3D Printer

[JoeP]

It sure would be fun to see the chassis without the body, but that would give everything away I suppose.

[BeauV]

It sure would be fun to see the chassis without the body, but that would give everything away I suppose.

Actually, he was passing around the parts and describing how he built them. His goal is to build a set of parts as a demonstration, then sell the associated assembly equipment and 3D printer he has developed to the auto industry. Aircraft are also on the list. He's a tool builder, he only built the car to get the Auto Industry interested. He's an amateur race car driver, so he's going to go run this thing on some well know tracks to show how fast and durable it is.

He has run it on Laguna Seca race track and this thing is WAY faster than the fastest Corvettes, small wonder it's got more in common with an Atom than a Corvette. He has also run it for a long number of laps, I'm not sure how many, to show durability. My understanding is they ran at race speeds for well over 24 hours.

It'll be interesting to see if anyone in the Auto industry cares, they are pretty immune to good ideas.

[Soñadora]

BV, the video just before your post shows Aluminum sintering

It's a fantastic technology similar to SLA. Not quite for home use yet. The sintering heads use a lot of juice and the machines are 6 figures.

[Soñadora]

There's a site called 'Thingiverse' that has thousands of 3D printed designs.

Here are some tubing connectors:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:195140

[Tim OConnell]

Multi material printing. Up to 10 materials

http://youtu.be/poRFPjiB9vw

[Soñadora]

making quite a bit of progress with my printer. Screw ups are less and less and the quality continues to improve.

It's been about 6 mos since I got into this. To say I've obsessed with it is an understatement. I don't know what it is that has tweaked me so. Nearest I can figure is that for the longest time I've been drawing and designing 'things'. And now, I can bring those 'things' to life. Right now I'm obsessing over each improvement to this machine. Each time it gets better I find a new opportunity to improve it. It's in a space and time that is manageable. I've put my sailmaking venture on hold for the time being. In comparison, that's quite daunting and requires more logistical planning. I will definitely get back to it, but for now I have to scratch this itch.

In October, I have a class scheduled to teach people how to build a 3D machine. We need a minimum of 5 people to break even. There are only 3 signed up. I will be campaigning a little in the coming weeks to try to get the word out. I really hope we can pull it off.

[Soñadora]

Starting to build my brand. The company name will be 'Proto-Plastik'

This is the logo I designed.

http://proto-plastik.com

I will be working to put more on the site soon.

[Soñadora]

we have class!

A few months ago I spoke with my friend Virginia at MCTC (minnapolis.edu - Minneapolis Community & Technical College) about setting up a class for building a 3D printer. Until about a month ago, we had two students signed up. That wouldn't have been enough and I was resigned to cancelling the class.

But 6 more people signed up over the last few weeks! I am SO STOKED. This is going to be a really awesome class. So looking forward to it. We start on Wed.

[kimbottles]

very nice Rick!!

[JoeP]

Excellent!

[Ish]

Hey Rick, there's a thread over on SA that could use your input. http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=169672

[Soñadora]

Cool! Thanks Ish!

[Soñadora]

I know some of you may have wondered what happened to me: captured by aliens (sort of), thrown in jail (surprisingly, no), sailed off over the horizon (still in my dreams).

I have broke the surly bonds of reality and have ventured off into the ether of my ventures. My company - Proto-Plastik (soon to be renamed Proto-Plastic - that cute 'k' has been problematic) isn't necessarily on the threshold of major success, but it has morphed into a physical manifestation of those things I enjoy most after my family.

Paging through this thread, it's fun to see where I was.

This is a video from about a year ago. And even since this video, my printer designs have progressed significantly. This is just two of my machines. I currently have 5 and I am looking to move to a space to triple that.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hWRvYbhzZw[/youtube]


This spring I intend to launch a kickstarter campaign. There seem to be hundreds of new 3D printers on kickstarter. The angle for mine will be different. These printers are mostly self-printed. The hardware is around $150 and the print material is about $10 per machine. They will be marketed as 'meta printers'. Each machine will come with all the files necessary to build as many machines as one would want.

Why would anyone want to do that? I have my reasons

[Soñadora]

Another revisit. I suppose every 6 to 9 months I should dig this thing up.

I have developed this insanity into something more concrete. Earlier this week, I posted all the 'source code' for my 3D printers on GitHub as an open-source repository. I now have 4 different models with the intention of targeting a wide range of enthusiasts.

[Orestes Munn]

This is amazing stuff, Rick. The self-replicating concept, especially.

I guess we could cut off their access to plastic, if things got out of hand...

[Soñadora]

Thanks OM. It's been a personally rewarding experience so far. I've been doing a lot of marketing and research of the concept and it could be a lucrative concept financially as well.

Currently working through some quality tests. I have been using the Great Lakes 40 cruising sailboat I designed years ago as a benchmark. Getting some pretty cool results.