3-Dimensional Printer! | Gathering Spot

The technology is (apparently) real, but the demo Was Fudged... The two wrenches are of different designs altogether.

Totally believing what I saw in the video, I sent the link to a friend of mine who's picky to the point of being a pain in the ass. His reply was, "Nice try, but no cigar!" He pointed out that on the "original" wrench there are 5 notches for the gear and there are 4 on the "copy." After watching the video again I noticed that the gear's design is different, too. In addition, the "original" has a hole in the handle and no ring on the end, and the copy has no hole but does have a ring. Where'd the hole go and where did the ring come from?

Why did they fudge the demo when the technology is real? Maybe they screwed up the scan on the wrench the guy brought in, or maybe the process takes a long time and they wanted to economize, and so they used a wrench design already in the computer. Too bad.

Well... John, this points up our own lack of critical thinking and looking. I'm surprised and disappointed that I automatically accepted as true something that was just flopped out there for us to gobble up. This wrench thing in itself isn't significant, and I see that there really is this technolog out there, but how much else do we just accept because it's laid out there in a convincing manner -- even in a slick presentation?

I have new respect for my pain-in-the-ass friend and his emprical pickiness. The left brain does have its place!!

This is real technology, I had the privilege/challenge of drafting a fairly complex sort of a hollow cone shaped object with a complex series of tubes running through it to be used to guide wires through at work. No one would even try to make something like this years ago but now this complex stuff can be manufactured fairly easily. (trust me, the 3d drafting was the hardest part of the process!) Apparently there were a few choices of companies to go to and the tolerances are super tight because it's all done by machine. The object came out exactly as I drafted it.

Wendy

Wendy, do you mean that you drafted it on a computer and that there was no solid object to copy from?

Hi Bob,

Yes. I had 2-d plans to go from for the most part. Drafting in 3d can be fun but lots of times the software doesn't do what it should. I'm sure anyone who works much with computers can relate. I get a bigger kick out of drafting for the calibration department, downstairs. I can easily put a bunch of large iron pipes together in minutes. They get all stressed about some of the complex structures they are asked to build. The pipes they use are super heavy - I like to tease them about how easy it is to twirl them around on the computer.

Wendy

This is basically what I do but most of it is much more boring and simple work:

Wendy

Hey Guys,

Yeah I do this stuff as well......the most common 3d printing is stereo lithography....just convert your file to an .stl send it to the printers and you get your model back in a few days...it uses a solution that when hit by a laser goes hard, they build it up layer upon layer....Through rapid prototyping companies i often get samples produced from 3d models...it's pretty amazing stuff!...

L

Jez

Is it just me, or did that wrench go from 4 rings to 5 and back again several times?

Noa, no it isn't just you. See my first post above.

Hi Jez-

What programs do you use for the drafting? I use AutoCad and Key Creator (also Civil3d but not to do that stuff). I wish I knew Solid Works, it seems that's what everyone is going to these days.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

I use Autocad. like 3D Max for rendering..... but the main R&D office all uses Pro Engineering. They have used it for years and I know a few of them complain about it but we would have many licenses and the investment in it we have would pretty much hold us to it. Same with autocad.

Sometimes I need to get a format I can't get out of autocad and then I export it as...? over to ProE and it can create an .igs file which is usually good enough. If we are going past proto types and drawing things up for tooling, it is always done on ProE. I watch them use it and it's cool, it almost automatically adds drafts to everything, can do strength simulations and changes....Lol....there are always changes and they seem pretty easy. Much easier than autocad anyway.

We have a programmer in my office who does freaky things with autocad but as he is fond of telling me "autocad is actually only a 2D package", the 3D it does is like trick 3D lol....not proper solids as such, which is why it really has had it's day. They need to kill it off and build it new from the ground up but what CEO would propose that...Lol...I think in the end it will die off on it's own. I'm not sure what will replace it, software seems to be getting more specialized in some ways. I'm not sure anyone will ever again have the "whole" market in the same way autocad seemed to a decade or so ago.

L

Jez

Hi Jez-

Yes, I agree AutoCad tried to do too much - be every one's drafting program. It went through so many changes and additions in recent years that even long time users (or perhaps especially long time users) have no idea how to use most of it. I guess I'll have to get myself back to school again soon if I decide to keep working in this field.

Wendy

Thanx, John, for this post!

Posts like this come often enough to keep me coming back. I have never been exposed to anything like this stuff. I was astounded as I watched the video, and then even more so when Wendy and Jez talked about having used this technology for years!

I know many people look around amid the greatest technological age in eons and, instead of, like me, seeing the beauty, the splendor, and the wonder of the marvels this age has to offer, they see evil, corruption, and pettiness everywhere. Sure, there have been tyrants since we crawled out of the mud, but why let that blind you to the good things, the good people, the good deeds that are all around us?

There have been countless numbers of eons before me, and there will be countless numbers of eons after me. I am only a step in the chain of history. Some day the sun may blow the earth to smithereens and everything our species has ever achieved will be erased. But this is my time in the sun, perhaps the only chance I will ever have to show the universe what I can do. I waited a long, long time for this moment, and I will not let the naysayers twist my world into something ugly.

So yes, I enjoyed this video very much. I applaud the accomplishments of my brothers and sisters. And I share the dreams and hopes of an exciting future for my children and grandchildren. Some day a machine will exist where they will be able to push a few buttons and out pops a 3D cheeseburger that tastes, smells, and nourishes just like a real cheeseburger, and they will laugh about the fact that in the distant past their ancestors actually had to raise cows and vegetables and kill them to get a cheeseburger.

Of course, there will be those who complain that it is not a REAL cheeseburger.

Oy vey.

and count the "rings", then turn it a quarter,then a half turn,you will see that the count changes,as you are looking at a spiral.The rings have to "end",or taper off somewhere,on one side or the other of the spiral,,,try it !

That's what I was thinking also - I think that is why it appears different at different times. Also - while we have had 3 D autocad etc. for some time - those technologies are used in manufacturing and machining - not what we are seeing here. This is brand new technology - using a powder to create the artifact from a scan. One could of course create something not already in existence using the autocad programs and similar and feed that info into the "printer" to create the object. Pretty amazing. Maybe one day they'll make complex products like cars this way - can you imagine??

Hey Jeff,

Wikipedia has some cool info on this.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_prototyping

As of 2005, conventional rapid prototype machines cost around £25,000.[3]

Prototyping technologiesBase materialsSelective laser sintering (SLS)Thermoplastics, metals powdersDirect Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)Almost any alloy metal Fused deposition modeling (FDM)Thermoplastics, eutectic metals.Stereolithography (SLA)photopolymer Laminated object manufacturing (LOM)Paper Electron beam melting (EBM)Titanium alloys 3D printing (3DP)Various materials

The Audi RSQ was made by Audi with rapid prototyping industrial KUKA robots

In 2006, John Balistreri and others at Bowling Green State University began research into 3D Rapid Prototyping machines, creating printed ceramic art objects. This research has led to the invention of ceramic powders and binder systems that enable clay material to be printed from a computer model and kiln fired for the first time.

.....the technology is here now and because it is such a handy tool for so many I think it will be developed to it's potential pretty quickly.

Jez

Looks like this has been here for a while at least - so I think you're right Jez - this is ripe for the next phase, like real world stuff. If they can get the powder to bind tightly enough to make "real" useable things (even ceramic stuff is useful - but I mean like tools etc) then this will be one of those things that changes everything. Just like computers allowed a single person to create "real" work from their homes - like complete soundtracks for movies etc - this technology will allow individual people to invent something on the computer and "manufacture" it at home in their garage for the initial cost of the equipment and some powder! This is going to be a big deal. We could create our own cars in our garages - with no mechanical experience. Or how about creating your own airplane from a computer program you bought off the internet? Just add an engine.

A smart person would find out who is providing the powder and invest in them!

The object we had made at work was a semi-opaque hard plastic.

I first heard about this technology several years ago - it's been around a while.

Some people have even been talking about creating a huge 3d printer that works on cranes to manufacture houses.

Hey Jeff,

At work yesterday I received an email newsletter from one of the rapid prototype companies I use. It had details of a competition....everyone gets to submit their 3d models and then they print out the best ones and judge them....

I think that is how this technology will work....it won't be so much about designing your own stuff, more about if you want to buy something, why go to the shops, why get it delivered, freight costs etc...what you want is to see something on the net, download the file to your proto type machine and then manufacture it yourself. No waiting, no "moving"...Lol...no pre-ordering things that they can't manufacture fast enough.

The biggest problem with them at this point is the scale...I spoke about it with our CEO once. At the moment you can only do things about 1 foot cubed...STL machine....and they cost around $40,000....if it could do 4 foot cubed, even if it cost 2 or 3 times as much, we would buy one. Primarily we would use it for chair components....I work for a commercial furnture manufacturer....

I guess the "goal" would be to have a print head set up in ?...the roof of your garage, so maybe you get someone to come in and set up a rapid proto type house for you, you wouldn't need a machine that large yourself...you then get an empty house with a 3d printer garage, internet and a supply of raw "powders"...you then shop the internet for all your furniture, bathroom stuff, kitchen stuff..pick what you want, work out if you have the right raw materials, "pay" for and download the files....and then print your stuff, latest designs from anywhere in the world.

If one person makes a model and thousands of people have printers.....they can all have "it" immediately, anywhere in the world....it would be cool but could be the death of maufacturing....

Exciting times!

L

Jez

I'm not sure how I feel about this - any opinions?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rO54gzfite4

In Australia this could cause trouble but really can't anyone get a gun in the US if they want one?...3d printers are cool and should not be blocked by fears....

The young man in Austin with the gun parts has set out to prove a point. He is manufacturing AR 15 lower receivers which are the only part of the weapon that are serialized and fall under established laws. As he found out, there are no laws restricting a private individual from making these things for his private use. To point this out , he has also been awarded a federal firearms license so he can legally sell his. He has made all of his CAD file freely available on the web making any gun control measures moot. I say 'Good for him".