Two things on the same page. Technical tests—how the LPBF process behaves, why parts fail, what materials can withstand what, and what each term the industry uses casually really means—and company news: trade fairs, awards, calls for proposals, and machines leaving the factory.
Written by the person who builds the machines, not by an agency.
Ten years of fairs, programs, and calls for proposals. We don't dedicate a page to each one: they're all here.
What's not good enough for an article we publish on LinkedIn. What is good enough appears here first.
Follow Samylabs on LinkedInThings that aren't news but deserve to be written about: how a material is chosen, how much a part costs, why a particular geometry won't fit in the machine. You can filter by topic.
In additive manufacturing, "artificial intelligence" has become a buzzword. It's advertised at trade shows, featured on magazine covers, and almost never accompanied by the crucial question: What exactly does it do, what data does it use, and what decisions does it make on its own? This…
Read the article →Process
Metal additive manufacturing has been poorly explained for fifteen years, and this is partly our fault, the industry's. We've spent that time defending part-by-part technology against…
Business
When a metal part is too complex to machine from a block, there are three classic methods: casting, powder injection molding and sintering (MIM), or printing…
Process
Inside an LPBF machine, there's a molten metal bath at over 1,500 degrees Celsius moving at meters per second. If oxygen is present, this bath oxidizes…
Design
An LPBF machine doesn't print your CAD model. It prints a mesh of triangles that someone has generated from that model, and then slices it. There's…
Business
There is one objection that comes up in almost every initial conversation and that almost no one says out loud: to request a quote, you have…
Technology
When comparing two LPBF machines, the question arises: one with one laser or one with four? The marketing answer is always "four lasers are four times…
Applications
Dental is, by far, the sector where additive manufacturing in metal is already routine, not a novelty. Medical is progressing more slowly, and for a reason…
Business
"What difference does it make where it's manufactured, if the laser is the same?" It's a reasonable objection and deserves a response that isn't just a…
Product
The conversation about buying a metalworking machine almost always revolves around the price of the equipment. And half of the projects that get delayed aren't delayed…
Business
After price, the most frequently asked question is how long it takes. And the usual answer—"two or three weeks"—is about as helpful as saying a car…
Sustainability
Until now, sustainability in manufacturing has primarily been a selling point. That's changing: it's becoming a documented requirement, and that changes who is affected and when.…
Business
Ordering a metal printed part for the first time presents a problem that ordering a machined part doesn't: you don't yet know what a reasonable order…
Business
The price of the machine is negotiated once. The cost of running it is paid every month for ten years, and that's the number that almost…
Sustainability
When discussing the energy consumption of a metal 3D printer, the laser is almost always the main expense. And the laser is, by far, the smallest…
Process
When a company decides to implement additive manufacturing in metal, it spends months choosing the machine and fifteen minutes deciding who will operate it. And of…
Applications
Aerospace is the sector most frequently mentioned when discussing additive manufacturing in metal, and also the one where adoption is slowest. Both are for the same…
Technology
An LPBF part will warp. This isn't a defect; it's the inevitable consequence of melting metal layer by layer and allowing it to cool unevenly. The…
Business
The first conversation about buying an additive manufacturing machine is almost never about technology. It's about money, and it usually ends with "we'll look at it…
Applications
Automotive is two markets with the same name, and confusing them is the most expensive mistake you can make with additive manufacturing. In mass production, additive…
Applications
If we had to choose just one sector to start with in metal additive manufacturing, it would be this one. And not because of industrial romanticism:…
Process
The regulations governing additive manufacturing are the content that attracts the fewest views but determines the most contracts. As soon as a part enters a regulated…
Design
Topology optimization is the image that illustrates half of the additive manufacturing industry: a part that looks like a bone, full of nerves that no engineer…
Design
Of all the conversations that go awry with a new client, half are the same: a drawing arrives with machining tolerances in all dimensions, and you…
Sustainability
The argument is often told like this: manufacturing a spare part locally instead of bringing it from the other side of the world saves on transportation,…
Business
We manufacture machines. So first things first: this is written by someone who makes money if you buy one. That's precisely why the comparison needs to…
Applications
The energy sector was among the first to seriously adopt additive manufacturing in metal, and for a rather unromantic reason: the parts are expensive, made of…
Process
The machine stops and the part is gone. It is inside a block of powder, welded to a steel platform, full of supports and with enough…
Design
Almost everything that goes wrong with a metal printed part was decided in the CAD software, weeks before the machine was even turned on. And almost…
Design
A lattice is a repeating structure that fills a volume with very little material. It's one of the few things additive manufacturing can do that no…
Business
Ordering a printed metal part for the first time has a challenge that no one warns you about: it's not like ordering a machined part. A…
Design
When people talk about the savings that additive manufacturing brings, they almost always talk about reducing material. And yet, in most successful projects, the money wasn't…
Process
A part manufactured by laser powder bed fusion does not have the same properties in all directions. It is less resistant in the direction in which…
Materials
Three alloys cover the vast majority of laser powder bed fusion projects. They are not interchangeable, nor are they in the same price range, and choosing…
Process
A well-made LPBF part reaches densities exceeding 99.5% of that of solid material. The remaining half percent is porosity, and not all pores are created equal:…
Design
An LPBF machine can manufacture almost any geometry, and that's precisely the problem: being able doesn't mean you should. These five part families print without technical…
Design
Of all the applications of metal 3D printing, conformal cooling in mold inserts is the one that is most frequently cost-effective, and for a reason that…
Sustainability
In a laser powder bed fusion build, the laser melts only a small fraction of all the powder inside the chamber. The rest—the majority—has never melted:…
Sustainability
Let's start with the uncomfortable part, because otherwise, the rest is worthless. Melting metal with a laser, layer by layer, consumes significantly more energy per kilogram…
Business
Metal 3D printing doesn't replace machining, nor does it compete with it in general. It competes part by part, and it wins in five fairly identifiable…
Process
Qualifying a part isn't about getting it right. It's about demonstrating that it will always work well, and being able to show someone the evidence. That…
Materials
Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) can, in practice, produce almost any weldable alloy. And that's the rule that best predicts the outcome: LPBF is spot welding…
Design
Supports are sacrificial structures that are fabricated alongside the part and then removed. They perform three jobs at once: supporting surfaces that hang over loose powder,…
Materials
Metal powder for additive manufacturing is produced by atomizing liquid metal: the alloy is melted and the jet is broken into droplets that solidify in the…
Technology
A metal 3D printer manufactures parts by melting metal powder with a laser, layer by layer, inside a sealed chamber filled with inert gas. There's no…
Process
Monitoring is measuring and recording: the machine takes process data and saves it for later review. Closed-loop control is measuring, comparing to a reference, and acting,…
Process
An LPBF part deforms because each layer contracts as it cools, and the layer beneath it prevents it from doing so. The newly molten material tries…
Business
The machine itself is, at most, a third of the cost. And the other third and a half—heat treatment, cutting, metrology, powder control, qualified personnel—is what…
Business
Almost everyone asks the price per kilogram, and that's the wrong question. In metal 3D printing, the cost of a part depends primarily on how many…
Trade fairs
We will be at Formnext 2026, from November 17th to 20th in Frankfurt, within the ADDIMAT pavilion: Hall 12.0, stand C121. It is the world's largest…
Technology
"Metal 3D printing" is an umbrella term that covers processes that don't compete with each other. They differ in a single variable that affects everything: how…
Business
The way to choose the wrong metal 3D printer is to compare technical specifications. The way to choose well is to start with the part itself…
Process
Calibrating the laser on an LPBF machine isn't a single operation; it involves four distinct checks that can become miscalibrated for different reasons and result in…
Materials
SamyPowder is our catalog of metal powders for laser powder bed fusion: 316L, Fe2709, Ni718, Ti-6Al-4V, AlSi10Mg, CoCr, and, starting this year, GRCop-42. All produced by…
Process
metal powder measuring fifteen to forty-five microns has an enormous exposed surface area relative to its mass. This, which makes it useful for laser melting, is…
Technology
laser is a device that emits light with three properties that ordinary light lacks: it is monochromatic (a single color, a single wavelength), it is coherent…
Business
In recent months, four institutions that don't coordinate with each other have said the same thing in different words: we need to be able to manufacture…
Product
There's a conversation that repeats itself at every trade fair. Someone stands in front of the ALBA, asks the right questions, understands perfectly what it's for,…
Product
For ten years we've been answering the same question over the phone. Someone calls with a part, describes it as best they can, and wants to…
Product
To test a new material on an LPBF machine, the amount of powder covering the part isn't enough: you have to fill the entire vat, even…
Awards
At the ADDIT3D 2024 trade fair, held from June 3 to 7 at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre as part of BIEMH, we received two awards from…
Product
The ALBA 500 increases the laser power to 500 W—200 W more than the ALBA 300—with a build area of 250 x 250 mm and a…
Materials
Powder is the consumable that determines whether an additive manufacturing plant is profitable. Within the CDTI's MISIONS program, we are working on the valorization of ceramic…
Technology
Samylabs was founded at the end of 2016 and is the first Spanish company to have developed entirely all the technology necessary for 3D metal laser…