Quote:
Originally Posted by hikerbob
gary I've looked hard at the plastic extrusion printers on a number of occasions (and the possibility with printing with some other substances). Very tempting stuff. I saw a couple of them at the Woodworking show in Brisbane recently.
The setup in the clip took it to another level (assuming that it's all legit) and like Marc I'm pondering how a hand held scanner could manage the internals of a metal object.
Z Corporation's website has a link to the video so it should have some legitimacy, although I didn't see mention in the scanner capabilities for scanning the internals of objects.
Bob
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Hi Bob,
I may have been composing my previous post to Marc at the same
time you were composing your question. So my previous post my
address some of your questions.
In the case of the demo in the video, there would have been a segment
which was not shown where a 3D CAD modeler package would have
been used to create, by hand, those components which were hidden
from the scanner. Likewise, components that need to move would
have suitable physical separations modeled in the CAD package.
Broadly speaking, if your primary interest was creating models of what
the 3D CAD community refer to as "organic shapes", then you might
consider using a scanner if there was some pre-existing physical
embodient of what you wanted to replicate.
For "organic shapes" that you don't have an existing embodiment of,
one might consider acquiring a 3D CAD package that specializes in their
creation. There are some good ones out there, both free and commercial.
A good commercial one can be had in the AUD300 to AUD1000 price range.
For parts such as the spanner or many of the parts one might use in
some functional context, then one might consider acquiring a parametric
3D CAD package. Again, there are some good ones about even in the
sub AUD1000 price range that will output in a format that can be
directly interpreted by a 3D printer.
In other words, rather than investing in a scanner, a good parametric
modeler or if modeling your own organic shapes, a good surface
modeler, such as those that create NURBS models, might prove to be
a more productive investment.
For example, using a good parametric 3D model package, one could
create a model of the spanner from scratch within an evening and
an experienced designer in some fraction of that time.
The materials that the various 3D printers use varies from manufacturer
to manufacturer. As one can imagine, the 3D printed copy of an object
may not be suitable to be used as a replacement for many parts.
One could print a model of a hammer, but its performance for hammering in nails
is likely to fall very short compared to the real thing.
The resolution of the printers also differs across the range from the low end
to the high end.
Where they can be very useful is for rapid prototyping. A good example
is to create prototypes of parts that one plans on having injection moulded.
As you can appreciate, the tooling for injection moulded parts is typically
very expensive and the ability to create a 3D printed prototype that you can
hold in your hand and check that it will integrate with the rest of your system
prior to getting the tooling done can save lots of time and money.
Depending what your target parts are, you might also want to consider CNC
machining.
. You could print out Bahtinov masks the possibilities are endless
