Have you guys seen this?!!!?!!!

[Crash Test Dummy]

Check this out. The plane was printed on a 3 D printer! This could change everything. It comes off the printer with the surfaces already hinged and attached. You will like the video.

First flight of 3D printed plane

CTD

[LowThudd]

Completely Awesome! I wonder what the cost will be like for consumers. But, as the cost of 3d printers comes down, it's conceivable that in a few years we could be sharing cad print files(or whatever) to make our own planes. Imagine the possibilities.

[cyclops2]

Imagine my monthly loan payments !

[LowThudd]

Start saving! lol http://www.webpronews.com/want-a-3d-...tarter-2012-11

[LowThudd]

http://www.3dstuffmaker.com/ DIY kits at @$500

[Crash Test Dummy]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LRv4jp-hhBE
Enjoy.

[hayofstacks]

We've been working on building wing ribs and fuse joiners and things like that to build the plane up on a preformed fuse.

[BroncoSquid]

Nice. But I am not looking to throw away my xacto knife just yet. Alot of work for what seems an average plane.

[hayofstacks]

This goes a lot further then just airplanes. Say you broke a switch on your car, lost a battery case for a remote, wanted a plastic enclosure for a project, just about anything really. If you can draw it, you can build it.

Personally, I like the idea of building my own batter boxes, wing mounts, landing gear and servo trays for planes like the slow stick. I'm drawing up a motor mount for my plane right now. The sky is the limit.

Check out thingyverse(sp). And just look at the thousands of things you can build with just the click of a button.

[Bill G]

Originally Posted by BroncoSquid

Nice. But I am not looking to throw away my xacto knife just yet. Alot of work for what seems an average plane.

You got it. These technologies are interesting, but there's more work in creating the a good cad design and then generating the required cad files, than there is in just having at it with the exacto and a free 3-view. Well it's free, minus the cost of printer ink, paper, and a bit of time enlarging with the advanced cad package MS Paint. I remember performing countless Pro-e cad file tweaks in efforts to generate stl files for SLAs, as they would constantly crash in the conversion process. It doesn't all just flow along as smoothly as they would like you to think, when selling this equipment. Then there's the cost of a good 3D printer.

[hayofstacks]

A lot of things are already designed for you.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:28877

Slow stick battery mount with velcro attachment.

Type in i-phone 5 and look at all the mounts and custom holders for cell phones. Even the hard plastic backing and covers as well as docking stations and stands. The sky is the limit. My dad even built a electrical socket and light switch cover.

[hayofstacks]

http://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=servo&sa=

Just typing in servo gives you a bunch of stuff too. Everything from mounts, cases, gears, covers linkages and even servo horns. Type in quad copter, and look at all of the custom things you can build. Even a penny bottle opener or whistle.

You can make things that can't be injection molded,or impossible to build any other way, such as the impossible knot. Pretty soon everyone will be building parts like this, rather then china.

You can build your own for about $500, and then make kits and sell them online to help pay off the machine. The firmware is free, the designs are free, the plastic is biodegradeable, or even make high quality abs parts. Custom cowling covers for models, spinners, even props for model boats.

[Crash Test Dummy]

Very cool Hayofstacks! Thanks for posting. Sounds like you have a 3 D printer. What ya got?

This is cool stuff. I have been doing a lot of reading about this subject, very neat stuff u can do with 3D printing.

CTD

[mclarkson]

You don't need your own 3D printer. There are plenty of service bureaus out there that will print from your 3D files.

http://www.shapeways.com/

Navigating through the choices and materials and processes (Fused Deposition Modeling? Laser Sintering? Etc? Etc?) is another matter.

[CNY_Dave]

I like the way the guts slide in...

[hayofstacks]

Originally Posted by Crash Test Dummy

Very cool Hayofstacks! Thanks for posting. Sounds like you have a 3 D printer. What ya got?

This is cool stuff. I have been doing a lot of reading about this subject, very neat stuff u can do with 3D printing.

CTD

We've got a rerap. My dad has some video's of it printing on youtube. His user name is reprapper on there.

Right now we're are using several different generations of parts all cobbled together using older makerbot software. The quality isn't perfect, but we are using pla everything built on a reprap.

The next one we build will be using a much better extruder and pars that are desinged to go together. Right now we have pla clamps for the carriage up and down axis. We couldn't find any good collets or adaptars for the smaller stepper motors to the 3/8" allthread. It has been giving us some problems, but will build dimensionally good and strong parts.

Right now we have a slowstick motor mount, wingmounts, landing gear blocks, battery holders and servo trays that have been built and function perfectly. Were also working on a box fuse that will fit around a 3/8" square dowel to build our own plane around. Next step will be plastic wing ribs that will slide onto another square dowel for the main spar.

My dad is the real guru with these types of things, but I know a bit about it.

[road king 97]

It looks like they are trying to put some china people out of work but its not a great looker. If i wanted a plane built by china or a printer i would not have not bought all my tools /plans /balsa to sit back and build some of my off the wall planes that no arf company or 3-d printer ever will do . To me it looks like a bunch of programing geeks who got bored one week. Here is a plane i got plans to build next year ,lets see them print this out and fly it.lmao joe

[copterrichie]

Amazing Technology!

[Bill G]

Originally Posted by road king 97

It looks like they are trying to put some china people out of work but its not a great looker. If i wanted a plane built by china or a printer i would not have not bought all my tools /plans /balsa to sit back and build some of my off the wall planes that no arf company or 3-d printer ever will do . To me it looks like a bunch of programing geeks who got bored one week. Here is a plane i got plans to build next year ,lets see them print this out and fly it.lmao joe

That's where I'm at.
Interestingly it seems that whenever someone responds with anything other than outright praise, that there suddenly comes a response of outright praise.

Bill has only one ID

[CNY_Dave]

I don't think the point is how good (or not) this printed plane is, but the fact that the plane could be printed.

I think an enterprising gent could start providing spare parts for all those hobby-king planes for which you can't obtain spare parts...

And I have to say again the way the active bits slide into the rst of the fuse is a great idea.

[Crash Test Dummy]

http://www.ideaslaboratory.com/2012/...mber_176688115

This process was will change manufacturing forever. They say they have one of these on the International space station so they can make parts rite on the spot. Some machines can also print metal! Titanium has been printed to make a jawbone for a lady! They can make custome prosthetics for people who loose legs and they r perfect fits. Cool stuff.

CTD

[BroncoSquid]

I'm not saying it isn't cool, it is just that it is all about the engineering of the printer. If they printed out a RC boat few HERE would take a second look. I am sure that is not the first Printed object to fly.

[Bill G]

Originally Posted by BroncoSquid

I'm not saying it isn't cool, it is just that it is all about the engineering of the printer. If they printed out a RC boat few HERE would take a second look. I am sure that is not the first Printed object to fly.

Ditto. I thought it was cool too, but that was back in 1998 when I worked at a company, making proto parts from their SLA station. I also was more impressed with the technology than the actual parts made from the process. The primary uses for this technology have been custom manufacturing and prototyping, from my understanding.

There are some key drawbacks that will keep this technology from competing with injection molded production.
1. The simple fact that advances in the same computer controlled multi-axis technologies used for these printers, have drastically decreased the cost of creating permanent molds.
2. Speed. For manufacturing quantities, this technology does not compete well with injection molding. The same goes for laser cutting, where a permanent die set can cut part sheets much faster.
3. Materials. This technology has come a long way since it's start, but the materials (resins) still have limitations and costs that I do not believe are cost competitive with permanent molding.

[copterrichie]

I foresee the Injection Mold being 3D printed.

[mclarkson]

Molds are actually a pretty common 3D printed object these days.