3-d Printed Car - Foxnews 11/17 - Text & Video

[Kuda]

Snipped: Fourth beer, time to quit posting! (somebody find me a "toasting" emoticon, please!)

 

[BilgeRat]

Burt is an original thinker (a hero of mine as well), and the supply of those is pretty damn small. I suspect that Paul Elio is a member of that small club, too...

 

[pistonboy]

OK, not a 3-wheeler, and with an electric engine - but another vehicle innovator:

Local Motors

This might be a benefit for owners of rare or old cars where parts are difficult to find. Instead of waiting until there is enough demand for a company to do a production run of a few thousand parts, a 3D printer could make one at a time on demand. A copy of the original part would be 3D scanned into memory, saved, and used to print a replacement part immediately on demand. This could be done for many parts for many cars and an entire library exist.

 

[NSTG8R]

This might be a benefit for owners of rare or old cars where parts are difficult to find. Instead of waiting until there is enough demand for a company to do a production run of a few thousand parts, a 3D printer could make one at a time on demand. A copy of the original part would be 3D scanned into memory, saved, and used to print a replacement part immediately on demand. This could be done for many parts for many cars and an entire library exist.

Even in metal. I had a position lined up at Phantom Works (department lost their funding, darn it!), and they had a unit called an Arcam. It was essentially a 3D printer that made precision metal parts (titanium when I was over there, but other alloys could be used). Can't remember the exact tolerances it held, but you could actually put threads in the holes (CAD model), and put the part into use as soon as cooled off. They said the parts it made were stronger than cast, and just slightly less than forged parts....VERY cool!

 

[pistonboy]

Even in metal. I had a position lined up at Phantom Works (department lost their funding, darn it!), and they had a unit called an Arcam. It was essentially a 3D printer that made precision metal parts (titanium when I was over there, but other alloys could be used). Can't remember the exact tolerances it held, but you could actually put threads in the holes (CAD model), and put the part into use as soon as cooled off. They said the parts it made were stronger than cast, and just slightly less than forged parts....VERY cool!

This is what I was thinking of.

Thanks.

 

[BilgeRat]

Even in metal. I had a position lined up at Phantom Works (department lost their funding, darn it!), and they had a unit called an Arcam. It was essentially a 3D printer that made precision metal parts (titanium when I was over there, but other alloys could be used). Can't remember the exact tolerances it held, but you could actually put threads in the holes (CAD model), and put the part into use as soon as cooled off. They said the parts it made were stronger than cast, and just slightly less than forged parts....VERY cool!

I can see 3D printing making machine tools into museum pieces... Not sure how I feel about that.

 

[NSTG8R]

This is what I was thinking of.

Thanks.

The A2X is the model they had up there (the black one). The big thing now is SLS (Selective Laser Sintering). All the FO (Foreign Ob ject) covers we've been getting for our section of the F-15 assembly fit like a glove, and have a 300lb weight rating...It's the future of manufacturing for sure!

http://www.arcam.com/technology/products/

 

[NSTG8R]

I can see 3D printing making machine tools into museum pieces... Not sure how I feel about that.

Luckily, most machinist schools nowadays teach CAD/CAM. The operator isn't obsolete yet...at least for now.

 

[BilgeRat]

When I started working on EMD engines, the rocker shaft supports were machined cast steel. For years now, the supports and their caps have been made from pressed and sintered metal. Heck, by now, they may well be 3D printed, and if they're not, they probably will be soon.