For technical tips, questions etc. on all subjects except Engines and Boilers.
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farmerden
- Stirring the Pot
- Posts: 447
- Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:14 am
- Boat Name: Steam Queen
- Location: Shawnigan Lake B.C. Canada
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by farmerden » Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:35 am
http://widgets.nbc.com/o/47f1317f105123 ... 7d3bfd6c81
Am I to believe you could plug this into your CNC mill ,open a beer,and watch the part being made?? What happened to trades-people? And if I'm not mistaken they put a man on the moon before CNC machines were invented!We've come along way-I think
Den
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Aheadslow
- Warming the Engine
- Posts: 62
- Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 3:04 pm
- Boat Name: No Boat Yet
- Location: In The Box With Schrodinger's Cat
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by Aheadslow » Sat Nov 27, 2010 9:39 pm
I would think that if you were to use one of these in conjunction with a 3D printer, it would be useful for making patterns for the casting parts also.
Human beings have an inalienable right to invent themselves.
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mcandrew1894
- Full Steam Ahead
- Posts: 193
- Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:12 am
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by mcandrew1894 » Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:18 am
we had one at my last place of employment....the 3D printer...not the scanner which is way cool.
That can definitely be used for actual parts on prototype work...we even painted them!
Patterns were easy as you can dial in the shrink to what ever you want.
About $80K for the printer....I wouldn't know what the scanner would cost.
Dave
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Wearyman
- Warming the Engine
- Posts: 66
- Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:07 am
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by Wearyman » Tue Nov 30, 2010 4:44 pm
I remember seeing one of the early versions of the 3D printers about 10 years ago at a local company I visited on business. Back then the models were really rough and they could only do solid objects. No moving parts. Putting an object into the printer required HOURS of painstaking measurements. I don't honestly remember how they measured the more complex parts. I still have a plastic golfing putter head that they gave me.
Those machines have come a LONG way. Those scanner units are around a thousand bucks, which is an incredibly cheap investment for such a powerful device, and the printers are around 3 grand. Still out of the reach of a home user, but for a machine shop they are a steal. With machines like these the costs of prototyping have dropped to practically zero.
Think of it this way: You can take a set of plans, have a master machinist turn out a single working copy, and then reproduce it quickly and cheaply an infinite number of times. Once you get set up you could sell almost anything that requires machining for as little as 10% over materials cost and still make a killing!
Hmmmm.... Possible business idea?
