"Richard Riley" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Oct 2007 21:27:02 -0600, "Bill Daniels"
bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote:

I just read an article that said these things are going to be consumerized
soon. Essentially, they take a PC CAD drawing and, using plastic resin,
make a 3Dpart. I'm not sure what kind of resin but there are engineering
expoxies that can be hardened with a UV LED or laser.

My question is will they be useful for homebuilders. I can see making
plastic sand cast cores and maybe custom knobs but could they make
structural items?

Bildan

This isn't going to help much, but "it depends."

The FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) machine I use at work is usually
set up to work with ABS plastic. The parts are pretty fragile, I
wouldn't even want to use them for knobs. But it can also work with
polycarbonate - lexan - and that's useful. You're not going to make
gear legs out of it, but ducts and lids would be fine.

OTOH, the same basic concept is used to scinter powdered steel with
lasers, or powdered titanium with electron beams. So it's probably
just a matter of time.

Actually, after I started the thread I realized that I was thinking of wax
casting cores. If the 3D printer could make 3D parts out of wax that could
be used in 'lost wax' aluminum casting that might indeed be useful.