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, programmes and calls. Each one now has its own page, with its photographs: click whichever you want to see.
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.
SAMYLABS has developed and integrated an innovative 915 nm laser system into its ALBA 500 metal additive manufacturing platform as part of the 2025 2i Innovation and Advanced Investment Promotion Programme, supported by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. The ALBA 500, the platform the new laser…
Read the article →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
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:…
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…
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
"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
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,…
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
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…
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…
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…
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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:…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
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…
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
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…
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
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:…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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:…
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,…
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…
Materials
SamyPowder is our catalog of metal powders for laser powder bed fusion: 316L, C300, 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…
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…
Trade fairs
From 14 to 17 May 2024 we were at FIMMA + MADERALIA, at Feria Valencia. The ALBA 300 ran throughout the fair in the space led…
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…
Trade fairs
From 18 to 23 September 2023 we took part in EMO Hannover, on the stand of our official distributor ONA EDM, hall 06, stand E52. EMO…
Trade fairs
From 6 to 8 June 2023 we were at ADDIT3D, the international additive manufacturing and 3D printing fair, in hall 3, stand B10. ADDIT3D 2023. Part…
Trade fairs
From 31 May to 3 June 2023 we travelled to Porto for EMAF, one of the most important machinery industry events in Portugal, alongside our industrial…
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…
Compañía
This page lists the public support programmes Samylabs takes part in, with their file numbers and funding. VIVALDI project Samylabs is developing the VIVALDI project, entitled…
Trade fairs
We were at Global Industrie, in Lyon, one of the world's major industrial shows, alongside our industrial and commercial partner ONA Electroerosión. Global Industrie, Lyon. Stand…
Trade fairs
In November 2022 we were at Mediterránea Gastrónoma, in Valencia, with something unusual for our catalogue: cutlery made on an ALBA 300. The pieces shown in…
Trade fairs
From 15 to 18 November 2022 we were at Messe Frankfurt for Formnext, the unmissable meeting point for additive manufacturing. We did not go as exhibitors:…
Trade fairs
On 19 and 20 October 2022 we were at MetalMadrid, Spain's leading event in manufacturing, machining and metal processing. MetalMadrid 2022, hall 6, stand 6G09. We…
Trade fairs
From 12 to 15 October 2022 we were in Milan, at the BIMU fair, alongside our official distributor ONA Electroerosión, with the ALBA 300. BIMU 2022,…
Trade fairs
From 10 to 14 September 2022 we were at the German AMB fair, alongside our official distributor ONA Electroerosión, in hall 7, stand D54. AMB 2022.…
Trade fairs
From 13 to 17 June 2022 we had our appointment with ADDIT3D, the international additive manufacturing and 3D printing fair, held within BIEMH at the BEC.…
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…
Trade fairs
In October 2021 the ALBA 300 was at EMO Milano, on the stand of ONA Electroerosión. EMO Milano 2021. The metal 3D printing machine, among ONA's…
Compañía
CDTI's NEOTEC initiative supports the creation and consolidation of new technology-based companies in Spain. Within that programme, our work was aimed at one thing: turning a…
Trade fairs
From 4 to 6 June 2019 we were at ADDIT3D, stand 5/N-04 at the BEC, to present the ALBA 300: our first fully industrialised machine. ADDIT3D…
Trade fairs
A year after the first prototype we went back to ADDIT3D, in May 2018, with something different: a commercial prototype. A 500 W laser and a…
Awards
In March 2018 we were one of the five winning companies at national level in the open call run by the European accelerator OpenMaker. The pitch.…
Awards
In November 2017 the industrial partner companies of Bind 4.0 chose which startups they wanted to work with. From 385 applications worldwide, 50 were selected, and…
Trade fairs
From 6 to 8 June 2017 we took our first metal 3D printer prototype to ADDIT3D. It was called ALBA 250: a 250 W laser and…