3D printing seems to have gone quiet. Where are we all at?

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Not entirely convinced it will hit its target of $100 / £60 somehow. Making a pitch and taking deposits is one thing, actually converting that dosh into a product is another. Even 8 bottles of resin might be a good result for the outlay, if such resin actually exists.

I'd love to know how this magic resin manages to stay good in the bottle but somehow solidifies when it sees light from the phone's display. The best I could think of would be some form of photoluminescent coating that converted visible light to UV. But even so, after each layer the model would need to be peeled off to allow fresh resin in. Something doesn't quite add up and that's not just the price….

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

It's certainly a neat idea. I have my doubts about the polarising part but light is a strange stuff and screens already have a polariser in them. Polymers could be strange as well. Maybe really it's an array of micro lenses. That could cause pixel light to go straight up.

Think I will wait for the iPad version or better still the small PC screen version, Thinking of the cost of small screens costs should be low.

Seems my 3D printer extruder will be delivered today. Maybe I should send it back. Some bits have had to come from far away so a couple of weeks before I can even start.

John

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[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Better explanation of the process on their Kickstarter page. Works rather like the Form 2 SLA printer I linked to a week ago. Painfully slow, mind. Not clear how it manages to harden under the light from the display but not due to daylight??

Murray

Edited By Muzzer on 09/04/2016 13:28:19

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

I think 3D printing is way beyond rapid prototyping now. BAESYSTEMS has printed low 1000's of aircraft parts on a production basis (Article in the FT last week, can't find the link). Production parts in Inconel and Titaniums are also being produced and 'flown'.

Steve

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

I think they use ion beams in a vacuum Steve for that sort of thing. It will be a pretty high vacuum too. Rather expensive gear.

The plastic filament printers are too – just needs a lot of them. The more the merrier if lots of something or the other are needed.

John

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[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

UV resins, also:

"The bottles in the video are transparent only for illustration purposes, to show the variety of colors they are available in. The actual resin will come in black bottles. Store resins in a cool, dry place."

[Russ BParticipant @russb]

So, apparently, the sky is no longer a limiting factor!

I'm sure many of you have seen this before, but here goes anyway.

**LINK**

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160120006401/en

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

Has anybody read this guy's comments (3D printing is over rated) from 2013 and are they still relevant today ? The situation may have improved considerably in the last three years.

**LINK**

Edited By Brian John on 15/04/2016 08:08:56

Edited By Brian John on 15/04/2016 11:33:02

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Brian,

Thanks for that link … an excellent 'reality check'

I do, however, find this [of similar vintage] more inspirational.

MichaelG.

.

Edit: … and in late 2015, this snake

Edit: … here is the text, and video [no need to be registered on JoVE]

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 15/04/2016 08:51:23

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Some full size 3d printing **LINK**

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Not production exactly but useful for production intent castings.

[EnnechParticipant @ennech]

Forget it. It's horrifically expensive. It's best use is for cores that would be difficult to produce in the conventional way

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Stupid question maybe – could PVA filament be used to create 'lost wax' models for casting, dissolving the majority of the PVA out of the mould with water, before burning out any remaining residue?

Steve

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Yes.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

For high volume castings like production engines, I assume they have a mould for moulding the cores. So by definition they would be "conventional" cores. However, to make a few prototype samples in that conventional fashion would be prohibitive. On the other hand, these 3D examples would be relatively quick and easy – and cheap.

As ever, it's a question of choosing the right tool for the job rather than deciding it's either good or it isn't.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by Steve Withnell on 29/04/2016 17:32:29:

Stupid question maybe – could PVA filament be used to create 'lost wax' models for casting, dissolving the majority of the PVA out of the mould with water, before burning out any remaining residue?

Have to be careful not to confuse PVA (polyvinyl acetate) with PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) . Both thermoplastic but only one is water soluble.

Russell.

[HomeUseParticipant @homeuse]

If you wish to wash out (Water Soluble Plastics) from the mould then it will need the mould to be made from a material that is stable in water and also in high temperatures – Normally for us model engineers the moulds would be smaller and made from a material such as “Investment Plaster” (A gypsum with additives) or a build up of ceramic slurries (China clay with additives) nether of which are really suitable for washing out (The china clay would be ok after firing but by then the wax would be burnt out)

Myself I use PLA filament in the printer and invest in “Plaster” then burn out in the furnace at the same tine as melting the metal (Usually Aluminium but also Brass/Bronze)

Water soluble filament is used in printing support structures and then dissolved out of the main strucure

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Sorry misread -yes PLA is suitable for 'lost plastic' casting.

Neil

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Thanks – I'm looking for an excuse to buy one of these printers and using them for mould making, investment casting or otherwise sounds like it might be the right excuse!

Steve

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Here is an update to the thread. It's not only interesting but it's also from the land of the kangaroo.

**LINK**

So one day, one might print a complete steam engine? Or would this make a lathe and mill obsolete but one could use this technology to print a perfect 'Super Adept'?

(Sorry about the double negative)

* Danny M *

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I believe RR have been using laser fusion sintering to make trial engine parts for some time. I suspect that the technique isn't quite up to producing single-crystal turbine blades just yet; and anyway would be horriby slow. Like a lot of breathless publicity about 3D printing this seems to forget that production is about volume and speed, and building components point by point / layer by layer is slow. Great for proof of concept though.

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Like she said on the video, simple or complex, 3d printing doesn't care. Still takes the same time to produce, so for more complex components this is a good thing because it's probably going to be a reduction in time, but for simpler components it will be a silly to wait hours for each one in a production environment.

People have said before that they could find ways to make 3D printing quicker, yet each material will have a minimum time to set and it will not be able to set faster than that time, without some major implications for the integrity. This physical property would take effect regardless of whether or not they can reduce times. No matter how fast they can move a robotic arm, it can't go faster than it takes each tiny layer to set otherwise the object could deform. 

A more realistic proposal might be using a 3D printer with multiple heads, that could break up the work load between them automatically and work syncronously together. I'd imagine advanced software today could achieve that.   

I'd imagine one day they might be able to rule out the lathe and mill altogether with a different technology but at what cost i don't know. They are more concepts than they are machines so i'm confident they will always serve some kind of purpose if not for cutting metal, but i'd take it for granted that near to no effort and quick manufacturing will become the everyday, i'd imagine that lathes and mills would be reduced to museum and educational pieces.

It's hard to picture a world where people will design physical objects but will have no physical interaction or experience in this study? It's baffling to think that physical skills themselves would be reduced to quaint curiosities but yet where does that leave them when it comes to understanding? For this reason it's difficult to justify removing them and the interest in them altogether.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 08/11/2016 10:15:19

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

If a method of printing Turbine blades is implemented it wont be one blade at a time, but a number of printers each producing a number of blades, the machines are automatic, work 24 hour shifts, and just need someone to keep up supplies of materials, once production has started speed should not be a problem.

The lathe will be around for a year or two yet, it's been around for a few thousand years in one form or another.

Ian S C

[Peter Edwards 6Participant @peteredwards6]

There couldn't be a more unsuitable way of producing a part than by 3D printing. There is a very long way to go before they can be used for serious purposes except in a few very specialised cases. You may have noticed they are no longer being talked about in the media. Perhaps sometime in the future………..!

[Author]

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