Posted on 03/12/2015 10:48:35 AM PDT by Red Badger
From one Chrysler to another and you are worrying about saving money?
But the gist is that the 3d printer can make metal parts as well.....................
FIAT..........................Fix It Again Tony!..................
Socialism is a hundred grand....................and then some..............
The Visible V8 (by Revell models) is still available.
50 bucks or so (a bit higher than I paid back in the 60s I’d say for certain.)
Still has a carburetor too.
The Visible rotary (Minicraft) is available for $60 with a transmission.
Mass production may be infeasible, but theoretically, I see potential here for print-on-demand production of rare and unavailable parts for vintage vehicles that are no longer in production.
That’s already a market with the Scan-print gig.
Takes some effort to scan complex parts but eventually you can get there.
Harrell essentially did just that. Guarantee you he does not have the geometry for those gears except as a scanned surface.
I think he really means that a working unit made of metal would be feasible and economical to manufacture. It’s coming..................
...
Jet engine parts are being made with a different kind of 3d printing. Spacex is making parts including small rocket motors with printing also.
Great! 3D printing enthusiasts should use that engine and transmission in their vehicles.
Metal Gears that don’t need to be finished?
You'll get pretty lonesome and hungry waiting on one of those engine/trans to come in for a swap. The word "bombproof" was invented to describe both.
While you were building that engine, I was building the Visible Woman kit.
It came very handy a few years later when I started dating.
Very very cool, but I don’t think they will quite come in with the tolerances required of mesh gears that will be needed any time soon.
Now 3D printing the diecast molds to make them out of metal and post grinding the parts, that is another story...
There may be 3D printers coming along that can make “metal” parts but I doubt the metal will be of high enough quality to function as gears, cylinders, pistons, even engine blocks any time soon.
You were way ahead of me...
Mine has 250k on it. He’s still investigating.
Not if its for your own use i guess
Yes there’s no prohibition on building substitute replacement parts for OEM parts unless the part incorporates patented technology.
Manufacturers of commercial aircraft went down this road 2 decades ago, prototyping mockup components; and, working out issues before tooling up for actual parts. Now actual parts are fabricated to shed +10% weight over results obtainable with traditional machining/ fabrication techniques.
NASA needed a fuel injection assembly for an F-1 returned from museum storage. Traditional supply operations forecast delivery of +1 year. Printing a working unit was achieved in a abbreviated time frame.
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