At 11:28 AM -0400 24/5/98, Karl R. Denton wrote:
>I thought I would send a few comments out about this years RP show and
>conference in Dearborn, MI...
Great Karl, and a collective thanks from all of us who could not attend
this year's show. There's nothing like a mailing list for moving this kind
of info.
>First the show:
> Z Corporation is one to watch
We've been watching for over a year! When will this machine be available in
Europe?
>Extrudehone . . . looked great so this is another
>one to watch.
We've been watching for over a year! When will this machine be available in
Europe?
>Dynamic Tooling - Jet Mold, Introduced a process/product called PolySteel.
>The process is available for licensing and they will provide complete
>training.
How much do they charge for the licence?
Did anyone notice Express Tool?
>there is even a UV curable silicone rubber
>system!
I guess you are referring to MCP's "Templess" process, which as far as I
know uses a Japanese silicone that cures under UV light in around 30
minutes, e.g. much faster than regular or vacuum cast silicone molding. I
have heard that this process is good for only a few shots, say 5, and is
very expensive. Can anyone tell us more?
>There was also a larger number of metal casting vendors,
>I guess that most have come to use if not embrace the RP pattern production
>methods.
What is the preferred RP pattern material these days? Here in Europe EOS
polystyrene is used mostly, but Actua wax parts also. I guess Quickcast is
used too, though not here in Italy as far as I know. When I was last in
Dearborn it seemed like US foundries could even cast bricks if they needed
to.
>As I walked through the show I spoke with nearly all of the principles of
>the equipment manufacturers and it was clear that times are getting better.
Gee Karl, that's good news. I wonder what happened to change the dire
predictions of only a few months ago. Has the industry overcome it's
problems already? Have we reduced the prices of RP machines? Have we
solved accuracy problems? Are the big manufacturers moving in? I didn't
hear about it.
>Now for the conference:
>
>I sat through about half of the talks and while the presentations were
>quality presentations I must admit that I don't feel like I had learned a
>great deal from them.
We just had our local RP conference, and most people went away with the
same feeling. There was some resentment over the high entrance charges,
since the accompanying exhibition was v. poorly supported. The usefulness
of these events comes from the contacts you make, from the concentration of
people who do similar work in one place. That's what you pay for.
Thanks Karl, and Anshuman Razdan (and Brock and Terry privately) for your
insights. It almost feels like I was there.
----------------------
Yakov Horenstein
Milano, Italy
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