Re: Research help-Rp color

From: Nkin (Nkin@aol.com)
Date: Sat May 02 1998 - 20:06:33 EEST


Hi Charly,

Of course you can just "zap out" the boring color talk, but I'll offer a quick
and partial explanation of its fascination.

The people who have been writing about "color" seem to have a wide range of
interests -
from a few with an immediate need to distinguish between the different
components of an
assembly being studied - to a few people with a long-range vision of a new
medium of
communication - true "3D printing" for use by anyone and everyone with a
special 3D
interest.

Since none of us has a functional "crystal ball" to predict the future, we can
only look at
such things as history, human tendencies, technological trends - then make a
personal prediction.
Personally, I've noted the following:

1. The market for completely new products is extremely difficult to predict.
Of course,
this does not mean that 3D printing will be wildly successful. It does,
however, make it easier to ignore dire warnings reminiscent of those which
greeted electricity, telephones, transatlantic air travel, photocopiers,
computers, laser printers, etc. [I've heard it said that the greatness of an
invention is closely related to the percentage of people who think it's
"absolutely crazy."]

2. Communication and comprehension are high priorities in today's world.
People have a particularly difficult time comprehending complex 3D issues and
have a natural
appreciation for things which can be touched, held, cut, walked around. etc.
"Virtual
reality" is great - but no substitute for "real reality."

3. Technology can make tremendous progress with difficult problems. When
one compares the amount of research money which has been spend on "RP" with
the
amount of research money which has been spent in other industries, one must
conclude that this industry is still in its "infancy." There's a lot of
progress to be made in all aspects of the 3D challenge - from data gathering
to data processing to data printing.

No problem that your budget can't handle a color machine just now. Someday,
you'll be able to stroll down the street for a colored 3D print - at your
local copy shop. You'll be surprised at the ordinary "users" you meet there.
You'll be amazed at how much this "infant industry" has grown.

Norm Kinzie

In a message dated 98-05-02 08:18:33 EDT you write:

> Hello Brad,
>
> that is exactly what I ask myself all the time.
> Iīve no idea why anyone of our customers should need color parts.
> There have been a lot of discussion about that in the list but I canīt
> remember any reason where you need it. Just for "why not" nobody will
> create a machine for, even if it is possible.
> By the way: For funktional testing we use vacuum casting in 95% of all
> cases, most time colored. The other 5 % are painted.
>
> So it leeds me to the main topic:
> -how much money can we get for colored RP-Parts ( no Euro)
> -how much new customer will we get with colored RP ( no one)
>
> If I add this components together we can spend nothing for a color
> machine
>
> The only thing I could see is a more component machine to produce more
> component parts used for special applications e.g. burning out
>
> Best regards
>
> Charly Fruth
> FIT GmbH, Germany

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