RE: [rp-ml] free STL Files and other (free) things we wish for in the new year

Marshall,

Your point is well taken. My comments were in no way directed towards Adrian or you. I should have made this clear. As a big believer in the power of RP technology and how it can change the way we work and produce, I found some of the comments thought provoking. You have to admit there as been a huge absence of tech info on this list for a while. Have times past me by and the younger crowd migrated to new venues?

John Mullen
Rapid Prototype Manager
Hasbro, Inc.
1027 Newport Avenue 401.727.5194
Pawtucket, RI 02862 johnmullen@hasbro.com
________________________________
From: owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi [mailto:owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi] On Behalf Of Marshall Burns
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 12:18 PM
To: rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi
Subject: RE: [rp-ml] free STL Files and other (free) things we wish for in the new year

John,

            I hope you get some good responses to your inquiry about machining small ABS gears, indeed an important problem.

            I have to disagree with you that in the early 90s we didn't have discussions such as the one Adrian Bowyer has been stimulating. If I remember correctly, there was a steady stream of heated arguments about where the technology was going, how it would be used, and how it would affect society. When my book was published in 1993, it included a chapter, "Economic and Sociological Impact." Along with sections on the new role of the customer in manufacturing and on how to get rich from fabricators, there was my favorite section of the book, "Impact of Automated Fabrication on Society," which I later posted in the philosophy section of my personal website at www.MBurns.com/sophics/autofab.asp<http://www.mburns.com/sophics/autofab.asp> . I have sometimes wondered if the musings in that section were part of the reason the Genie Studio Fabber didn't get funded!

            The word "money" does not appear there, but the very first sentence is, "A new technology can change the way people and nations interact with each other and with their environments, how they acquire goods and services for survival and betterment, and how they assign value to various sorts of available goods and services," which is exactly what the debate here in the past few days has been about.

            I've been delighted with the way Adrian has gone far beyond the ideas discussed there. More important yet is that Adrian is not just speaking theoretically, but has put his ideas into a physical product that he has brought to market, something I did not succeed in doing.

            I do understand that some or many members of this list are only interested in technical information or economic applications. Please bear with the rest of us geeks who are also interested in more esoteric aspects of the field.

Regards,
Marshall Burns
www.fabbers.com<http://www.fabbers.com/>

________________________________
From: owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi [mailto:owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi] On Behalf Of Mullen, John
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 07:46
To: José Joaquín Prieto Cruz; G. Sachs; rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi
Subject: RE: [rp-ml] free STL Files and other (free) things we wish for in the new year

I remember back in the early 1990's when the RP mailing list was very vibrant and informative with issues related to Rapid Prototyping. If you saw a new rpml email come through, you read it and many times learned something. There was none of this ranting we've seen recently and just hitting the delete key as the messages come in.

Are we all just the old timers left on this list? Where have the young bloods gone? Blogs?.......Twitter?.....other lists?

The recent political rants need to move onto to a chat line please and off the rpml.

This is still a very dynamic industry, with so many things changing in hardware, software, materials, processes, etc. each month and year. I would like to hear about it and learn something.

Here's what's on my mind this morning..........

Is there someone out there who can actually RP small, usable gears for me? I'd love to move away from machining numerous ABS gears for our electronic "works like" prototype models. Anyone have some success? We do create RP gears in a variety of technologies, but they all suffer from one issue or another such as initial material strength, inaccuracies, material breakdown. After the design is proven we machine custom gears. I don't need a very long life for these typically a couple of months tops, just a quite, smooth running gear. As always timing is an issue. It's asking a lot but it's my Holy Grail.

Someone inspire me again....teach me something please.

John Mullen
Rapid Prototype Manager
Hasbro, Inc.
1027 Newport Avenue 401.727.5194
Pawtucket, RI 02862 johnmullen@hasbro.com<mailto:johnmullen@hasbro.com>
Received on Fri Jan 08 21:56:36 2010