My observation is that most manufacturers seem to not want their products to be repairable at all, and I don't think that safety has any part of the consideration. Of course, the lawyers will tell them to claim that it is for safety reasons, because the truth would be quite unpopular. Clearly the concern about product liability, real or imagined, has taken over from good engineering in product design. The very best thing for this country would be a severe shortage of lawyers, beyond any doubt.
I did note in my earlier posting that the snap fitting problem was not limited to 3D printed parts.
It would be very interesting to see just how commonplace these printers do become, and if they ever reach the level of the "Replicaters" on Star Trek.
My observation is that most manufacturers seem to not want their products to be repairable at all, and I don't think that safety has any part of the consideration. Of course, the lawyers will tell them to claim that it is for safety reasons, because the truth would be quite unpopular. Clearly the concern about product liability, real or imagined, has taken over from good engineering in product design. The very best thing for this country would be a severe shortage of lawyers, beyond any doubt.
I did note in my earlier posting that the snap fitting problem was not limited to 3D printed parts.
It would be very interesting to see just how commonplace these printers do become, and if they ever reach the level of the "Replicaters" on Star Trek.
JMiller has a good point about snap-togather parts, but I have been complaining about the same thing since before RP was available. Parts wind up being designed as "snap togather forever" assemblies, and it is not possible to unsnap them without breakage. So Miller has a valid complaint, but it is not only on the 3D made parts, but on many parts from all different kinds of processes.
I've been following RP technology for about 20 years.. cutting my teeth on one of the first machines out of 3D Systems (the inventors of Stereolithography), the "SLA-1." Yet, in the past 2 years, I've observed a staggering growth of this industry. Its gotten to the point of mainstream production!
For those interested, I highly recommend RAPID trade show in Chicago. It will BLOW your mind. And if you're in the market for purchasing one of these systems, there is no better place to learn about them first hand, side by side. Everyone who's anyone is there.
BTW, I recently purchased an Objet 30 myself. Love it. I had surveyed the market considerably. No one technology is superior in all categories, but the Objet definitely is one of the easiest to use, with excellent qualtiy. Their biggest downside is the cost/waste of resin for support structures; but on the other hand, the ease of removal (by water jet) is unparalleled. We use this machine in a student machine shop, so safety is a major factor.
The Objet Connex, capable of producing parts with multiple resins, and ability to "dial in" your durometer of choice is also unrivaled in the market. (For now.)
For highest quality/resolution, I personnally recommend Envisiontec (lesser-known Israeli company) or the 3D Systems VIPER. If you can afford it. IMHO, the Objet 24 or 30 is like the Toyota Camry, the Eden is like the Lexus, and the Connex is like the Space Shuttle (heaven rest its soul.)
The future of 3D printing can be dimly seen. It's conceivable that 3D printers will become as ubiquitous in the household as the microwave oven. If you think licensing is a mess now for music and movie downloads (and I sure do), then think about what it will be like when trying to print yourself a new spatula for Saturday pancakes, or a monitor stand, or whatever. We'll see Pirate's Bay bootleg STL files, BitTorrents for kitchen and bath...
To paraphrase Huey Lewis,
The future's so bright, I have to print myself some shades.
There are huge strides being made in 3D printing, both on the low and high end and it's really exciting to watch. I know the technology has been around for some time, but it seems like the market forces and technical advancements are coalescing to the point where 3D printing is fast becoming a cost-effective and more accessible tool for prototyping, verfication, and even just for plain old fun.
We wrote about the Urbee project at length. Check out our coverage.
I love to hear about new technologies in the area of rapid prototyping. I have had quite of bit of experience in purchasing FDMs and SLAs. they all have their positives and negatives. One area of qeakness that I have experenced that I would love to see improved is the functionality of snaps and such coming from rapid prototypes. Quite often the parts I work with are fastened without mechanical fasteners. The geometry often fits tightly with minimal clearance and a snap feature is used to hold the part together. The first key is always the dimensional accuracy of the part. With tight clearances dimensional stability is a key. Next is the functionality of the snaps. Often, I have had issues with snaps on the rapid prototypes being useful once. I.E. they break if you try to take the two components apart.
Anyone out there had similar experiences or have better luck using a certain type of rapid prototyping. Often I have to wait for a soft tool to verify the functionality of snaps.
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