes to provide products which are electrically conductive or magnetic, which would allow a functioning 3D printed electric motor," continued Mr. Woods.

"We expect the materials side of 3D printing to account for a large portion of near-term product innovation," concluded Mr. Woods. "Our company offers an immediate solution to producing real and useful metallic printed objects." The Virtual Foundry sees 3D printing as a key element in the maker revolution, which is on a trajectory similar to that of home computers in the 1970's.

The Virtual Foundry's -- Mr. Woods, Machinist Glenn Prescott, and Master Goldsmith Bill Howard -- believe that Filamet, will allow customers to do anything from creating art, statuary and jewelry, to printing electric motors and circuit boards. "It [Filamet] allows ideas, development and function to come together very rapidly, in ways only a Medieval alchemist could have hoped," says a company spokesperson. "From here, the curve in 3D printing, goes forward rapidly and indefinitely."

About
The Virtual Foundry, is a technology company in Madison, Wisconsin specializing in developing products for the creation of metallic objects without the use of a foundry or forge.

Links
The Virtual Foundry: http://www.theVirtualFoundry.com
Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/879356311/filamet-the-metallic-printer-filament-for-artists

SOURCE The Virtual Foundry

Related Links

http://www.thevirtualfoundry.com