New Toy

[simso]

Okay, so Ive been waiting many weeks for this thing, when I paid for it, the seller led me to believe they had them here in perth, so the wait has really frustrated the hell out of me, but fedex tracking tells me Im going to take delivery tommorrow. What am I waiting for, that 3d printer..

Sorry could'nt resist saying, tommorrow is play day

Steve

[colburge]

what are you planning on making first?


Col

[simso]

I really really dont know, I have so much in my head I want to do, but clearly they are probably too complicated to start with.

So maybe something really simple like a tool clip to hold a tool on a shelf, pretty basic Im guessing but a starting point. We broke one of the tool holders on the cnc router today, $150 a pop, and there made of plastic, so there a definete in the very near future once I understand how they work

[Chalks]

Hey Steve. Is this the one?
[url]http://store.3dprintingsystems.com/inde ... 02325/[url]

You will create some great jigs and fixtures, tuner knobs and other stuff you haven't thought of yet.

Good luck.

Chalks

[simso]

Similiar

But this one

http://www.mbot3d.com/products/mbot-cube2

For jigs, not much beats a laser cutter, ours broke down about 5 weeks ago and took almost 4 weeks to get fixed, it slowed us down so much, that we are now investing in a second unit, but bigger and larger, will be able to ideally with the newer one make acoustic guitar full body templates and so forth

[simonm]

Hmm...

As a toy I can see it would be fun. For prototyping I can see uses but on the whole I can't really figure out what they are good for. I am assuming that you are limited to just one kind of plastic when you use one of these.

[simso]

Its alive

[nnickusa]

Cool. Is that a pre-programmed thingy, or did you do the design yourself?

[Crafty Fox]

Awesome; science fiction becomes science fact!

[simso]

It really defies logic, I would never 20 years ago believed that it could be possible, but it is now so possible, that the average person can have one at home if they wished.

It took 1hr and a half approx to print that out, and no, we did not design that one but simply took it off the net, its a tool holder for a set of verniers and a few other things that can be clipped onto the edge of something like a bench / window so forth.

My mind is boggling with ideas,

as a side note - check this out all done with one of these machines. Good to see the human spirit prevails, the help done for these kids is really mind blowing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... T3772yhr0o

[Nick]

Hmm...

As a toy I can see it would be fun. For prototyping I can see uses but on the whole I can't really figure out what they are good for. I am assuming that you are limited to just one kind of plastic when you use one of these.

These things are far from toys, the high end models are turning out products that are both accurate and complex, true they would be expensive to use in a production situation but then you wouldn't employ a 3D printer if you were knocking out hundreds of items. That never was their purpose but if you are making a low number of units of anything they can't be beat for cost and if you see what they are capable of in complexity of shapes, I'm not sure even conventional plastic molding could effectively replicate without costs running into the 5 or 6 figure range.
I'm not fully up on 3D printers but I'm sure that there are currently 3 types of different plastics which are available (I know they have a plastic that can be used as a "pattern" for lost investment casting) for different purposes and I think as the technology takes off there will be more.


Nice Job Steve, how do you rate the surface finish of the product on your machine?

[Tod Gilding]

Found Another Use for it Steve

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/2 ... 3d-printer

[simso]

The surface finish is extremely good, not quite the same as injected plastic molding, at a close glance it looks super smooth, but if you look really closely you can see very fine lines where the printer has weaved the plastic into place.

The hardest thing Im finding is getting a good program to draw 3d in, we have a few but when they output the file they are a bit scrappy

[Kim]

Found Another Use for it Steve

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/2 ... 3d-printer

What's the point of that when it's only going to melt eventually and ruin most the best bits.

Cheers

Kim

[DarwinStrings]

If I am every in Perth Steve can I drop by with a few beers and sit and watch your printer make something?

Jim

Are you worried about having to fish the bit of plastic out of your curry Kim

[Nick Payne]

Here's another interesting use in the field of medicine:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-03/3 ... ts/4666886

The penis enlargement industry will be salivating at the possibilities...

[nnickusa]

One other question I have is as to cost. Ie: how much does it cost for the plastic...."ink?" I assume it takes some time, laying on microscopic(?) layers of plastic.....etc.....

Asto the medical aspects, I read a report suggesting that replacement joints, that is the parts that are rubbing together, not the structural components, can be made "to order" using this technology, allowing for more precise joint replacements, etc....

Still cool stuff. In a few years, We'll be able to get the same stuff from the replicator that Kirk and Spock used to.....(sorry, closet sci-fi nerd) don't tell the wife, she has all she can deal with with the guitar obsession...

[Shane Woonton]

I found this a while ago on Ted. Pretty amazing stuff.

http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_ ... idney.html

Shane

[simso]

The cost of making a part seems all most trivial, it came with a 1kg roll of filament, it appears filament costs about $35 a roll, I would guess about 200 of the tool holder I printed out could be done.

One thing with the machine is it allows you to print the inside areas you cant see either in 100 percent plastic or honeycomb of various consistency thicknesses.

Beers are always good Jim.

[simso]

Bottom of the page,

http://www.mirwa.com.au/Our_Facility.html