Future of RP

From: Steven Pollack (themissinglink@eznetinc.com)
Date: Fri Dec 04 1998 - 07:52:07 EET


To further the discussion of the future of rapid prototyping and whether
it will become mainstream of if it will remain, as I expect, a tool of
the professional, I offer the following observations.

Lets say that the cost of a laser sintering station came down to $3,000,
an absurd thought I think but just for the sake of discussion, Hewlett
Packard mass produces them and drives down the cost. At this price,
there would still be few hobbyist willing to purchase this for limited
use. How many in the mainstream would spend $3,000 on a color printer
if that was the going rate?

As a point, however, this would not be rapid prototyping just as in the
case of the Sanders models used for lost wax casting of jewelry is
actually rapid model making. It would be rapid manufacturing. There is
still the matter of surface finish and I cannot see how technological
advances in laser sintering could produce a mirror finish. There will
always be the polishing step.

My point is that this technology erases the barriers between large and
small manufacturers but would probably never get to the use by the end
consumer.

The reason I am so excited about this technology is because of how it
alters the economies of scale for me. I am a custom goldsmith and I
carve original waxes by hand out of a block of hard wax by using hand
and rotary tools. I might spend 6 hours carving a wax model and another
two hours finishing in metal. The large manufacturer spends 50 hours on
the original model which will be amortized over thousands of pieces to
reduce the metal finishing time to a half hour. On the custom scale I
spent 8 hours so it never made sense to spend as much time perfecting
the original as the large manufacturer. To the large manufacturer, the
important number is the time for finishing as that is his cost per
piece. 3D modeling and the Sanders machine will give me the ability to
produce manufacturer quality original models. I can visualize mass
customization.

Jewelry designs have been driven by costs as much as anything. The
whole concept of the ring and setting(head) being independent is based
on the inventory savings of stocking one mounting capable of handling a
variety of different stone shapes and sizes. My designs are unibody
construction which guaranteed me uniqueness in the marketplace dominated
by modularity. Now I can easily customize unibody construction for a
multitude of stones and finger sizes. Economics will no longer
constrain designs. That is the beauty of rapid modeling.

http://www.familyjeweler.com

Steve

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