Re: [Phys-l] 3-d printer

[Ken Caviness <caviness@southern.edu>]

A mixed bag of comments relating to this thread:

1.  Please don't confuse the current engineering capability with sci-fi.

2.  And although it is true that such machines are not new, it is also true that they have recently greatly improved and become practical from a financial standpoint -- leading to greater accessibility and to increased public awareness.  I first read about 3-d printers a few years ago in a PopSci article, and had the chance to examine one first hand a couple years ago when visiting the engineering department of a sister university.

3.  Yes, 3-d printers can construct interlocking gear mechanisms.  I've held one such device in my own hands:  it came off the printer with interlocking pinion gears in place and functional.  I was impressed!

4.  The printed devices do not generally have the strength needed for actual use.  The main current application is for prototyping, not for manufacturing items for sale.

5.  I have read, however, of plastic furniture being printed for actual use.

All the best,

Ken Caviness
Physics @ Southern Adventist University

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of LaMontagne, Bob
Sent: Friday, 15 July 2011 11:52 AM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] 3-d printer

This is old hat. Even the original StarTrek series had replicators on board the spacecraft. And in the later series who can forget "Tea - Earl Grey - Hot".

Bob at PC

________________________________________
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] on behalf of Marty Weiss [martweiss@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 9:15 AM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] 3-d printer

Ok, thanks for the info.   More Questions :  if this printer can make a wrench that works and is as strong as the demonstration shows, why don't we see whole industries built around the technology...  door knobs, locks, tools of all sorts, etc.  ... or is it just cheaper to make them on the traditional assembly line?   Is this so expensive that the cost outweighs the convenience?  Which brings up the thought of a store keeping inventory... say a hardware store invests in a 3-d printer for a one-time investment.  The proprietor can then buy one of everything and make more on the printer instead of buying boxes of, say, wrenches at a cost involving the price of the tool itself, plus shipping, not to mention storage and shelf space.

Marty


On Jul 15, 2011, at 8:11 AM, chuck britton wrote:

> The machines are real and have been around for years.
> The video is a well distributed puff piece by this particular manufacturer.
> A 'Powder Based' machine such as this wouldn't REALLY be a candidate 
> for zero-g space applications would it?  ;-) Extrusion machines would 
> be better suited for that environment.
>
> Even XKCD jumped onto the bandwagon (in their non-PG sorta way ;-)  )
>
>       http://xkcd.com/924/
> .
> At 4:19 AM -0400 7/15/11, Marty Weiss wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >      The latest "wow!" video making the rounds on the internet 
> > recently is the 3-d printer clip on YouTube and other internet vid 
> > sources.  In case someone hasn't seen it... a narrator takes us into 
> > a lab where the "inventor" shows the process whereby he takes a 
> > wrench, scans it in a new type of scanner, puts the printout into 
> > some sort of 3-d printer (after coloring the adjusting mechanism
> > red) which contains some sort of "resin"material and after a few 
> > minutes the narrator reaches into the pool of "resin" and out pops a 
> > copy of a real working wrench with a red adjustment gear.  The copy 
> > does the same job as the real wrench.
> >
> > The narrator is a "real person"... a PhD and astronaut (at least 
> > according to several articles I Googled), but the whole thing has to 
> > be an elaborate hoax.  Either that or it's the biggest invention 
> > since the light bulb.  If it is a hoax, I have yet to see anyone 
> > write about it on any discussion group, on YouTube, or other news 
> > source.  Likewise, a real invention such as this would have been
> > heralded throughout the scientific world by now.   Anyone have any
> > explanation or comments?
> >
> > Marty
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
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