incredible new filament?

So I was looking around and came across a filament that can be essentially made as strong as an injection molded metal part. After you print it, you have to have the plastic taken out and the metal melted in a furnace, but it seems incredible. What do you think? [sinterhardfilaments.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2015 10:31AM by fatesalign.

... this 'metal-filled' filaments receives a big amount of shrinkage when fired, so not really suited for exact dimensions - but really usefull for jewelry or applications without need of accuracy ...

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VDX
... this 'metal-filled' filaments receives a big amount of shrinkage when fired, so not really suited for exact dimensions - but really usefull for jewelry or applications without need of accuracy ...

I'll bet it would do that. It might be possible to learn by how much and make it bigger based on past experience. Won't be exact but pretty close.

It's possible to wick molten metal into the "foam" part that comes out, strengthening it and maybe reducing shrinkage. Just saying.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2015 04:07PM by epicepee.

I hope it succeeds because I can see an immediate application here.

But I wonder about the credibility when they say

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the plastic can be removed by solvent [water for PLA

because PLA isn't water-soluble.

I think also their diagram showing pores is a bit optimistic... I think there will be a significant amount of thermoplastic in the filament, so the pores will be very large.

OTOH, if the filament is mostly metal, then I expect there will be a lot of thermal conductivity, which will make it very difficult to print.

So, significant problems to overcome before this becomes reality.

It might be more plausible to just make a mold -- print a part, pack it in sand, heat the sand till the part melts or burns, fill it with molten metal.