3D Printing (AU prints added)

[gr82be 14,423]

On 10/7/2017 at 8:10 PM, WarTiger said:

It doesn't get in the way of much of anything, activity related.  Prints take HOURS and some even DAYS to print.  Patience is definitely a requirement when doing any 3D printing.  It's not going to happen quickly.  

Can you start now on a new football only facility? 😁

[WarTiger 3,901]

53 minutes ago, gr82be said:

Can you start now on a new football only facility? 😁

[alexava 6,973]

If a man had an idea for an invention that doesn’t yet exist, could you program this to make something fairly simple?

[homersapien 11,366]

The frustrating thing about understanding this technology - to me - is that all the explanations are centered around the computer software.

What I am more curious about is how the actual process of layering the material is done, especially considering the various materials that can be used. For example, what is the process used for plastic polymers vs metals?   Are there nozzles that distribute molten materials?  Is a layer of uv-curable resin deposted followed by a UV beam?  Are metals transfered as plasma stream?

I can imagine various processes that might be used, but there is rarely any explanation of how it's done with a given material, much less a description of the mechanical engineering that does it.

I get that computer programs control the process, I'd like to know the engineering for the material deposition.

 

[TigerHorn 1,351]

6 hours ago, homersapien said:

The frustrating thing about understanding this technology - to me - is that all the explanations are centered around the computer software.

What I am more curious about is how the actual process of layering the material is done, especially considering the various materials that can be used. For example, what is the process used for plastic polymers vs metals?   Are there nozzles that distribute molten materials?  Is a layer of uv-curable resin deposted followed by a UV beam?  Are metals transfered as plasma stream?

I can imagine various processes that might be used, but there is rarely any explanation of how it's done with a given material, much less a description of the mechanical engineering that does it.

I get that computer programs control the process, I'd like to know the engineering for the material deposition.

 

Sooooo, how much do you want to know? I'm a couple of years removed from setting the global AM (Additive Manufacturing, the $5 word version of 3D printing) strategy for a Fortune 500 manufacturing company. There are several technologies. Some, like the one the OP is showing off, melt and redeposit a plastic filament. Others work with a bed of powder, which can be metal, polymer, or other materials, and melt or sinter it together. Still others use a jet of hot metal and deposit it. And then there are the techs that grow an object out of a liquid pool just like a sci-fi movie. HP is getting very close to revolutionizing the field using a variation of their industrial inkjet strategy, and there's a little company in Israel working with an offshoot of one of our National Labs that may just have finally come up with the secret sauce for volume printing of metal parts that have the metallurgical properties of billet and castings. Here's a decent overview: https://all3dp.com/1/types-of-3d-printers-3d-printing-technology/

[homersapien 11,366]

17 hours ago, TigerHorn said:

Sooooo, how much do you want to know? I'm a couple of years removed from setting the global AM (Additive Manufacturing, the $5 word version of 3D printing) strategy for a Fortune 500 manufacturing company. There are several technologies. Some, like the one the OP is showing off, melt and redeposit a plastic filament. Others work with a bed of powder, which can be metal, polymer, or other materials, and melt or sinter it together. Still others use a jet of hot metal and deposit it. And then there are the techs that grow an object out of a liquid pool just like a sci-fi movie. HP is getting very close to revolutionizing the field using a variation of their industrial inkjet strategy, and there's a little company in Israel working with an offshoot of one of our National Labs that may just have finally come up with the secret sauce for volume printing of metal parts that have the metallurgical properties of billet and castings. Here's a decent overview: https://all3dp.com/1/types-of-3d-printers-3d-printing-technology/

Thanks for the response!  That was a pretty good overview in itself. 

It sounds like I imagined some of the possibilities that are being used or developed. 

It just seemed to me that the deposition/activation processes get short shrift in most of the articles about 3d printing I have found.   That's surprising to me because I assume that's where the technology - or more specifically, the engineering - really meets the road (so to speak.)

I am not particularly interested in going into much detail - just a generalized description will suffice.  That link is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.  Thanks.

[The Freak 2,526]

And concrete printing!

[WarTiger 3,901]

Here's a print most here will like.  It's just a single color print.  Took a little over 10 hours to print.   Hoping in the near future to be able to make this a multicolor model. 

[AUBwins 10,075]

16 hours ago, WarTiger said:

Here's a print most here will like.  It's just a single color print.  Took a little over 10 hours to print.   Hoping in the near future to be able to make this a multicolor model. 

That is fantastic!

[WarTiger 3,901]

a few new Auburn prints.... These were both single color files that were loaded into a slicer software and "painted", then printed using a Palette 2 pro (allows to print up to 4 colors).   I think they both turned out pretty well.