3D printed replacement parts

[elkroeger]

The wave of the future - printing all those hard-to-find car parts:

 

Jay Leno replacing car parts with a 3D printer

 

Edit: I see now that this article is a few years old. Well, I guess that's just the way I roll... :-)

[MT Wallet]

I think I saw this on Leno doing prototype work with a scanner. He would scan the old part and take the replica to a machinist. The price of the scanning machine at that time wasn't prohibitive. Unfortunately, I can't see your link due to blocking software here at work. Is he now making the actual part?

[enfoman]

3d printing or what is rapidly changing to the term Additive manufacturing is gaining momentum and is becoming more mainstream. In time I believe it will be a major impact on just how things will be made and sourced from. Perhaps put China out of business? I am not so sure but if this takes off, it WILL be a game changer. Right now, parts are being made by printing with metals and sintering the metal for durability and strength. Just the perfect media to manufacture a small run of obsolete parts for that vintage bike or car.

[szurszewski]

One of my students showed me a keychain he'd had printed at the new Microsoft store here in Portland - it looked like a rocket from an old cartoon and had the Skype logo on it.

 

He said they were demo'ing a 3d printer that ran about $2000. I suppose if you think about the tools you'd need to machine - even from plastic - some of what they can now "print" it's really pretty cheap.

 

I believe this is the machine:

MakerBot

[Stan Walker]

What a neat toy!!!!

 

It would be nice to see specs on the plastic used. Strength, melting temp, etc.

 

Stan

[SuperG]

Bump it up from a toy to a real commercial application.

Was it discovery channel or history channels modern marvels? they were showing how this will revolutionize the future when homes will be built with this technology.

 

We know they can pump concrete via a giant straw to highrise buildings now, just as they pump it when they make a home foundation or a driveway.

Same concept with a robotic arm or crane system on a precise X Y Z axis pumping fast curing concrete or other synthetic material.

 

In the CGI demo the crane system printed the foundation, the base flooring, walls (without any form or support structure) out of concrete, The machine printed voids for electrical and pluming installation, then the arm switched to synthetic material for the roofing. Then they moved the jig and printed an other house right next to it. Possibilities are endless.

[Oldironken]

Additive manufacturing is well on it's way to becoming affordable for the home shop. Not just the hard-core machinist who has a Mill and a Lathe in his garage. It's not a fast process, but it does things that can't be done with conventional metal removal technology. All you will need is an inexpensive CAD system that supports Solids and can import scanned data and a 3D printer.

[enfoman]

And now, something for the little ghouls.......

 

no affiliation with the company, just a nice video on what AM can do.

 

[elkroeger]

Wow, "print" a whole house with shotcrete. Soon we'll be able to print in multiple materials (just like printing in color vs. black and white), so the rebar, plumbing and wiring will be printed right along with the shotcrete.

 

One day we'll all sit around and tell our grandkids how a guy would start with a big block of metal and then cut it down to what he wanted.... They'll be blown away.

 

Maybe I should buy some stock in these companies.

[SuperG]

Here comes the kicker folks.

 

after following and watching a few of these 3D printer links on youtube,

now any website I go to that has the "rolling advertizement windows" features , they all show/advertize a 3d printing equipment.

If i got Washington Post to read an article, BAM... advertizement for makerbot #D print

 

Swing over to LA times BAM an other 3d printing advertizement.

 

[elkroeger]

I sense a bit of frustration with the infomercial superhighway...

 

I made the mistake of helping my wife shop for motorcycle boots last month. I spent a few hours poking around one day. Now every other screen I pull up, I have to look at boots boots boots.

 

Not to hijack my own thread, but is there a way to shut that off?

[John Ranalletta]

Met a retired tool 'n die maker while riding recently. He lamented the rapidly falling numbers of tool 'n die makers who could still produce intricate work like progressive and deep draw dies.

 

He said the advent of multi-spindle machining centers and advanced 3-D printing using durable materials, has led to a "if you can design it, anyone can build it" world.

 

Perhaps overstated, but he said the first two weeks of his apprenticeship to a German t/d maker were spent with a hand file and block of steel. His job was to file until he produced an absolutely square block to exacting specs. Who needs to know how to do that today?

[SuperG]

So true, John.

First week in Tech school in the early 80's, we made a hammer from a chunk of steel.

That hammer in the end looked like it was made by a precision machine. Everything had to be square, parallel, the center wood-handle hole drilled precisely, filed to an oval shape and the edges rounded to a specific radius. The metal finish- grains on the surface had perfect parallel lines. We used chalk powder and a fine metal file by carefully and repeatedly sliding it across the surface by applying just the right pressure. Spent an hour perfecting the finish.

Those skill learned are invaluable.

 

Anybody can grab a cordless hand-drill slap a drill bit in it and go to town. Often the drill bit will be dull after the second hole drilled into metal.

Those that learned how to operate basic hand tools know that you can drill 20-50-100 holes into metal with a single drill bit if you know how. Example: using lubricant, slow speed and steady and correct amount of pressure. Other example is how to use a handsaw (or some call it a hack-saw); there is a correct way and there is the monkey way where it is just jerk back and forth.

 

Yes the "skilled task force" will dwindle, and will be replaced with new graduates that punch in the numbers into a control interface on a million dollar machine.

[lkraus]

I sense a bit of frustration with the infomercial superhighway...

 

I made the mistake of helping my wife shop for motorcycle boots last month. I spent a few hours poking around one day. Now every other screen I pull up, I have to look at boots boots boots.

 

Not to hijack my own thread, but is there a way to shut that off?

 

Clearing your cookies might help.

 

I run the Adblock Plus plugin with Firefox - eliminates most ads. (doesn't mean my searches aren't tracked, just that I do not have to see the targeted ads)

[enfoman]

I sense a bit of frustration with the infomercial superhighway...

 

I made the mistake of helping my wife shop for motorcycle boots last month. I spent a few hours poking around one day. Now every other screen I pull up, I have to look at boots boots boots.

 

Not to hijack my own thread, but is there a way to shut that off?

 

Clearing your cookies might help.

 

I run the Adblock Plus plugin with Firefox - eliminates most ads. (doesn't mean my searches aren't tracked, just that I do not have to see the targeted ads)

 

 

I use Ixquick search engine and do not track from http://www.abine.com/dntdetail.php .....it has cut down on that garbage to almost nothing.

[DiggerJim]

Not to hijack my own thread, but is there a way to shut that off?

If you use Chrome as your browser then get the "IBA Opt-out (by Google) 1.5" extension and then you can turn that off and you'll get generic ads vs ones that keep pounding you senseless to buy more of what you searched for (and maybe already bought) recently.

[g_frey]

Depending on the method of "printing" it ranges from poor strength up to about half strength which is why I add more mass or support to the parts I make.

[KLC]

What worries me about the lack of hand precision engineering skills being taught is that we are becoming too reliant on electronics and computing to manufacture. Whilst this new CNC , plasma etc is fantastic technology perhaps budding engineers should still be taught old fashioned skills as well as embracing new technology . I remember spending hours making simple lock mechanisms and steam engines in our metalwork classes in school.

 

With all the impending natural disasters ie solar flares or high level magnetic radiation events being forecast to be at a peak shortly we may need to relay on good old fashioned hand built techniques for a while?

 

[enfoman]

Wow, "print" a whole house with shotcrete. Soon we'll be able to print in multiple materials (just like printing in color vs. black and white), so the rebar, plumbing and wiring will be printed right along with the shotcrete.

 

One day we'll all sit around and tell our grandkids how a guy would start with a big block of metal and then cut it down to what he wanted.... They'll be blown away.

 

Maybe I should buy some stock in these companies.

 

 

 

It seems the time is at the apex and the moons are lining up for buying in! Check this out for a report I was sent today about Home Depot selling Maker Bot machines!

 

Home depot AM Deal

[Mustang Guy]

CCLEANER is the best tool out there. It will clean up your cookies, and all your surfing data. Whenever somebody complains that their computer is crawling, the first thing I do is download and run Ccleaner. Sometimes that's all it takes.

 

Another thing you should strongly consider is to use Google Chrome as a web browser. Install either the AdBlock or the Disconnect plugins. Viola, no more ads or popups!

 

I sense a bit of frustration with the infomercial superhighway...

 

I made the mistake of helping my wife shop for motorcycle boots last month. I spent a few hours poking around one day. Now every other screen I pull up, I have to look at boots boots boots.

 

Not to hijack my own thread, but is there a way to shut that off?

[EffBee]

I sense a bit of frustration with the infomercial superhighway...

 

I made the mistake of helping my wife shop for motorcycle boots last month. I spent a few hours poking around one day. Now every other screen I pull up, I have to look at boots boots boots.

 

Not to hijack my own thread, but is there a way to shut that off?

 

Yes, go do some browsing on the Victoria's Secret website. Stay there a while.

 

Problem solved.