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@Mannyrock posted:

I remember eating the Lays Potato Chips with Olestra, and being sick for 4 hours afterwards!  (They should have tested in on prisoners first.)

The Segway was going to revolutionize foot travel throughout the urban world.  The inventor actually donated the Patent to the public good.   I guess he didn't think about how many curbs there are in the world.  It could climb a curb, but it looked like a donkey trying to go up a set of stairs.

Alan, what does one of the 3D printers you are using for trains cost?

Mannyrock

Among Spanish speaking people, the Chevy Nova and the AMC Matador were marketing flops. "No va" means "it doesn't go." "Matador" means "killer."

I bet someone would be happy to.  Send them a part to duplicate and a lot of $.

Tomorrow I will meet a guy who does this stuff professionally - they produce parts stronger than previously available, and provide programs to produce parts for ships!  Some are as big as a Ford engine block, and made out of metal.  Some go in to turbine engines.

If you have to ask, you cannot afford it - yet.

@bob2 posted:

I bet someone would be happy to.  Send them a part to duplicate and a lot of $.



Why does he need a lot of money?



@c.sam I doubt my printer can do such a tiny detail but I would be happy to take a look and let you know. You might need someone with a resin printer for this because I assume it's a small ladder. We'll see! You can send me a PM or email me.

If you find someone who does this sort of thing for free or close to it, I would love to have some two axle flexicoil truck sideframes in bronze.  In fact, since I cannot find a sand foundry that is willing to consider onesies, maybe a couple of Diesel side panels in brass or aluminum?

There are folks who work for free - I am doing a Taylorcraft fuselage this week for the cost of materials.  But I get to choose the color, and will get to fly it if the owner ever assembles it after all my work is done.  But working for free for strangers or internet acquaintances - takes a pretty nice person.

@bob2 posted:

If you find someone who does this sort of thing for free or close to it, I would love to have some two axle flexicoil truck sideframes in bronze.  In fact, since I cannot find a sand foundry that is willing to consider onesies, maybe a couple of Diesel side panels in brass or aluminum?

Ah I see, so there was a misunderstanding. He asked for a 3D printed piece and it looks like you assumed he asked for cast pieces. Casting does take more work. For sure. I wish the houses were spaced out a bit more here so I could run a small backyard foundry. A lot of this stuff wouldn't be so bad to cast with the right stuff and you can just about melt enough metal in a 5 gal bucket furnace. Maybe one day.

The Cattail Foundry in Lancaster County, PA does odd job castings but I don't know how small they go. You will have to call them or send them a letter. There's no website. Benjamin King is the old owner and I think his two boys are involved now. That's the best I can do for you as far as casting small pieces in small amounts.

I know you are trying but that photo and ruler is not enough. Making a specific scale part to fit in a specific space is not that simple unless accuracy is not an issue.

If I were making that piece I would need the actual piece to then use my digital micrometer to ascertain the various dimensions in hundredths or thousands of an inch.

then I could accurately design the piece as a 3D model graphically.

AT THAT POINT, I can export the 3D model into a format for my 3D printer.

Otherwise, the model I make would be totally useless.

That is truly nice that you would do that.  3D printing comes in many flavors, including metal.  I always thought it was rather expensive, and setting up the program would be time consuming.  I admit to not knowing much about it, but am pleasantly surprised to find that neither of those things are true, at least for plastic printing.

But if you have a phone # for Cattail in Lancaster County, maybe they can do for me a couple of sides that have been sitting at an amateur foundry in that vicinity for two years.  Same foundry that had my Erie-Built sides cast in bronze - but I think he sort of lost interest.

Most of the stuff I have done is lost wax or lost plastic.  Forumites will remember I have nickel silver and bronze PAs, done by putting MTH bodies in plaster and subjecting them to intense heat, followed by injecting very hot metal.  Stevenson Preservation has a line of fully clevised side rods done with my patterns.

Metal printers can definitely run you some bucks. You're making me want to work on a small backyard foundry with all your talk of casting.

Here ya go @bob2 :

167 W Cattail Rd, Gordonville, PA 17529

717-768-7323

These guys are big into the antique machinery hobby. I'm into the hit n miss engines so that's how I found out about them. I've never dealt with them myself but I will eventually. I hear they're great to deal with. Let's hope they'll do your parts!! If you have done some casting yourself, then I bet you'll be able to talk to them and explain what you're doing. You think you'll need a milling machine to finish the parts? Make sure you report back if they'll do them! I'm sure you're not the only one on the hunt for castings.

@AlanRail posted:

HERE are 27 products that looked great but flopped.

In twenty years, 3D printing has not made the list.

1) McDonald’s Arch Deluxe

I still remember commercials on TV for the Arch Deluxe which began airing in 1996 but no amount of advertising could save this burger. It was an attempt to offer “upscale” product offerings but customers weren’t lovin’ it.

2) Ben-Gay Aspirin

Ben-Gay is a strong brand because when you hear the word “Ben-Gay”, you immediately think of pain relief cream. But that is the problem and the main reason why this aspirin product never lasted. People just didn’t like the thought of swallowing anything relating to Ben-Gay.

3) Bic Underwear

Bic is a company that is well-known for its line of disposable razors, lighters, and pens. When the company released underwear, most consumers didn’t understand why and passed.

4) Kellogg’s Breakfast Mates

More failed products that probably looked good on paper but kids just didn’t understand the packaging or its instructions. Opening a box of cereal and pouring cold fresh milk in a bowl is so much easier and Kellogg’s later realized this.

5) Cheetos Lip Balm

If you love licking your fingers after eating Cheetos, you would think this product would be great. Unfortunately, it apparently didn’t even taste like Cheetos.

6) Colgate Frozen Kitchen Entrees

Colgate may be one of the leading toothpaste brands but consumers just couldn’t comprehend buying Colgate “food”. I suppose Colgate thought that by eating a Colgate meal, people would then brush afterwards with Colgate toothpaste but it was a bad idea from the start.

7) Coors Rocky Mountain Water

While soft drink companies are successfully selling water under different brands, Coors just couldn’t do the same with it’s rocky mountain water. When consumers buy Coors water, they expect it to be fermented with barley, hops, and yeast.

8) Cosmopolitan Yogurt

Sure, yogurt is a growing product category but when you’re a company that publishes 58 editions and distributes them to more than 100 countries, then Cosmopolitan should stick to what it does best. They did try to sell their own brand of yogurt but lackluster sales caused them to pull their failed products off shelves after only 18 months.

9) Crystal Pepsi

In the 90’s, people were were obsessed with clear products. Clear soap, see-through phones, and transparent soft drinks. Pepsi jumped onto the bandwagon by offering Crystal Pepsi but it didn’t last long.

10) Microsoft Bob

27 Failed Products - Microsoft Bob.

Source Unknown

Bob’s your uncle or so Microsoft thought. Bob was released who found Windows 95 intimidating since so many new customers were purchasing computers for the first in the mid-90’s because of this this thing called the “Internet” that started getting popular around 1995. Bob was supposed to help with simple tasks but it only made things more complicated so Microsoft didn’t create future versions of the software.

11) Sony’s Betamax

Sony may have been first to market with its Betamax in 1975, but the format wars began when JVC and Matsu****a released the VHS format and video player two years later in 1977. Because VHS was a licensed standard, any company could produce video players which drove costs down but because Sony didn’t license the Betamax format, its players remained expensive.

12) Ford Edsel

Ford has had a lot of success in its 100+ year history but the Ford Edsel wasn’t a model they could call a winner. It was called the “Titanic of Automobiles” and had disappointing sales. When Ford released the Mustang in 1964, it was a huge success and anybody that still had a bad taste in their mouth about the Edsel quickly forgot about it after driving a Mustang.

13) Gerber Singles

Back in 1974, Gerber wanted to expand their line of pureed meats, vegetables, and fruits to college kids or people that were living alone for the first time. Nothing makes you feel more like an adult than eating meat mush out of a baby food jar with a spoon. Needless to say, their failed products didn’t last long on the market.

14) Harley Davidson Perfume

I know what you’re thinking. What man doesn’t want to smell like a ‘Hot Road’? It’s understandable that Harley-Davidson owners want to own everything the company makes because the brand is legendary but loyal customers had to draw the line somewhere.

15) Heinz EZ Squirt Ketchup

Ketchup is a difficult product to expand because customers are already happy with Heinz ketchup. There is only so many ways to improve ketchup but Heinz thought one way to expand the product line was by creating “mystery colors”. While kids may have enjoyed its grossness factor, it wasn’t enough for Heinz to keep it in their product line.

16) HP TouchPad

Failed products like this tablet from HP was far from being the “iPad killer” some tech magazines and websites were claiming it to be. It was based on a new operating system called webOS and had virtually no third-party support which is why retailers quickly had a fire sale to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

17) Earring Magic Ken

When Mattel decided to release a hipper version of Ken in 1993 featuring a mesh t-shirt, lavender vest, and one earring, it didn’t expect to get so much backlash. It drew criticism from the gay community for proposing false stereotypes and Mattel stopped production of the doll.

18) Life Savers Soft Drinks

Life Savers may be one of Wrigley’s most successful products and the number one brand of non-chocolate candy but as a soft drink, it tanked. Drinking liquid candy just didn’t win over consumers.

19) McDonald’s McDLT

Nobody likes soggy burgers so McDonald’s figured that if they could provide a burger that separated the cold condiments and veggies from the hot beef patty, they’d have a winner. It didn’t last long and it partly was because customers did not like having to assemble their burgers and making a mess.

20) Microsoft Zune

Microsoft released the Zune almost five years after the original iPod and couldn’t make a dent in Apple’s 65% market share in personal audio players. It was discontinued in 2011 and Microsoft encouraged users to purchase a Windows phone instead but that strategy doesn’t seem to be working either.

21) New Coke

When Coca-Cola released the “New Coke” in 1985, executives could probably hear their loyal customers around the world weeping every time they took a sip. After boycotts and protests, Coca-Cola quickly reintroduced the original Coke as “Coke Classic”.

22) Apple Newton

The Apple Newton was ahead of its time and had great features but the only problem was, most of the features didn’t work properly such as writing recognition. The product may have initially flopped but it paved the way for the Palm Pilot, BlackBerry, and eventually the iPhone (ditched the stylus!)

23) Pepsi A.M.

Cola soft drinks have caffeine and so does coffee right? Pepsi thought they could no wrong by offering a soft drink you can drink in the morning but most consumers didn’t want to drink soft drinks morning, noon, and night.

24) The Segway

The Segway is another great example of failed products that received tons of hype in the press but failed miserably when they were actually released. The company expected to sell anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 units in its first year but it took them over two years to sell a meager 23,500 units.

25) RJ Reynolds’ Smokeless Cigarettes

These came out in 1988 and apparently “produced a smell and a flavor that left users retching”. Sounds great already! Besides the fact that they tasted horrible, rumors began circulating that they were being used by some customers as a delivery device for crack cocaine. The company quickly pulled them off the shelves.

26) Thirsty Cat! and Thirsty Dog! bottled water

In what could be considered a soft drink for pets, this daily pet drink had great flavors like Tasty Beef and Tangy Fish. While pets probably enjoyed it, pet owners didn’t see a need for feeding the pets with sugar water.

27) WOW! snack foods

Olestra is a fat substitute that was approved by the FDA in 1996 and still approved to this day. These chips may cause stomach upset, cramps, gas, and loose bowels but they’re fat free! All kidding aside, consumers just weren’t ready for snack foods with a health disclaimer on every package.

NOTHING ABOUT 3D printers.

How did I miss Harley cologne ?

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