Here is that rapid prototyping machine. The link to Popular Mechanics even has a short video showing the unit at work. nuther dave

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224759.html

The ulitmate tool for body making. Could you imagine? Scan in a pic or draw up something and push a button, 30 minutes later you getting ready to put it on the track. :eek: Who knows, someday. :) rr

My dream come true!!
(well, one of them anyways...)

That's neat technology. They don't tell you a slot car body is $75 worth of goo, or that it'll continue curing and deform over a few years. And you can only use the machine maker's goo, nobody else's works. And the machine maker is always moving toward new & improved goo and pushes customers to update by stopping production of the old goo. It's a racket.

That's interesting.. Imagine making a slot car body out of cheese whiz.. mmmmm mmmm...

The machine that Leno had spotlighted in his garage show showed some promise. What would make it even better would be the ability to re-size the computer model to shrink ( or enlarge ) a car body. Having the ability to tweak the finished product before it's made would be cool. Being able to do stuff like modify wheel well size, add spoilers, etc would be icing on the cake. Talk about a resin caster's day dream!! Scan a Hotwheels, set your wheelbase parameters and in 30 minutes have a master ready to make a mold from.

on SpeedTV on F1 segment Racing Per Machette (sp) they were shown this @
Red Bull fabrication to prototpe parts in plastic. I'm sure there machine was over $2400.00

I'm sure in the future the technology will get cheaper for small frame stuff. Today you can buy 3D desk top printers for under a grand that use a starch based powder. 20 years ago this stuff was only in NASA and Hollywood.

I deal with this technology on a daily basis and its pretty amazing stuff. I have 2 large frame SLA machines in my design department and they run 24/7 making prototype parts. They run about $300k each and the epoxy resin runs about $2k per 10 kilo jug. It ain't cheap!

http://www.piranhagraphix.com/slots/IMG00364-20110623-1507.jpg

http://www.piranhagraphix.com/slots/IMG00365-20110623-1507.jpg

Most of the stuff I design is fairly large but some stuff is more intricate like the cup holder pad I did for the 2005 Hyundai Tucson.

http://www.piranhagraphix.com/slots/IMG00368-20110623-1508.jpg

http://www.piranhagraphix.com/slots/PICT0315med.jpg


I've been able to play around with some personal projects but not much. I designed these Sunoco sign frames and made a few for my track but never went forward with the project. -someday. I'd like to do some body slugs but the design end is complicated. It's not as simple as just scaling down an existing CAD model. I've seen some examples of SLA HO bodies but trust me a LOT of work went into them!

http://www.piranhagraphix.com/slots/Sunoco-prototypes.jpg

Wowsers !!!

Awesome!!!!
So when are you gonna start poppin out bodies bud?

:D

SLA cures really weird with complex shapes, doesn't it?

Do you have to build support structures for something like a slot body or will it self support based on thickness?


SLA trivia.....original Terminator movie, the terminator rising out of the liquid when he's created....that's an SLA machine making a scale terminator.

Just Wow!!!!!!!

That's neat technology. They don't tell you a slot car body is $75 worth of goo, or that it'll continue curing and deform over a few years. And you can only use the machine maker's goo, nobody else's works. And the machine maker is always moving toward new & improved goo and pushes customers to update by stopping production of the old goo. It's a racket.

:confused:
Is this the voice of experience with 3D rapid-prototyping technology?

Or are you predicting, based on the history of inkjet printers or something similar?

The Makerbot thing-o-matic runs about $1300 for the kit, and the ABS it uses is about 50$ a kilogram. Don't have one, but i know people who do and have been using them for scale scenery items. Stuff that comes out needs alot of finishing work as you can see and feel the "layers" but it could probably get one 90% of the way to a mold "master" for casting. http://store.makerbot.com/makerbot-thing-o-matic.html

:confused:
Is this the voice of experience with 3D rapid-prototyping technology?

Or are you predicting, based on the history of inkjet printers or something similar?


I've burned up thousands of SLAs using them as consumable foundry patterns. The dollar figure is staggering :freak: Have spent a bunch of time in that world accordingly. Reality is a long way from the snippets you see on TV, and the resources going into something like those sunoco signs (Awesome BTW!) is eye opening.

They're working on the same thing with a laser that sinters metal powder in layers, but the capability lags a long ways behind plastic

the 1st 1 I saw was this http://www.nextengine.com/

Well if someone already had a complete Parasolid model to give me I could probably squeeze in a body slug or two- we could try it. I started a GrandAm car in Solidworks a year ago but haven't had time or interest to finish it. Send me a PM if you've got something to try and I'll see what I can do. The finest step I can do is .004" layers which is pretty smooth but will require post clean up and sanding. My software is set to build support structures for anything over 65° but it depends on the part. The suports remove pretty easily but there is a post process of cleaning the parts with TPM, alcohol and then final curing in a UV box. The final part will creep if it is bent and also discolor with further UV exposure but the parts do not shrink.

Yep Terminator and the SLA 5000 unit is also featured in the beginning of "Toy Soldiers", but of course Hollywood added their own effects to show the laser beam and some other fictional effects.

The finished SLA piece does not shrink and the machine will hold a tolerance of .002". That's pretty amazing considering it shoots the beam nearly 6 feet and bounces off a mirror before solidifying the resin. :cool:

the 1st 1 I saw was this http://www.nextengine.com/

Ya Mike that is pretty cool. I've got two hand held Handy Scan scanners for obtaining surface data on a larger scale. I've seen this technology grow while the costs come down and it's pretty amazing. But like anything they make it seem simple. They don't show you the hours of painstaking clean up work in a surfacing program to convert the point cloud into a surface. Traditionally the software to do this is VERY pricey so I'd like to see what kind of surface that system produces. I guess it all depends on your output needs. We scanned the owners face here and produced a mask of him. It hangs in the foyer to greet people and it's creepy. :p

I've burned up thousands of SLAs using them as consumable foundry patterns. The dollar figure is staggering :freak: Have spent a bunch of time in that world accordingly. Reality is a long way from the snippets you see on TV, and the resources going into something like those sunoco signs (Awesome BTW!) is eye opening.

They're working on the same thing with a laser that sinters metal powder in layers, but the capability lags a long ways behind plastic

Sounds like you know the technology bud. I've got some samples of SLS parts and that is cool stuff. I have a vendor that will chrome plate SLS and SLA parts to add a hard shell.

The Stratasys FDM ABS systems can produce a usable part right out of the machine. At the trade shows they make a gas tank for a weed whacker, mount it to the tool, fill it with gasoline and fire it up. Way cool!

http://www.stratasys.com/Products/3D-Printers.aspx

YouTube - ‪NextEngine 3D Scanner at Jay Leno's Garage‬‏

remember
jay is just a normal guy working out of his garage!

I've been watching this technology for 15 years, hoping to have "desktop manufacturing" before I get too old to care.

Two years ago, I tried to come up with a way to justify $15K for one of these nifty 3-D printers (http://dimensionprinting.com/default.aspx). I've also been tempted by the bottom-end MakerBot (http://store.makerbot.com/makerbot-thing-o-matic.html).

But I'll need to throw maybe $3K into a 3D scanner. (http://www.nextengine.com/) More for new software and hardware. Then material costs, a big unknown. My Epson photo printer did luscious work; and, theoretically, the operating cost wasn't too bad. In practice, clogs were constant, wasting high-dollar photo paper and all the ink on it, so you clear and test the nozzles two, three times, wasting more ink. Now you've got spatters. Then there's human error - forgetting to reset something buried three levels down in the print window, etc. - and suddenly the cost of a usable print was triple the basic figure. Would it be even worse with 3-D printing, a newer, more fragile technology?

Ahh, but think of the advantages. Want a particular car as a Tjet? 3D-scan a 1:24 plastic kit. Or just download a commercial or free CAD image for the car. Resize the scan for Tjet axle spacing. Stretch the body vertically to fit over the chassis. Add threaded screwposts from your CAD parts-library. Add a hood-scoop, louvers, tiny fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror. Don't worry about bumpers and pipes - they don't have to be lumped into the body anymore. They can stand out in full 3D with as many undercuts, holes and hollows as you like. No mold lines, either.

Or do you have to stretch the body to fit the chassis? Not if you can print out a custom chassis and gearplate which conforms to the body shell, but takes the standard armature and fittings. Narrow the front rails to the minimum needed. Extend the axle spacing. Lower the chassis - just drag the axle holes higher onscreen, then make gear-train adjustments.

Like the old 1:32 pitcrew figures? Scan 'em. Reduce to HO size and PRINT. Want a driver figure for your Daisy Duke's Jeep? Have your girlfriend put on jean shorts, tie off her blouse and sit in a driving pose, then scan her. Resize and make a few anatomical changes (unless you're a very fortunate fellow). Hit PRINT. An HO Daisy. Good luck painting all those little red checks.

Aurora-style cobblestone track, but with Tomy ends? Curves at any banking-angle you choose? Yes, you'll have to insert the rail manually, but hey, it's a hobby - you want to do some work with your hands. Want 15 feet of continuous multilane straightaway with just a slight chicane partway down and end tabs for Tyco track? Get a controlled-feed conveyor-table and let it run. Or get a printer that builds 3D objects on the table it sits on, and moves itself while it works, and you have a full, smooth 1-piece 4-lane track a few hours later. Router? What's that?

:wave: Happy future. Maybe this will make up for never getting those flying cars they said we'd all be driving by 1979.

-- D

I can't believe I started this thread in 2007 ! :o

THIS, is the most interesting thread in the world.

:lol: LOL @ NTx