Scott, your positive outlook is appreciated--just call me Pollyanna.
Star Trek replicator abilities have not yet been achieved by any of
the RP technologies, but meaningful advances have been made in
the equipment and materials of many of them. RP consumers
have several viable options to choose from these days for most
jobs and projects.
>From the perspective of an SLS'r, it's nice to be able to produce
good parts in a variety of materials with functional capabilities.
DuraForm* and DuPont Somos* 201 have presented some great
new options for detailed durable parts and rubber-like parts. At
least "fuzzy" doesn't have to be synonymous with SLS anymore.
I'm not up on all of the RP systems out there, but indications are
that improvements and enhancements are being made regularly
across the board.
We may just have to inch our way toward the pie-in-the-sky one
bite at a time. (Sorry for the inexcusable pun; I've got those
holiday desserts on my mind!)
Ron Clemons
> Today I was cleaning a SL part and noticed a few bubbles in the part. I
> thought that was odd. I had not seen bubbles in my parts since I got a
> zephyr recoating system. Then I got to thinking about all the other
> improvements I have seen in the SL process since I started running a SL
> lab 5+ years ago. Here are a few.
>
> Better lasers
> Dramatically less warp in the newer resins
> No more worries about trapped volumes
> Better supports
> Faster hardware
> Better software
> Increased part accuracy
> Thinner layers
> Less build failures.
>
> The list goes on and on. Many things like trapped volumes and bubbles I
> do not even have to consider or worry about anymore. I sure the dinosaurs
> list of obsolete tasks are much longer. Although I poke the bear (3D
> Systems) quite often about problems with the SLA, it is nice to look back
> and see the amazing changes that industry has seen in such a short time.
> It is still really cool to have a job in a field that most people don't
> know about!
>
> Happy Holidays
> --
> ####### Scott "Scooter" Sutterer
> #####\_O Premier Design & Mfg. Co.
> ####/\/> 5988 Mid Rivers Mall Dr.
> #### /" St. Charles MO 63304
> ### \ Phone: (314) 936-1288
> ## Fax: (314) 936-2528
> # ssutter@pdmfg.com
> www.pdmfg.com
>
> For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
>
********************************************
Harvest Technologies (254) 933-1000
Rapid Prototyping Services
1000 Industrial Park Road Belton, TX 76513
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jun 05 2001 - 22:47:34 EEST