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I'd be lying if I said I understood at all how these worked.

The first thing I saw on TV about 3D printers made no sense to me and I was certain at the time that I was seeing someone's April Fool's gag at the time.

Clearly, they exist, but my brain can't grasp that we're that far forward at this point.

I feel bad for the folks at Grandt Line and places like that because their days are clearly numbered.

Originally Posted by Bob:

This was just released Monday.

That's true, however it was Monday March 16, 2015.  Here's the original article.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...literally/?tid=sm_fb

 

 

It was premiered about a year ago at a conference of ground breaking tech......it's been improved since then...but same process. 

 

Creating and designing parts is STILL the big blockage to 99% of the public using 3D printing...no matter the format. 

Ford may have broken that open today. They are offering downloads of 3D printable files of many of their cars for $4!! THIS is the first step of making 3D printing a household item.  The model car guys are really excited. 

These 3D printers are pretty cool.

 

However, you've gotta design and create the part you want using CAD (Computer Aided Design) software.

 

Software like AutoCAD ain't cheap, and the learning curve takes a college course.

 

Not something the average model railroader is gonna tackle.

If there's something you want done, you'll have to hire a CAD software pro to design it, then you'll have to choose the most durable and strongest plastic to use in the most accurate reproduction 3D printer machine.  

Lots of luck.   The best and most accurate (in millimeters of specs) 3D printers cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There are companies out there with those type of 3D printers that will do it for you if you provide them with the CAD file, but they don't wanna just make one or two items, they want to make a run of several hundred.  And it ain't gonna be cheap.

 

Maybe someday 3D printing (like computers) will be inexpensive and easy to use, but that day won't come for a long time.

Last edited by riki

No question the technology is advancing almost as fast as prices are beginning to drop.  

 

However these are not for the faint of heart.  It's  easy to make something from an existing plan.  And if you buy a 3-D scanner then reproducing some things would be fairly easy.

 

The biggest hurdle to 3-D printing in the home is that I think the vast majorities do not have the design skills to create a plan.  You need  much more than a passing fancy of design programs.  If they can solve that issue with technology then I think people will line up to buy them.  Although the way kids are so technology adept these days they could probably handle creating something after a few trys.

 

Ed

Originally Posted by Ed Walsh:

No question the technology is advancing almost as fast as prices are beginning to drop.  

 

However these are not for the faint of heart.  It's  easy to make something from an existing plan.  And if you buy a 3-D scanner then reproducing some things would be fairly easy.

 

The biggest hurdle to 3-D printing in the home is that I think the vast majorities do not have the design skills to create a plan.  You need  much more than a passing fancy of design programs.  If they can solve that issue with technology then I think people will line up to buy them.  Although the way kids are so technology adept these days they could probably handle creating something after a few trys.

 

Ed

Ed,

 

I'd like to agree with you, but 3D printing and learning CAD software to create what you want is far and beyond most teenagers and adults.

Yeah, some schools and colleges are just now offering courses of how to do it.

But it is learning the CAD software to create the exact design and specifications of something as well as the highly accurate machine to make it that is currently unaffordable to the average person.

I mean, if this technology was available, Lionel, MTH, Atlas and Bachmann would be punching out all kinds of detailed locos and boxcars at much cheaper prices.

 

But, they aren't.  That's because the present 3D printing technology for their use is still too expensive and years away from precise perfection.

 

 

It will never be economical for lionel to 3d print because of the volume. You can kick out pladtic parts from an injection mold 100 or 1000 times faster than 3d printing. And I learned autocad in high school, late 80's so not really new tech. It is expensive but not hard to learn, just takes practice, but consider the previous alternatives for making complex parts... buy a lathe and milling machine, spend potential thousands tooling, and accessories, and learn the trade of being a machinist. This is by far easier technology for the home modeler.

Is there any such thing as a free and open source 3D CAD package?

 

I was goofing around with BRL-CAD, but just making simple typos when going thru the tutorial made me question why am I doing this. I also couldn't come up with any drawing that had dimension lines on it.

 

Or put it another way, among those that use 3D printing, what software package are they using?

 

I have used AutoCAD back in the days of DOS and 80286, AutoCAD Lite, and now DraftSight. I bought TurboCAD a while ago, should have wasted it on some Lionel trains instead, it I could have enjoyed it then.

 

---------------------------------------------

 

Jeez, my manners.

 

Thanks for posting the video. That was neat!

Last edited by illinoiscentral
Originally Posted by riki:
Originally Posted by Ed Walsh:

No question the technology is advancing almost as fast as prices are beginning to drop.  

 

However these are not for the faint of heart.  It's  easy to make something from an existing plan.  And if you buy a 3-D scanner then reproducing some things would be fairly easy.

 

The biggest hurdle to 3-D printing in the home is that I think the vast majorities do not have the design skills to create a plan.  You need  much more than a passing fancy of design programs.  If they can solve that issue with technology then I think people will line up to buy them.  Although the way kids are so technology adept these days they could probably handle creating something after a few trys.

 

Ed

Ed,

 

I'd like to agree with you, but 3D printing and learning CAD software to create what you want is far and beyond most teenagers and adults.

Yeah, some schools and colleges are just now offering courses of how to do it.

But it is learning the CAD software to create the exact design and specifications of something as well as the highly accurate machine to make it that is currently unaffordable to the average person.

I mean, if this technology was available, Lionel, MTH, Atlas and Bachmann would be punching out all kinds of detailed locos and boxcars at much cheaper prices.

 

But, they aren't.  That's because the present 3D printing technology for their use is still too expensive and years away from precise perfection.

 

 

...I remember when cell phones were $1200, not that long ago.

 

A different Ed!

Originally Posted by eddiem:

...I remember when cell phones were $1200, not that long ago.

 

A different Ed!

Yeah, that was 20 years ago. 

 

Maybe, just maybe 20 years from now 3D printers, the plastic/resin and CAD software will be as easy to use as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel..... but don't count on it.

Eddie,

 

I agree that most kids, or anyone else for that matter, could not do this without extensive CAD training.  My comment about kids being able to do it was just an attempt to say that kids today are alot more tech savy than some adults, mainly me !!

 

I just can't wait for price and technology to arrive at a point where it would be something I could enjoy fooling with.  They better hurry up getting there though because at my age and health the faster they move the better. I'm to the point where I only put a few drops of smoke fluid in my steamer rather than fill it for fear it will get wasted ��

 

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

Ed

Tom gets Lab Equipment News' newsletter every day and we both get R and D Magazine's. Honest to glory, the stuff that's coming out all looks like science fiction, and if we opened it one day and saw "install your own stents" or "fine-tune your elbow" it wouldn't be that much of a surprise. I mean, look at the accessibility category on Thingiverse, understand that you can print all of that in ABS right now, and imagine the possibilities...

http://www.thingiverse.com/sea...accessibility&sa=

The future is here my friends.

I bought a 3D printer still in development for $400.

Sure, it had a few issues at first but I have printed a Picnic table, some pallets and a BTTF2 Delorian for my layout.

And current versions sell for a mere $600. Google Solidoodle to see them.

Now, the CAD is a different issue. I am fortunate to use SolidWorks at my job and have the home copy on my Computer here. Excellent software but very pricey for a hobby.

Try Sketchup or FreeCAD or others, Google is our friend here.

Actual use of them is unknown, I have SolidWorks, have used AutoCad Inventor and much prefer SolidWorks. It is much more intuitive to me.

Solidworks is also easy to get a drawing out of. Drag the view you want and drop it on the sheet. Pull out 3 views from it just by moving the mouse in the desired direction and clicking.  Go up and left for an Isometric view. Rt click to stop adding views.

Click the Dimension Icon and pick points to put dimensions on. Move the mouse orthagonal and click to place it. Pick the next pair of points or the same ones to dimension in the other plane.

Last edited by Russell

Even if you can't program, there are still a huge number of free files on Thingiverse, XYZware, etc. I'm looking around here...besides the stuff on the layout, and the big bridge I printed and haven't finished yet (want to dry-brush on some crud and tuck some lichen into the cracks) there are coffee mugs, coat hooks, plant hangers, two sundials, a keychain...instead of running to the store for little stuff like that, we print it.

I spent a number of years working as a carpenter building new homes.  I have always been interested in architecture.  I designed my present home 25 years ago on a drafting table.  I, also, tried learning CAD.  It's actually not hard, it just takes time to learn it.  Now, there is home design software you can buy very cheap and anyone can learn in a few days just by repetition.  Hey, a lot of us do it using Scarm or some other form of RR software.  Eventually, 3D printing software will be available inexpensively and some of us will be here on the forum telling everyone what they have designed and built for their layouts.

 

Rick

Originally Posted by Becky, Tom & Gabe Morgan:

Even if you can't program, there are still a huge number of free files on Thingiverse, XYZware, etc. I'm looking around here...besides the stuff on the layout, and the big bridge I printed and haven't finished yet (want to dry-brush on some crud and tuck some lichen into the cracks) there are coffee mugs, coat hooks, plant hangers, two sundials, a keychain...instead of running to the store for little stuff like that, we print it.

I wish I could print the coffee mug I broke yesterday.  Now that would be something.

The high school system in my area has been teaching CAD for at least the last five years.

My daughter took the introduction to CAD in her junior year in high school, and took advanced CAD her senior year.   She just finished her junior year in college and took a class with Applied 3d Printing CAD.

 

It is somewhat akin to when the middle and high schools in the mid 70's began having computer electives for this new-fangled PC thing    (I was high school class of 81).

We learned BASIC, and fundamental, early-adoption graphic programming.

 

So, kids are learning  3D Printing these days.   One of the large electronic supply stores near me sells all kinds of 3D printing materials, and even offers courses for people.

Again, just like places did when computers began to hit the consumer level.

 

 

Edited to add:   I recently printed two small pieces for one of my race cars (1:1 scale ) that the repro houses did not have.   I was also able to modify them in the design to fit how I wanted to use them.

 

Last edited by EscapeRocks
Originally Posted by Tinplate Art:

Ah, shades of Luddites on this thread!  Technology is moving at light speed, so never say "not soon enough"! 

Couple of quotes I heard recently:

"Don't think linearly in an exponential world; it won't work."

And probably the most telling one:

"Humans have no mental model to encapsulate the pace of innovation today."

 

We model rail / toy train hobbyists might shortly be seen chasing down the correct mechanism components as our home 3-d printers rattle off body shells and parts. Then when the cost of 3-D metal powder printers comes down, watch out........

It's all fine and good that folks of all ages are "learning" about 3-D technologies.  But there's also a very fine line in the sand, regarding whether these technologies will gain traction with the masses.  I guess time will tell.

 

Case in point... 8-10 years ago, companies like HP and Epson began offering wide-format (24"-44" width) printers to professional photographers and serious photography enthusiasts.  Some models even offered the capability of printing on different materials such as fine art papers and canvases.

 

As I've always said here, the devil is often in the details.    While it's great that these technologies were made available to more photographers, there is no free lunch in life.  Creating large format images correctly requires constant calibration of the equipment (i.e., color management is critical) and printing large posters can be a challenge when ink-jet heads clog and/or ink cartridges run out of certain ink colors in the final stages of printing a huge poster.    Don't ask me how I know.     I know many a photographer who now would rather use labs who deal with large-image printing EVERY DAY when they need to source the production of their large and fine-art prints.  Sure, it may cost a bit more for each print... but they also don't need to outlay $$$ for the purchase/maintenance/supplies of their own in-house printer.

 

I can only imagine similar issues are lurking with 3-D printer technologies as well.  So at least proceed with both eyes wide-open if you're gonna dabble in these technologies.  For those who like to get down-and-dirty, the technology can be very rewarding.  But if you tend to live happier in the "ready-to-run" segment of the market, then you're much better off buying the finished product from a known supplier, and let them worry about the false-starts, wasted supplies, and frustrations that come with the territory of producing niche products in larger economies of scale.

 

Just because you "can" do it, doesn't mean it's always the right choice that everyone "should" do it.

 

Meanwhile, have fun, all you early-adopters!!! 

 

David

Originally Posted by Bob Severin:
Originally Posted by Becky, Tom & Gabe Morgan:

Even if you can't program, there are still a huge number of free files on Thingiverse, XYZware, etc. I'm looking around here...besides the stuff on the layout, and the big bridge I printed and haven't finished yet (want to dry-brush on some crud and tuck some lichen into the cracks) there are coffee mugs, coat hooks, plant hangers, two sundials, a keychain...instead of running to the store for little stuff like that, we print it.

I wish I could print the coffee mug I broke yesterday.  Now that would be something.

Send me a well Dimensioned Picture and I'll print it. You pay for material used and  shipping! Material is ABS Plastic, this one won't break if ya drop it!

I will note it won't be as smooth as a ceramic cup. It will also be an off white as that is the color of my current material. (Natural ABS Plastic color)

I Need Height, inside and outside diameter, and a good shot of the handle design from side and straight on showing the full mug height so I can get a look at it's location on the cup.

Originally Posted by Ed Walsh:

Assuming the 3D scanner software/format is the type the 3-D printer is looking for then it will work. Which then makes the printer great for printing existing objects like broken parts and such.

 

Ed

3D printers almost always use the STL format for data. Can the Scanner output that or can you convert to it?

A program called Blender will convert several common 3D formats one to the other.

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