With some tuning and practice, printing might actually produce a higher quality product than a foundry.

A foundry in a box, all that's needed is a wall receptacle. Will it get to the point where just about anybody with some hobby money, can manufacture anything in their garage?

https://techxplore.com/news/2017-01-liquid-metal-d-revolutionize.html

One might even use an IR flux to align the grain. The future is full of possibilities.

 

The samples shown do have a long long way to go. Interesting concept and good luck to them, should be a good thing for industrial prototypes.

I feel, for a decent product or one that has moving parts, some skill in machining will be required.

Oh I forgot to add, there's something about milling or turning metal that is quite enjoyable. Deciding how to proceed on a job and determining work holding methods is a good exercise for the ole noggin. Same as working with timber, there's just something about it that gives you a sense of having done something.

I guess at the end of the day the real skill comes from knowing which technology to use for what segment of a project.

 

I think these guys are delusional, if those samples are indicative of the quality. 3D printing is already a big deal with folks like GE, Boing, Airbus, the armed forces, and so on. There are a host of reasons why the technology has niche applications and these big players are all over it. Maybe this new technology brings something new to the table, but I'm not seeing it.

 

While 3D printers are here to stay and will only get better, the current hype around them will die down after a while.
How many action figures must consumers download and print before they realize they have no actual need for a 3D printer?
There are going to be a lot of casualties in this business space.

I am constantly prototyping things, very rarely do I use 3D printing, there is almost always a faster, better way to try out an idea.
The parts made by these consumer grade machines suck, they are fragile, inaccurate and take forever.

Even if I had a magic desktop liquid metal squirting machine, I would still need parts made of other materials, or surface finishes and dimensional tolerances that the machine could not produce.

It's great to have a service bureau to send files to, but I don't need some expensive and temperamental machine on my desktop.

<rant_mode=off>

 

They've found a niche in the model building scene, there is some rare prototypes being printed and shared, but in all honesty the surface finish isn't all that great. People have having success with companies like Shapeways, I tried them myself.

One of the projects I have on the back burner is a furnace for melting aluminum...Got plenty I can cast with after giving the Toyota V6 the boot.

Each to his own I guess.