09-15-2011, 08:26 AM | #1 | |
WERA White Plate
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Renton, WA
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DMLS- putting plastic printers to shame
Very cool shit. NASA is using 3D metal printers to make parts for the Ares rocket J2-X engine. The engine is based off of the Saturn V. Turns out, if you have a strong enough laser, you can do a whole lot more than make silly plastic parts- you can zap damn near any metal into ready-to-use shiny metal parts. It's called Direct Metal Laser Sintering.
http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/J2X/po...869180794.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=1CizD2YLTGg
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09-15-2011, 09:17 AM | #2 |
Soul Man
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"Here is the big deal: making it was very cheap and very fast."
I'm guessing that "cheap", in this case, is a rather relative term. JC
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09-15-2011, 10:07 AM | #3 | |
WERA White Plate
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It;s NASA- anything under $10 million is cheap...
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09-15-2011, 02:03 PM | #4 |
Crotch Rocket Curmudgeon
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This will scale, price will drop. Neat technology.
Hey, print me a part. Imagine being able to print new parts for an old bike. ...Old car... Find something old, in need of a resto? Scan it, print new parts.
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Insert free thought here. Last edited by Avatard; 09-15-2011 at 02:05 PM.. |
09-15-2011, 02:18 PM | #5 |
Serious Business
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Location: New York
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This will not scale and will never be made available the general public as a useful affordable product for legal reasons. At most, it will be limited in both use and type of materials that you could use.
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09-15-2011, 02:29 PM | #6 |
Crotch Rocket Curmudgeon
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Here to integrity
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Nope. Someone will refine the process, get a new patent. Make something better, faster, cheaper...technology marches on.
Print me a flywheel, would you?
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09-15-2011, 03:14 PM | #7 |
Custom User Title
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I can see that happening with existing companies who are still making parts but for older vehicles where parts are more difficult to manufacture and/or come by? I'm betting someone finds away around it then.
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09-15-2011, 04:48 PM | #8 |
Elitist
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09-15-2011, 05:04 PM | #9 |
Serious Business
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09-15-2011, 05:25 PM | #10 | |
Soul Man
Join Date: Nov 2008
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Quote:
Problem solved. JC
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