You Have Got To See This
#1
Thread Starter
#2
RE: You Have Got To See This
I'm with you on this. Too bad we don't live a little closer and we could go in on one, possibly two.
~ Jeff
~ Jeff
#4
RE: You Have Got To See This
That chap has got to be the most annoying person I have seen in a while, to gag him one would have to tie his hands up.
Rapid 3D prototype machines have been around for a while once very expensive now the price is coming down, toe main thing for success is making a 3D drawing of the part you want once you have done that the printing part is easy, in the not too distant future aftermarket parts or copies of the original will be very easy to make
Rapid 3D prototype machines have been around for a while once very expensive now the price is coming down, toe main thing for success is making a 3D drawing of the part you want once you have done that the printing part is easy, in the not too distant future aftermarket parts or copies of the original will be very easy to make
#5
RE: You Have Got To See This
I think the possibility of up-scaling parts would be a hobbyists dream.
~ Jeff
~ Jeff
#7
RE: You Have Got To See This
I have watched a bigger version of this machine making parts. It's about the size of a fridge. It's amazing to see the parts being made layer by layer.
It was at a factory that made lighting fixtures. The artist would sketch a new lamp design, then the draftsman would do the design in AutoCAD. Then the 3D printer using the AutoCAD, would make a full scale part for them to look at. It took about 2 hours to make a lamp part from a drawing. After that they could tweek the design and redo it. Amazing to watch.
It was at a factory that made lighting fixtures. The artist would sketch a new lamp design, then the draftsman would do the design in AutoCAD. Then the 3D printer using the AutoCAD, would make a full scale part for them to look at. It took about 2 hours to make a lamp part from a drawing. After that they could tweek the design and redo it. Amazing to watch.
#8
RE: You Have Got To See This
ORIGINAL: mustclime
Couple it with a 3d scanner and some 3d softwear and you are making tank parts.
Couple it with a 3d scanner and some 3d softwear and you are making tank parts.
Tank parts are being made and sold today, using a system similar to this.
~ Jeff
#9
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RE: You Have Got To See This
I see where you guys are going with this. I hate to burst your bubble, but affordable (relatively) home 3D printing isn't here yet. Lemme 'splain. To get the kind of parts we're looking for, we'd need a machine that printed nice, even, smooth layers that it would then build up to make our part. Unfortunately, the Makerbot series of 3D printers don't print plastic, so much as they extrude it. Each layer is built up of thin strings or rods of plastic layed on the last layer. The rods are small, maybe 1/32 of an inch or so accross, but for our purposes that's a pretty large surface texture. The fine detail really isn't there either. As cool as it seems, it'd actually be easier to make parts conventionally than to print, fill, square up, add detail, etc...Which is dissapointing.
HOWEVER...take a look at home CNC milling machines! It's a subtractive process instead of an additive one, but it can produce TINYparts with decent to great surface detail. Some people are building them from scratch, some are taking Microlux hobby milling machines and adding CNC capability, but guys are making CRAZY stuff! Google for "John Bear Ross" and look at his web page. He's a game designer for wargames and makes futuristic tanks in something close to HO scale.
Another cheap(er) alternative is getting yourself some3D software (doens't have to be Autocad), building your parts and then sending them to a proiduction house like Shapeways and the like. The moral of the story is, if you WANTto do 3D parts, you can! You just have to leard the software. That's what I'm in school for now
Andrew
HOWEVER...take a look at home CNC milling machines! It's a subtractive process instead of an additive one, but it can produce TINYparts with decent to great surface detail. Some people are building them from scratch, some are taking Microlux hobby milling machines and adding CNC capability, but guys are making CRAZY stuff! Google for "John Bear Ross" and look at his web page. He's a game designer for wargames and makes futuristic tanks in something close to HO scale.
Another cheap(er) alternative is getting yourself some3D software (doens't have to be Autocad), building your parts and then sending them to a proiduction house like Shapeways and the like. The moral of the story is, if you WANTto do 3D parts, you can! You just have to leard the software. That's what I'm in school for now
Andrew
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RE: You Have Got To See This
i saw kind of this also in genk, its amezing to see it work ... the downsite is you have to have knowledge of autocad, 3d software for drawing etc it is not easy to master if you want it perfect ... maybe the future give us the tools we need to do so
#11
RE: You Have Got To See This
The industrial machines like this out there, like the one I watched work, are expensive and will not make very many parts per day. They are not built for mass production, rather they are so a prototype can be made to show the mold makers what to build for mass production.
AutoCAD is not hard to master if you have any drafting background. Even 3D design is no problem. I have AutoCAD and do 3D design with it for everything from whole houses to small small machine parts. Those Brass Axles I made and gave away last year were designed on my AutoCAD. The downside with AutoCAD is the expense of the software, it can run thousands of $$$ just ot get the basic program, then there is all the updates. My version is old because I could not afford to keep updating. Still it works just fine for me.
AutoCAD is not hard to master if you have any drafting background. Even 3D design is no problem. I have AutoCAD and do 3D design with it for everything from whole houses to small small machine parts. Those Brass Axles I made and gave away last year were designed on my AutoCAD. The downside with AutoCAD is the expense of the software, it can run thousands of $$$ just ot get the basic program, then there is all the updates. My version is old because I could not afford to keep updating. Still it works just fine for me.
#14
RE: You Have Got To See This
Yes for about 500€ each, I wondered how long it would be before people ran off with mad ideas, the Muzzle break on my 1/6 Tiger for instance was part of a batch of 20 units these cost 90€ each or a production run of 1800€ the chap who made them didn’t make a lot of profit if any and no longer makes parts so the question is would you pay more than 50€ for a 1/16 muzzle break, the software design and 3D mapping costs the same regardless of size, no time soon will you be able to build cheap parts or tanks
#15
Thread Starter
RE: You Have Got To See This
All very true points. The simple design I had for wheel spacers for the HE tanks cost more to set up on the computor and machine than it did for material and actuall machining. I also understand the process of the extruder and how these machines work. Precise parts fast and cheap are still not quite in reach but I was thinking on the lines of buks for vacume forming parts and the sort. certainly alot easier than building forms or buks from wood.
#16
RE: You Have Got To See This
I like this a lot.
Earlier in my career I did a lot of 3D rapid proto'ing and it has come a long way in the last 10 yrs. Technology improves. Not just the hardware but the software as well. CAD used to be dedicated to UNIX servers with limited graphics with drawings made by entering coordinates manually. Now any laptop can run the software and it's so much easier to use. Even Google sketchup is free and can create the 3D models to send directly to this machine.
Typically one doesn't use a machine like this for production runs. You make one part, detail it and smooth out the rough edges than make a casting mold to make a bunch of urethane copies.
They are heading in the right direction. Prototyping will only get cheaper and easier from here on out.
Perry
Earlier in my career I did a lot of 3D rapid proto'ing and it has come a long way in the last 10 yrs. Technology improves. Not just the hardware but the software as well. CAD used to be dedicated to UNIX servers with limited graphics with drawings made by entering coordinates manually. Now any laptop can run the software and it's so much easier to use. Even Google sketchup is free and can create the 3D models to send directly to this machine.
Typically one doesn't use a machine like this for production runs. You make one part, detail it and smooth out the rough edges than make a casting mold to make a bunch of urethane copies.
They are heading in the right direction. Prototyping will only get cheaper and easier from here on out.
Perry