Thread: 3D printed Titanium Horseshoes

3D printer creates light-weight titanium horse shoes - Australia Network News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

an aluminum horseshoe weighs a kilo, I reckon our iron ones don't weigh that?

I read that article earlier.

It doesn't say if they printed a plastic or wax casting master from which they cast the shoes, or if they 3D printed Titanium somehow.

So how did they actually make the finished shoes ?

Rob

The ABC report is typical "Reporter dumbed it down for the masses"

The manufacture is direct printing of the titanium.
From the CSIRO website (CSIRO leads additive manufacturing charge with new titanium facility | CSIRO)

The facility houses the first Arcam additive manufacturing machine, which uses electron beam melting to fuse metal powders into complex shapes layer by layer, in the southern hemisphere. The system creates three-dimensional parts from metals including titanium alloys, nickel and hard steel alloys.

Thanks for that link.

Most interesting.

Rob

Originally Posted by david.elliott

an aluminum horseshoe weighs a kilo, I reckon our iron ones don't weigh that?

Big Horse!

Lighter shoes so less stress on the horse and faster speeds. Guess we will soon see the horse lining up at the scales with the jockey! They will be penalised.

Dean

Originally Posted by david.elliott

an aluminum horseshoe weighs a kilo,....

I don't think so. I have a bucket of em outside and I doubt 4 would weigh a kilo. I will check tomorrow. Picked them up at the dump thinking they might be castable.

I didn't read the link but if they're really printing metals that seems like a breakthrough. Another one for CSIRO?

Edit: Ok I read the article and now I see that david.elliot was quoting, and questioning that figure. Sloppy journalism I guess.

The one I picked at random was around 100g. With steel nails. Near enough to FA to a horse I would have thought.

Originally Posted by Bryan

Near enough to FA to a horse I would have thought.

Don't care what the horse thinks. Its what its owners think

Originally Posted by Bryan

The one I picked at random was around 100g. With steel nails. Near enough to FA to a horse I would have thought.

I don't pretend to know much about horses other than they kick and bite but think about where the the horseshoe is located on the horse.
Then think about the motion the horseshoes undergo.
After all the horse just needs to win by FA plus a bees dick

not everyone really gets the metric system yet?
Maybe the imperial was less confusing for some coz there was no 100s or 1000s to deal with, just random numbers, randomly selected to make weird sizes that you had to remember...

But Bob, the horses are handicapped.
Unless you are suggesting we'd be able to run a few races with lead shoes then switch

Could a little weight saving reduce ingury?(and if so wouldnt that mean the horses with steel shoes whould be dropping like flys?)

Stuart

Fuggem. Horses and boats. Useless and expensive. Orf with their 'eads.

Printing titanium is pretty cool though. Medical applications?

"Arcam additive manufacturing machine, which uses electron beam melting to fuse metal powders into complex shapes layer by layer, in the southern hemisphere. The system creates three-dimensional parts from metals including titanium alloys, nickel and hard steel alloys."
CSIRO leads additive manufacturing charge with new titanium facility | CSIRO

lathes and milling machines will be in the moozium soon, haha, and I still haven't even got a DRO or a
mobile phone

I agree the horseshoe thing is just a gimmick.

Originally Posted by Bryan

Printing titanium is pretty cool though. Medical applications?

One of the coolest medical apps is custom made bone inserts/replacement where bone has disappeared.
So instead of taking a piece of bone from elsewhere in your body (causing more trauma) they print the pieces as a Ti mesh and attach these to existing bone and new bone grows over and thru the mesh.
There are some youtube clips showing what they can print.- lot's of skull parts was what I remember.

The other devices they have had success with are things like complex turbo impellers