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If i understand this correctly, all i need is the printer and one of you kind fellas can email me an 1803, or a 311-90, or even an H808 file(rendered in something like Autodesk), and this machine will print me an actual horn, to scale, to the last detail.
Planetary Gears On A Printrbot 3D Printer - YouTube
Printing a bicycle with a 3D printer - YouTube
That is the eventual goal. The tech is still in it's infancy (read "not cheap')
Someday they will have a machine to build cars. Plug in what you want, the machine will let you know when it's done. Only trouble is man will be extinct by then.:D
There's a guy who is designing a giant 3D printer that could build a reinforced concrete house. His animation is pretty cool. I will see if I can find it.
Edit; Found it. Go to 4:30 to see the video. I want a couple of 32" concrete sphere subwoofer enclosures.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehnzfGP6sq4
Do it at home.
Affordable Desktop 3D Printer - YouTube
Not necessarily in it's infancy, there was a company in Grand Haven doing 3d prototyping with one at least 15 years ago when I was there. I could see some nice cab designs coming from this too, and yes I think there was a company doing a house and a guy doing and entire building using one. Did you see the article on cnn in the last 2 days? They're working on an ink pen one that can do the same thing. It's a whole new world out there.
A 3-D pen that lets you draw objects in the air – What's Next - CNN.com Blogs
When you consider cars are well over 100 years old, yes, this tech is certainly in it's infancy. And we still have wrecks in cars...
What we need are cars made out of memory steel that after a fender bender, you just through cold, or maybe its hot water, on it and the metal springs back to its origonal shape.
3D prototyping has been around for awhile. I've seen some of it. When I was going to the local community colleage in the early 2000's there was a guy that used it to build his physics project. He worked for an automotive supplier, and had access to it......... made a pretty cool little boat that demonstrated something or other.
No argument about prototyping. It likely competes FOR SOME THINGS there. But until it can produce a durable product at a comparable price to other methods...it's not commercially viable. The thousand dollar el cheapo printer does not do much, I'd get more fun looking for the best deal on what that would get me in old Altecs. And that's all it is for the average user- a fun project.
From what little i gleaned of thermoplastics in my time in the injection molding industry this will require a whole new breed of thermoplastics and/or the "printing" will need to take place in an inert gas environment.Quote:
But until it can produce a durable product at a comparable price to other methods...it's not commercially viable.