Another rapid prototyping printer

[NilochParticipant @niloch]

I live in the UK but have a subscription to the American Popular Mechanics where in the April issue the Makerbot Replicator is mentioned very briefly.

http://store.makerbot.com/projects.html

If you know you are going to win the lottery next weekend it would be an interesting machine to buy but they need to make their web site rather more user friendly!

Edited By Niloch on 09/03/2012 00:57:21

[NilochParticipant @niloch]

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

I had a real good look at the Makerbot cupcake, and their thing-o-matic, and printers from others.

Neat stuff, but of limited use for my model engineering work. IMHO, the Shapeways site is the best one. (I know some of the people who put it together, and had a hand in the "internal protocols" so I'm not totally unbiased)

Shapeways can print in sintered metal, and other neat materiels. The resolution is much, much better than the Makerbot and reprap machines. I could not believe some of the things I was shown. (I did not ask the price of the things shown, though!)

Shapeways, from my understanding, subcontracts *all* printing to others, so your stuff gets printed on top of the line printers, not something homegrown.

Anyway, in my mind, the way this subject is progressing, 6 months from now the area will be unrecognizable, much like the way CNC was years ago to what the state is today.

Another JohnS.

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