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To: Regulator
The problem is the print time. At the moment, only low rate production can be supported by printers because of that - which is perfect for highly complex items, in high valued added parts, but not hyper mass production like Toyota gearboxes.

Mass production may be infeasible, but theoretically, I see potential here for print-on-demand production of rare and unavailable parts for vintage vehicles that are no longer in production.

26 posted on 03/12/2015 11:41:09 AM PDT by RansomOttawa (tm)
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To: RansomOttawa

That’s already a market with the Scan-print gig.

Takes some effort to scan complex parts but eventually you can get there.

Harrell essentially did just that. Guarantee you he does not have the geometry for those gears except as a scanned surface.


27 posted on 03/12/2015 11:43:50 AM PDT by Regulator
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To: RansomOttawa

Manufacturers of commercial aircraft went down this road 2 decades ago, prototyping mockup components; and, working out issues before tooling up for actual parts. Now actual parts are fabricated to shed +10% weight over results obtainable with traditional machining/ fabrication techniques.

NASA needed a fuel injection assembly for an F-1 returned from museum storage. Traditional supply operations forecast delivery of +1 year. Printing a working unit was achieved in a abbreviated time frame.

http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-monstrous-f-1-moon-rocket-back-to-life/2/

http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/08/nasa-test-fires-3d-printed-rocket-parts-low-cost-high-power-innovation/


40 posted on 03/12/2015 1:18:58 PM PDT by Ozark Tom
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