Metal printing

There are many reasons why printing watch parts is a very long ways away...been having this discussion on forums for years, as people think it's just around the corner.

Being able to print a finished part that can be used right out of the printer with minimal post processing, is still decades away I suspect. Most wear parts are not monometallic - they are assemblies made of different materials that have different properties. So even if you could overcome the challenges of getting the right alloy produced, the right hardness, the right geometry, and critically the right surface finish, you still have to make two parts and assemble them together to make some as simple as a train wheel.

Large machines provide the stability and rigidity needed to make accurate small parts...