3D Printing

[waterzap]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/11/3d-printing

This is going to be great for Classic cars. Can't wait to be able to print parts for the cars. Does anyone here have a 3D Printer yet? The home printers are a bit too small, but hopefully we will see something like Kinkos soon where you can just take your part, scan it in and print you a new one. Not so much the metal pieces, but the plastic trim.

[Gene Beaird]

Jay Leno has one of those, along with the very-necessary 3-d scanner.  Without the scanner, you have to render the 3-d image in autocad, or some cad drawing app and pass it to the printer. 

There's actually a company that already uses 3-d printing to create parts for scale models:

http://www.click2detail.com/index.php?s=1

Perhaps they could even do small plastic parts for vehicles.  I don't know if anyone has approached them for that yet.  It isn't cheap.

[waterzap]

Digital cameras might be able to take the 3D pics. I do think things will come down in price. I think this technology is now where PCs were in the 80s. $2000 for a home printer isn't astronomical, but you are right, the 3D scanning part is still lacking. 3D digital cameras will catch up soon.
I can see some of the bigger parts suppliers parking some of these printers in their basement and printing out orders. No inventory, and if they don't have the 3D scan in their catalog, you can just send them your part.
Just thinking all the possibilities boggles the mind. How great this could be for local manufacturing. Why spend the cost of shipping stuff all across the world when you can make it right here.

[J Kjerrulf]

I printed out my first 3D drawing more than 10 years ago, also did my first 3D-scan (Louvers from an early Ford hot rod) about the same time. Things do take their time here. There are cheap printers like the rep-rap-project and true monsters that handles various materials for $200k and up. We're talking rubber with various shore value, ABS, clear acrylic etc. Home printers still has a looong way to go and a scanner only creates the basis for further modelling in your 3D-software (like "Alias"). Still, it is obvious that even the most odd part will likely be possible to recreate. In my book this gives an even higher value to old factory parts and genuine non restored automobiles. I'm not printing parts for my car.
Yet.

[Gene Beaird]

Look at Jay Lenno's Garage website.  On it when he discussed the 3-d scanning/printing capability he had, he used it to scan and print some engine part for one of his Hispano-Suisas.  I think it was an engine rod.  Since those parts are no longer available, and there's no plans for them, he scanned and printed the part in plastic, so he could ship that to the overseas foundry to use to create the replacement part.  That way, his unobtainium engine part stayed in his shop, and if the part got lost in the mail, or 'lost', he still had the original, and could simply 'print' another.

It does have it's use, and would be an interesting line of business, I think.

[Glen]

I am under the impression from various shows on TV I have seen that the 3D printers are mostly for creating patterns to cast the final part.  The “ink” in the printer has to be melted to a point where it can be sprayed on.  While it is possible to do that with aluminum the results is a very poor part structurally. 

But the advantage it the drawing can be manipulated to make a larger pattern to account for shrinkage when the cast part cools.   

[Gene Beaird]

Yep.  The 'ink' is usually plastic micro-pellets, and is set either by melting, or binding with a resin.  The ones I've seen use a resin.  Good for making model reproductions of existing parts, models of 3-d drawn things, like a house or some other part (there's a couple of architecture companies that will 3-d print a model of a home they're designing for you, quicker than the balsa-and-paper models they usually use, and detailed down to the seams in the tile and color on the walls), but only good for making models of a particular thing, representing them in 3-d, allowing you to hold them.  One of the first things I ever saw done was a working Crescent wrench ('working' meaning you could adjust the jaw by turning the adjusting screw, you certainly couldn't use them actually tighten, or loosen any bolts). 

[Gene Beaird]

Here's 20 minutes you'll really enjoy:

3-d scanner video with examples of output from their 3-d printer:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/3d-scanning-software/1378748

3-d scanner, and Dimension printer:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/nextengines-3d-scanner/944641

The printer is supplied it's plastic from spools, and melts them in place.  You can use all sorts of plastic supply, so theoretically, you could recreate functional trim and certain operational plastic parts in this machine:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/nextengines-3d-scanner/944641