Prototyping of Complex Bracket for Starting Block

Hey Fellow Engineers,

I am working on a part for a starting block for competitive swimming and it is extremely complex. I have had it quoted for stainless steel in CNC, however I just cannot afford to pay over $2,000 for a small prototype. I have heard about this technology from a friend of mine, its called DMLS or Metal Sintering. Has any of you ever used this technology, is it strong like real stainless? Is anyone aware of the costs involved, is it less than CNC? If you have used someone in the past, who was it and were you happy with the outcome along with pricing? I really appreciate the help.

I know that this forum is about the DIY printers, but I thought I would start here since you guys are all veterans in the "additive manufacturing" world. Again, I appreciate it!

Shmitty
Lane 3 Aquatics

... the price for DMLS-parts depends mostly on size/volume and the company you select - small parts are often cheaper than made with CNC, then the time-depending costs rise much faster with size/volume/accuracy.

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Viktor
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Is my assumption correct you want to laser-sinter a starting block for swimmers?

Now, laser-sintering is a great thing, but think about the amount of laser energy required to melt up all this steel. It's very unlikely this is competitive with traditional methods, especially if you want to do more than one block. I'd suggest to go with sand casting, followed by CNC milling if surface is important.

For the prototype: why has it to be made from steel? Make it from wood or polyurethane foam and add some silver paint. Much easier to mill. Polyurethane foam ("Uriol", typically 650 kg/m³) would also be fine for a 1:1 prototype. It's water resist and has reasonable strength.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Thank you very much for the reply, however it is just a bracket that I would like in DMLS and not the whole platform. I did a quote with a company in IL that does DMLS and it was like 1/8 of the CNC cost for qty 1. This bracket will hopefully help me so I do not need to do a lot of welding thus in turn helping with the unit cost to myself and the end customer. Have any of you tried DMLS, if so with whom?

Thank you.

Smitty