Mears Machine Corporation has ordered a sixth Velo3D Sapphire XC, and this one won't join the rest of its fleet in printing nickel superalloys or aluminum. According to a joint Velo3D press release distributed October 6, the new machine will be dedicated to copper-nickel. Copper-nickel is a corrosion-resistant alloy family with a long history in shipbuilding, seawater cooling systems, condensers and heat exchangers, and the release describes it as an alloy family that has historically been cast. Adding one more large-format laser powder bed fusion system to an existing fleet is routine. Dedicating it to a single, traditionally cast alloy tells you more about where Mears thinks the work is.
The Alloy: 70-30 Copper-Nickel
The material in question is a 70-30 copper-nickel, roughly seven parts copper to three parts nickel. TCT Magazine reports that the alloy keeps consistent mechanical and thermal properties from cryogenic temperatures up to approximately 400 C. The Velo3D release highlights the other property that matters most: copper-nickel resists corrosion in seawater, which is why it has been a mainstay in shipbuilding and marine hardware for so long.
That combination explains the applications both sources name. Seawater cooling loops, condensers and heat exchangers all move corrosive water through parts that also have to handle heat. For decades, as the release puts it, this alloy family has been cast. Mears CEO James Lloyd says some customers are already treating laser powder bed fusion copper-nickel components as interchangeable with traditionally cast hardware for selected applications. He sees an opening for tooling-free replacements of legacy components, particularly where castings are difficult to source, tooling is no longer available, or volumes do not justify traditional foundry investment.
Lloyd also points to design freedom: additive manufacturing, he says, lets engineers develop next-generation heat-transfer and fluid-management hardware, with more integrated geometries and optimized internal flow paths that would be difficult or impossible to manufacture conventionally. Heat exchangers are the obvious example, since their performance depends on how much surface area you can pack into a given volume and how fluid is routed through it. That is exactly the kind of problem powder bed fusion is generally considered good at, though that last point is this article's inference rather than a claim from the release.
Neither source says which specific parts Mears plans to print, who the customers are, or what production volumes look like. What is on the record is the alloy, the application categories, and the decision to give the material a machine of its own.
Why a Dedicated Machine?
Neither source explains why Mears chose a dedicated machine, so what follows is general background rather than reporting. Running one alloy per machine is a common approach in production metal AM. Switching powders on a laser powder bed fusion system generally means a thorough cleanout of the build chamber and powder handling hardware, and cross-contamination is a recognized risk. For alloys going into qualified parts, a stray particle of another material is a quality problem, not a cosmetic one. A dedicated machine also builds up a consistent process history for one material, which can simplify qualification and repeatability.
The Mears fleet already shows a material-by-material spread. Per TCT and the release, its existing Sapphire XC systems support customer programs in Inconel 718, Haynes 282 and CP1 aluminum. The first two are nickel-based superalloys; CP1 is an aluminum alloy. Velo3D CEO Arun Jeldi said in the release that Mears' five systems are already producing parts in nickel superalloys and aluminum, and that Mears is now dedicating a new Sapphire XC to copper-nickel, bringing a material he calls critical to shipyards and offshore industries into production in the United States. The sixth machine extends that lineup into a materials family with a very different set of end users, reaching toward marine and fluid-handling work.
The new system will run Velo3D's Flow print preparation software and its Assure quality reporting software, according to TCT, like the existing machines. Both sources add that standardized process controls and software-driven calibration are designed to keep output consistent from machine to machine.
Print, Then Machine
The detail that may matter most is not the printer. In the release, Lloyd frames the order around a vertically integrated copper-nickel supply chain, in which Mears takes a customer from additive design support through additive manufacturing, machining and final inspection, all within one facility. He says that reduces handoffs, shortens the manufacturing chain and gives customers a single accountable partner from concept through finished hardware. Lloyd adds that Mears' existing medium-to-large format machining capability is well matched to the size and geometry of the components its customers need, a point TCT repeats.
That pairing matters because a metal powder bed part is rarely a finished part when it leaves the build plate. Sealing faces, threaded ports, bores and datum surfaces typically need machining, and large parts need large machine tools with fixturing to match. A buyer who has to send a printed part to one vendor for machining and another for inspection inherits every handoff, every schedule gap and every argument about whose process caused a defect. Lloyd's single-accountable-partner pitch is aimed at that problem, and a printed alternative to a cast and machined component is plausibly easier to approve when one shop owns the whole chain.
Not the Same Story as the Fifth Machine
Mears' first five Sapphire XC systems run nickel superalloys and aluminum, according to the release. This order is different. It does not add capacity to Inconel, Haynes or aluminum work; it adds a new material to the fleet. Lloyd called the move into copper-nickel a strategic decision made after a period of market, product and technical analysis. The fleet now spans high-temperature superalloys, a lightweight aluminum and a marine-grade copper alloy, all on the same large-format platform and, in Mears' words, paired with in-house machining.
What It Means for Makers
Nobody reading this is likely to print 70-30 copper-nickel in a garage. Large-format industrial systems like the Sapphire XC sit far outside hobby budgets. But the order is still worth watching for a few reasons.
First, it is another sign that metal AM is expanding into material families that were long treated as casting-only territory. Each time a contract shop dedicates production hardware to a traditionally cast alloy, the design space for parts in that material may widen, and heat exchangers are the obvious candidate to benefit.
Second, the business logic should be familiar to anyone running a small print service. Mears' pitch is finished, machined, inspected parts from a single facility with one accountable partner, not just machine time. The same lesson applies at every scale: post-processing and verification are frequently where the value is.
Third, the dedicated-machine approach reflects a discipline that also pays off at the desktop level. Makers who keep a nozzle or a printer reserved for abrasive or specialty filaments are applying a similar idea to what a shop would do with a metal powder, on a much smaller scale.
What remains unknown is how much demand Mears has lined up and which parts will be printed first. Those answers will show whether copper-nickel AM becomes a real production category or stays a niche.
