3D printing with metal welds layer upon layer until a shape is made.

Forget forging, a former Blenheim man at the forefront of 3-D printing thinks his business will change the face of metallic creation as we know it.

Andy Sales heads AML Technologies, a tech start-up in Adelaide, and says just about anything can be crafted with a big enough robot and space.

AML Tech focuses on large-scale metallic printing, a process which uses robotics and computing to "print" metal layers on top of one another to create any shape. The technology has applications in aerospace and defence.

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The process of arc welding steel, nickle, titanium and other metals into shapes could fundamentally change the way parts were made, Sales said.

"3-D printing with metal is sort of disrupting casting and forging technology ... it is additive manufacturing," he said.

SUPPLIED The robot welding machine adds another layer.

"This technology has the opportunity to save immense lead times. It means the product won't take months, but days if not hours."

Sales left Blenheim in 1992 for a career in engineering and welding.

The Marlborough Boys' College alumni started his business three years ago to pursue the emerging field of printing with metal.

SUPPLIED The shape, predetermined by a computer program, begins to take shape.

"Performing welding techniques for 3-D printing is a new and unique field, so this is what drives me, to do something different with welding than what is normally done or expected," he said.

The process was relatively simple, Sales said.

"With a robot and table big enough, you can build something as big as a car."

SUPPLIED AML Technologies, headed by Blenheim man Andy Sales, 'prints' layer upon layer of metal to create a shape.

The Australian Government is behind the idea, awarding the business $500,000 as part of the Entrepreneurs Accelerating Commercialisation grant.

The funding would be spent on progressing the technology to a commercial status, Sales said.

"Being awarded the grant also validates our business plan immensely and provides confidence in the market place and for our small numbers of investors."

For now, the Marlborough man was dedicated to taking his business to the next level.

"[3-D printing is] becoming the new and smart way of manufacturing parts and components that are normally cast, forged and machined." ﻿