3D plastic fabrication technology in every home?

[riffer]

This could be a game-changer, and the people involved are releasing it open-source.

Keep an eye on this folks. It could just change the world.

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[nighthawk]

Pretty cool idea lets hope it catches on, the possibilities are endless:2thumbsup

[The Pastor]

I reckon this will be able to make casting molds too, so you'd be able to then cast some metal parts....

[Big Dave]

Well there's my shares in plastic coat hooks screwed.

[gatch]

My old flatmate started up a business which is heavily involved in CAD modelling and rapid prototyping of surgical implants, like for facial reconstructions and other complicated operations.

Some of the examples he showed me were fantastic, he brought home a plastic 6" crescent where the sliding jaw and screw were operational, also a bearing about the same size as a standard 6204, the rolling elements turned and everything. I found that fuckin amazing.

[Brian d marge]

have been watching it for a long time am in the middle of it now

try seven hundred dollars for a brake lever

Chch company

or fifty us dollars for a 30 cm bolt and thats cheap !!!

Repe rap is ok if the accuracy isn't important


otherwise ,,,dollars must be paid


3d scanners are cheap though

I can draw / produce pretty much anything you can dream off ( yes even that ) but its the cost

Something such as a piston in a suspension unit can be printed quite cheaply in abs and even stainless steel good enough and cheap enough for testing depending on the results ...ie some plastics are hard enough but wont last long , but cheap and enough for testing a set-up

what I really want is access to a cheap 3d laser printer .......


Stephen

[SixPackBack]

We run a Stratasys Vantage http://www.pcstats.com/releaseview.cfm?releaseID=1385#flash_set2 . The machine utilises a Polycarbonate/Styrene mix to build parts, and in order to create complex parts a support plastic is laid down as the part is built, once the build is finished a solid block of material is created that contains both the 'build' material and 'support'. Further processing in an ultrasonic bath containing a borax solution removes the 'support', leaving the part.

[James Deuce]

It will be all good until "The Planet is Doomed" brigade ban plastics of any kind.

Carbon Fibre is probably on a few lists at the moment too.

[Ocean1]

My old flatmate started up a business which is heavily involved in CAD modelling and rapid prototyping of surgical implants, like for facial reconstructions and other complicated operations.

Yes. There's now equipment available that can RP in surgical titanium, if you've got about NZ$1.3M. They can import MRI data to one of several CAD app's, plan surgery, model prosthetic implants and tooling and get the parts made, all before the surgery. They can also use a digitising arm at surgery, so the model can be integrated with real-world blood and bone to within 0.004mm.

The wad of development capital the IP principals stumped up with for that Ti RP development almost a decade ago was almost biblically huge, good to see it's finally making a fundimaental change in SOPs in several different fields.

[Brian d marge]

I use linux :whistle:

my budget for this year ,,,is two thirds of not very much

but I can still dream

Stephen