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Re:Open-source metal 3D printer by quizme2000 on Friday October 24, 2014 @11:24AM (#8504117)
That's a pretty glaring omission. I imagine the prints look pretty awful, but it a neat idea. In the normal use a wire feed welder the arc (bright sparky part) would be uniform to create a bead. From what I saw in the videos they are using a "bad" welding technique that would build up the instead of penetrate the metal. They will need to replace/control the wire feeder and the voltage of the welder in order to better results.
Re:Open-source metal 3D printer by steveklabnik on Friday October 24, 2014 @11:34AM (#8504155)
There's a few different ways to do 3D printed metal, but this looks different then them.

Prometal, for example, has a process that's very similar to SLA or SLS, but with a stainless steel powder instead of resin. They then infuse it with bronze, using capillary action to do the work. You end up with pretty solid parts.