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Lt. Governor visits 3-D liquid metal printing company

Posted at 11:39 AM, Feb 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-27 19:09:20-05

A family owned Amherst 3-D printing company is getting a visit from Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul.

A spokesperson for the Lieutenant Governor says she is planning to visit the Vader liquid metal 3-D printing company early Monday afternoon.

Western New York Based Vader Systems is a family affair, started by Zach Vadar and grown with the assistance of his father Scott.

Scott, who worked as a pioneer in the fiberglass 3-D printing world, helped his son develop a new machine that utilizes liquid metal -- specifically aluminum -- to create metal pieces.

According the duo's website, their original product the MK1 printer, uses 1,000 droplets a second that are then cooled to form desired metal shapes.

"You know maybe 10-20 years down the road the technology will get to a point where everybody can own one," Scott Vader tells 7 Eyewitness News.

"For now metal printing is going to manufacturers, we're selling to medium and small, large scale manufacturers."

The Vader System website explains the pair hopes the printer will evolve and later utilize other metals. An upgraded version of the product, the MK2 is expected in late 2018 and slated to run nearly 30 times faster than its predecessor.