RE: Modeler evaluation

From: Brant, Jeff E. (Jeff.Brant@alcoa.com)
Date: Thu Sep 23 1999 - 20:47:53 EEST


Wayne,

All of the processes above will make good quality models and depending on
the size of the models you want to make there may be several more options.
I have been using our parent company to make SLA models for me but I find
the are very expensive and require a lot of harsh chemicals and a lot of
post processing. Because of this I am looking at the Stratasys line and
they have several very good options, the newest being their "Waterworks"
product that allows supports to be simply washed away in a water bashed
solution that is non-toxic. This really reduces the post processing time and
also does not require any curing oven or other expensive device. Even if I
had an unlimited budget (which I don't know anyone who does!) for my needs I
would go with Stratasys.

Jeff Brant
Product Design
Alcoa CSI
Crawfordsville IN

-----Original Message-----
From: wlfoss@collins.rockwell.com [mailto:wlfoss@collins.rockwell.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 1999 11:26 AM
To: rp-ml@ltk.hut.fi
Subject: Modeler evaluation

Hi all,

I have an opportunity that may require me to consult upon the merits of the
various SLA modelers offered by 3D Systems (as well as modelers from DTM
and Stratasys). I have gathered many impressions about each SLA modeler
over the years through trade shows, technical articles and this mail list.
However, we do not have an SLA modeler in-house nor have I ever had any
hands-on experience.

Sooooooooooo..................

If I had an unlimited budget (yeh, right!), is the SLA-7000 the best choice
at $800 K? Or would I be better off with the $500 K SLA-5000. Have any
SLA-7000's been sold? How much will it cost me to set up an operation from
scratch (no molding)? I know that I will need a UV oven and media-blaster,
but what other items and facilities will I need? Or should I consider a DTM
Sinterstation 2500Plus or a Stratasys Quantum because of the purchase price
and the cost of related equipment and installation?

This ought to start a real hot dialog on the list, but this is a potential
situation for me. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Also, vendors and
manufacturers please do not contact me about this as I already have most of
your materials.

Wayne L. Foss
Rockwell Collins, Inc.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/

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 - 22:52:49 EEST