‘1mm David image’ printed by 3D printer

The David statue is one of the most famous works of art created by Renaissance artist Michelangelo. Although the David statue is 5.17m high, it is said that it has succeeded in elaborately printing a small David statue that is only 1mm in height using the latest 3D printer technology.

The image of David, which is only 1mm tall, was printed by Exaddon AG’s precision 3D printer system, CERES. This product is a standalone 3D printer that can print metal in nanometer units. Complex molding can be realized by combining a liquid injection system, electrochemical vapor deposition, and optical feedback.

The company has been developing Ceres’ printing process for the past two years, and the results are said to enable nanometer scale printing. It has succeeded in printing a David image of 1mm in total height. The 1mm David Award was created by Dr. Giorgio Missouri, an engineer in the company’s research and development department. He said that the effort for the printing process has led to a new method of processing 3D computer models and converting them into machine code. An additive micro-manufacturing system that superimposes and outputs data as an open source CAD file directly transferred to a printer on 1mm David. He explained that it is possible to output completely different from the previous ones.

It is not known whether the 1mm size David image printed by Ceres reproduces the entire details in detail, but it can be confirmed that it correctly reproduces not only the shape of the human body, but also muscle irregularities and hair movements. The 1mm David statue has a height of 1mm and a weight of 12 micrograms. The material is copper, and the printing time takes 12 hours. Ceres outputs liquid copper ionized at a rate of 1 femtoliter per second, outputting a David phase with high rigidity at 1 mm. The team also published a paper on nanometer-level metal lamination technology used for printing. Related information can be found here .