Homebrew Rapid Prototyping
Jan 13
In the words of a friend..
Santa clause machines are cool..
.. and I can’t agree more. I want a machine that I can hook up to my computer and have it “output” or “print” a 3d model. The technology is here, and it’s here now.. but it still costs around $20k!
I mean it might as well be a million.. At this point, its not quite to the at home market.. its still something that only big companies can afford.. and that’s a damn shame.. The market is SO there.. If you made a 3D printer device that could easily kick out objects for even $1000 people would buy it.. I know I would..
I have looked at ways to create such a device myself and in just about every case there is some major barrier.. not the least of which is my lack of knowledge..
And I’d love to lie to you and say that I want this machine for the betterment of man.. but.. uh.. no I just want it to play with..
More specifically I want to be able to create 3d miniatures for some of the table top games I play, like 40k. No more paying Forgeworld $70 for a model that costs them nothing to produce.. I can just kick it out of my handy dandy 3d printer.. Suddenly the market would shift from making real products to making 3d models that you print out yourself.. Think of the possibilities..
There are already a few other sites out there that boast they can do this – like Fab@Home.org and RepRap.org but their abilities are poor at best.. A long way from nothing, but an even longer way from something useful.. And considering its 2007 and we are supposed to have flying cars by now.. I don’t think this is too tall of an order.
There must be a way to create some stereolithography or polyjet machine that could do the trick on a home scale.. If Sears can come up with a at home CNC carving machine, then surely someone can come up with an at home fabrication device…
OH well.. for now a pipe dream… and most likely for the forseeable future.. Back to buying my models at over priced stores in the UK that take ages to ship..
Jan 13, 2007 @ 22:46:15
Don’t sell RepRap short. It will be able to make your 3D models before the end of the year. It’s on track to cost about $400 for parts.
My own RepRap spinoff, Tommelise, is on track to cost about $150 for parts. So far it looks like I will be able to do 3D models in high density polyethylene (the plastic your cutting board and throwaway milk jugs are made of) and polypropylene (the plastic your coffee maker is made of).
You can track Tommelise’s progress at…
http://www.3DReplicators.com
Anybody with primitive woodworking skills should be able to bootstrap themselves into cheap 3D modeling with Tommelise.
Jan 14, 2007 @ 10:53:34
Fantastic! I will watch for it..
It seems the the majority of the systems use fused deposition modeling would it be possible to create a home brew stereolithography apparatus? Or is the photo resin too cost prohibative?
I’m actually an avid wood worker so I know this is possible, I just dont know some of the nitpicky stuff.. I guess I should look into it more.. I very much would like to be able to output some models this way and even a course resin versus polyethylene or polypropylene would be fine to me.. I currently use a lot of polyester resin in one of my hobbies, but its too thin.. Not sure how to get it to thicken up a bit..
Where do you get your extrusion materials?
Thanks for this link.. I’ll keep it tuned in..