3D Printing on your desk

I can see where that could be a real deal breaker.

That really is amazing technology.  I've seen a few demos and it is something to see.  Assume for the moment that the technology advances to the point where material price and time to print is brought down to a reasonable level.  Wouldn't it be great to be able to reproduce broken or missing parts for some postwar things.  I do not understand the copyright issues but would it not be great to be able to reproduct an old steam loco shell that has been broken due to a high speed tumble off the layout by some kid in the 50's.  (Someone like my brother or I).  

Would that be a violation of copyright for an individual to reproduce parts for things they owned and for which the manufacturer no longer produced ?  

But I would think  buying the printer is just 1 side of the equation.  I imagine there is a great deal of expertise required in being able to design a new part or come up with the exact design of  of say an old Lionel steam loco shell. 

But it sure is fun to think of the possibilities. 

Ed

I like the idea that I could make those hard-to-make pieces with a 3D printer and otherwise sctatch build rolling stock and even loco bodies with normal materials.

Have the people at Weaver Models get a series of them, so they can produce some new locos and rolling stock with very few roadnames, then they can paint and print the limited roadnames on the finished locos and rolling stock. Not everybody can have both a 3D printer, and the Paint Booth with Pad Printer.

Andrew

3D printing would be ideal for doing limited-appeal rolling stock - types that would not sell enough to pay for the tooling required to manufacture by traditional methods.

It would also be ideal for producing unique scenery items and structures and unique loads for cars.  The possibilities are endless.  I can think of tons of applications, but one that would be high on my list would be to have a 3D scan done of myself and produce a 1:48 scale figure of myself (who wouldn't want a model of themselves on their own layout ).  The new generation Makerbot claims a resolution level of 100 microns (0.1 mm), so it could produce some pretty fine detail.

Andy

Interesting idea to be able to make 1:48 figures of people.  Think of the scenes you could do using famous, or, infamous people.

I am curious.  How do you take a 3D scan of something to print on the 3d printer ?  Does the 3d printer have that capability built in?

Thanks,

Ed

The possibility I was looking at was to be able to design a custom drivetrain for oddball traction and M.U. models, such as the Ken Kidder EMU's I see every so often. I considered adopting a pair at the last transit model meet, but was concerned about the rough-running characteristics I heard attributed to them.

If I could design/print up a streetcat/EMU truck along with a drivetrain to fit a pair of  axle mounted can motors I could resurrect a set of those (and a host of other oddball models that otherwise can only be powered with fussy spring-belt drives). It could open the door to not only old-fashioned traction, but contemporary LRV's too.

---PCJ

The really "good" 3D printers use materials that are so expensive that "manufacturing" stuff using these devices would be cost prohibitive from a materials  and time standpoint.  We needed to replace some plastic easel rests and the vendor was being difficult about allowing us to order replacements.  I approached one of our labs that has a high end printer and they told me the copies would run about $500 each and take about an hour to produce each one.  We couldn't afford the printing "powder" and they couldn't tie up the device for 10-15 hours to make what we would need.  

While this technology is moving forward at a rapid rate, we're not quite to the point of a star trek replicator.  A lot of the printing media would not sustain "rough" handling and most of the media wasn't really meant for painting/coating.

These "printers" are meant more to testing part making feasibility and prototyping in order to advance to the next step of a true "Production" model of something.  And the printer is not the prohibitive part of this equation..... its the know how to design the part you want!  This printer cannot copy something, it must be engineered in a CAD design software program and then sent to the printer in that language.  Its kinda like those fancy water jets and mills you see on tv, but here its 3 dimension instead of 2.  

I have seen 3 different mediums / methods. The least expensive is plastic that comes in roles and looks like thin 'weed-whacker string' the most expensive was a liquid that hardens when 2 different lazer beams cross (2 differenct colors) The system that uses a powder is pretty cool and one of them allows you to print in color.. so imagine a printed brick wall with morter joints..

There are more out there some use liquid resin that hardens when a light hits it infrared? not sure

Still pretty cool stuff..

One of the manufacturers told me they have had several 'train guys' buy units.

And ther is at least one club that is leasing one. I was hoping to hear from them after the mfr sent them my inquery.

3D scans are an entirely different animal.  I am not familiar with any 3D printer with this capability, but the technology has been out there for a long time (lasers make it pretty easy, but it can also be done with a quantity of carefully staged photographs and a lot of work in the computer), but the capability to scan full-sized objects or people directly into a 3D CAD model right now requires some high-end equipment (I've seen it done on an episode of "The Nerdist" on BBC America).

Andy

The Makerbot plastic filament runs around $22-$24 per pound (except for the glow-in-the-dark filament), which could produce many objects useful to a hobbyist at a reasonable cost, provided that the hobbyist could create the CAD files.  The Makerbot web site has some very interesting examples of what people have been able to produce with their product.

Andy

Here's a link to a printed HO scale (1:96) two story house with complete interior:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:26244

Imagine what could be done at 1:48...

Andy

3D Scan to 3D Printer

Keep in mind the story is 3 years old, so imagine what could be done now.

http://www.popularmechanics.co...o/technology/4320759

High quality 3D scanners are available for less than $3,000 as I recall, and the learning curve is pretty steep!  The part to be scanned is placed on a small turntable and the machine rotates and scans it.  The resulting model has to be cleaned up on the computer though and that's where it gets tedious.  The whole process could be a hobby itself!

On Jay Leno's garage web site they have a demo showing how they can scan a broken part from one of his old cars and reproduce it either by printing it or on a CNC mill.

Conrad

Just noticed that the link in the prior post is to the Jay Leno demo I mentioned.