American Standard Brands is a legend in the field of faucet design and engineering. They solidified this legend with their groundbreaking additive manufactured (3D printed) metal faucets.
Why are DXV faucet designs unique?
The additive manufacturing processes provide new ways for people to use faucets. Their faucets consist of a high strength alloy that allows more intricate aerator systems which make the water seem appear magically from nowhere. There are 3 main faucet options.
1) Delicate latticework faucet
2) Traditional appearance with 4 pipes
3) 19 pipe waterfall faucet
Printing the Faucets
ASB uses selective laser sintering for their 3D printed faucets. It uses a computer-guided laser beam to fuse powdered metal with high heat and pressure to build the faucets. When printing with this method the faucets seem to magically rise out of the powdered metal. The entire printing process takes about a day and requires human hands to smooth out the pipe and finalize the faucet. After the printing process and the manual finishing process, the faucets gain the appearance of aged hand polished silver.
Pricing?
While these metal faucets have not hit the market yet, they will likely be available to the public within the next year and will cost anywhere from $12,000 to $20,000. The reason for the price is because while there have been many plastic printed faucets and fused deposition modeled faucets over the years, the DXV faucets are the first ready-for-market working faucets to be printed in metal.