Flexible materials for scuba fin

From: Marshall Burns (Marshall@Ennex.com)
Date: Mon Nov 08 1999 - 17:02:47 EET


Hi folks,

    First question: Does anyone know the technical numbers that describe the
material properties required of a SCUBA FIN? Properties such as modulus,
elongation, tensile and flexural strength, etc. and also surface smoothness?
Primarily, I see a need for a material that combines being SOFT and
TOUGH, but I'd like to be able to express that quantitatively if I can.

    Second question: How close are we to being able to deliver those
properties straight out of a fabber today? Many of you are experienced in
using flexible materials on today's fabbers (SLA, Sinterstation, maybe some
on LOM). How close could you come to making a scuba fin that you could put
on your foot and go diving in?

    I'm not talking about a secondary process that casts in a different
material after fabbing a mold or master on the fabber. I'm talking only
about materials that come directly out of the machine.

    (This posting carries on with the discussion last week about direct
manufacturing of products in fabbers. I've told you that I'm writing about
this for an upcoming issue of the RP Report. You may have seen a TV
commercial by UPS that shows a scuba fin being delivered from an Internet
vendor by a fabber in the customer's home. I'll be writing about how far
that fantasy is from becoming reality. Thanks for your help with my research
on it.)

Best regards,
Marshall Burns
President, Ennex Corporation

Marshall@Ennex.com
Los Angeles, USA, (310) 824-8700
www.Ennex.com

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