3D printing

[Monsterlover]

Rapid prototyping has been around a while, but this takes it further.

Notice something familiar on the table at the beginning?

3D Printer

[the_Journeyman]

Noticed what looked like a Duc head.

JM

[Goat_Herder]

Rapid prototyping sure has come a long ways.  10 years ago in engineering school, we had just learned about it and had a machine in the lab.  There was no scanning.  Everything had to be drawn with a 3D graphic program first.  It was quite time consuming. 

I remember it used some sort of liquid plastic or solution and was harden by laser or light, layer by layer.  Laser hardens the top layer of the solution; the hardened layer drops down, the top is cover by more solution and the next layer is drawn.  So on and so forth.  It would take hours, if not days for a product to be "drawn".

[Speedbag]

Rapid prototyping sure has come a long ways.  10 years ago in engineering school, we had just learned about it and had a machine in the lab.  There was no scanning.  Everything had to be drawn with a 3D graphic program first.  It was quite time consuming.  

I remember it used some sort of liquid plastic or solution and was harden by laser or light, layer by layer.  Laser hardens the top layer of the solution; the hardened layer drops down, the top is cover by more solution and the next layer is drawn.  So on and so forth.  It would take hours, if not days for a product to be "drawn".

+1

We use RP at work every so often for prototype show-and-tell scenarios. Back when I was thinking of producing billet Duc 2V high-port heads I planned on RP'ing a set after the design was complete to flow test.

3D laser scanners can cut out a ton of time if you need to make a quick copy of something existing.

There's even a rig out there that will produce rubbery parts.

Neat stuff.  

[aaronb]

i did FSAE in college and the engine team made an SLS intake manifold.  all one piece with contoured runners and velocity stacks inside the Plenum.  it was pretty slick.  IIRC the material was porous, so it was saturated in some sort of resin and then painted. 

[TiNi]

neato 

[mitt]

I use 3d laser scanners (both mobile and gantry) and 3d printers weekly.  We also use CT scans for getting parts inside parts.  We have had several printer versions over the years, with objet being the most recent.  They definitely have their role in communicating ideas and reverse engineering. 

mitt

[Latinbalar]

What i like about this 3DRP is that i make the moving parts in one shot. Like that 2v head on the table. it came out in one print and actually works.  So if the expoxy can handle the head and pressure just slap on and go.

[Monsterlover]

New race class. . .

all plastic engines

[Hank025]

@ 52 seconds is that a Desmodronic  model?

[Monsterlover]

Yep

[triangleforge]

That's super cool!!! I was blown away just the other day when we brought our daughter in to the dentist & she needed a crown (blown away by the bill, yes, but that's not what I'm talking about). He used a system I'd never seen before that recorded a 3D map of the original tooth, of the remaining portion after most of it was drilled away, and the corresponding "bite" of the tooth above it. He tweaked it a bit to eliminate spots that the program indicated might be too tight or too loose, and sent the file to a little CNC 3D mill that carved out a perfect-fit crown in about a minute. I was like 

[Monsterlover]

^
That is make the beast with two backsing awesome.

[spolic]

That's super cool!!! I was blown away just the other day when we brought our daughter in to the dentist & she needed a crown (blown away by the bill, yes, but that's not what I'm talking about). He used a system I'd never seen before that recorded a 3D map of the original tooth, of the remaining portion after most of it was drilled away, and the corresponding "bite" of the tooth above it. He tweaked it a bit to eliminate spots that the program indicated might be too tight or too loose, and sent the file to a little CNC 3D mill that carved out a perfect-fit crown in about a minute. I was like 

I've got to get a new dentist.

[triangleforge]

I've got to get a new dentist.

My last dentist was definitely lower tech than our daughter's; in addition to the 15 year old dental equipment, including X-ray equipment that pumped out lord knows how much radiation, he was too cheap to hire a receptionist, so kept hopping up through the whole process of my double root canal to answer the phone... But he took whatever my skinflint dental insurance paid and didn't charge me above that, so I can't say I complained a lot.

And the most recent XKCD sees the future:


http://xkcd.com/924/