Printed Aircraft!

[Tomo]

I'm still having trouble getting my head to figure this out, but yeah... I find it highly interesting.

 

http://www.kurzweilai.net/worlds-first-printed-aircraft

 

 

[pudestcon]

I've often thought it would be great to be able to download the information to a 'printer' and press the button to manufacture that mechanical part you need. Too expensive to have one in every mechanical workshop? So was the desktop printer not that long ago.

 

This machine has many applications I reckon and would revolutionise the spare parts market.

 

Pud

 

 

[turboplanner]

Here's another version. They don't seem to be saying what the cost is, but it would certainly help in the design phase where our 2D minds have to cope with 3D solutions.

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/215148/3dprinted_flute_is_here_3dprinted_stradivarius_next.html

 

 

[old man emu]

Here is a link to a video of teh palne in flight and some background.

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/aFFFiB_if18

 

3D printing is indeed a great way to prototype components. At the moment I'm looking at making a desktop version based on the www.reprap.org designs. It is not a very big step from a CNC router to a 3D printer.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

[pudestcon]

The main issue I see is in the raw material to make the part.

 

Pud

 

 

[old man emu]

Material is no problem. It can be purchased by the roll and in a wide variety of colours.

 

One material is ABS plastic and another is stuff called PLA which is polylactose acid, which apparently tastes like corn when it is heated. ABS is used in all sort of things. LEGO blocks are ABS.

 

OME

 

 

[pudestcon]

Material is no problem. It can be purchased by the roll and in a wide variety of colours.One material is ABS plastic and another is stuff called PLA which is polylactose acid, which apparently tastes like corn when it is heated. ABS is used in all sort of things. LEGO blocks are ABS.

 

OME

I'm thinking way ahead of myself OME, to parts for all sorts of things - like AN grade bolts, new gaskets, bell crank linkages, etc etc. How about a piston or conrod? Crankshaft? Yeah I know, fairytale stuff!!!

Pud

 

 

[turboplanner]

These guys are lateral thinkers Pud, all you need is a material which will attract. It may not be steel, but there are plenty of other materials.

 

One issue for spare parts currently is the time involved - 15 hours to make the flute; we currently build trucks faster than that.

 

On the other hand for tooling, making moulds etc. it can save thousands of hours.

 

 

[old man emu]

Pud,

 

3D printing is best used for prototyping, and then, as Turbo says, making production moulds. It won't replace good ol' fire and iron for the things we need to fly with.

 

The RepRap machine can be used to make daughter machines, but the components for it don't have to withstand massive forces, They are mainly made to hold other components in place such as the stepper motors and gears. It is true that the machine can be used to make its replacement parts such as gears. You have to remember that the machine is made using something like ABS plastic, so its components are a bit like those in a kid's toy.

 

OME

 

 

[pudestcon]

Yeah, I know what you are saying Turbo and OME.

 

Sometimes I let my imagination run away with my normally practical mind.

 

Pud

 

 

[old man emu]

Sometimes I let my imagination run away with my normally practical mind. Pud

Runaway imaginations give us things like 3D printing. Don't you wish you were 18 an know everything that you know now?

 

OME

 

 

[pudestcon]

Runaway imaginations give us things like 3D printing. Don't you wish you were 18 an know everything that you know now?OME

Now that could be dangerous. Hehehehe.

But yeah, you are right that we need people with fertile imaginations to take us forward.

 

Pud