On 5/30/2012 3:51 AM, Roland Jollivet wrote: > Hi Alex > > Do you mind saying what you are printing, and if you feel the printing is a > worthwhile exercise? I've been looking at different printers for months, > but they only seem to be able to produce junk. Cnc'ing it out of a block of > plastic looks far more effective. > > Regards > Roland > > > Calling it junk is a bit harsh, but the fact remains that current DIY 3D printing technology is in its infancy and all the melted-filament deposition systems I've seen need a lot of twiddling to get reliable results.
I'm in the midst of that process myself. I chose to build a self-contained RepRap printer with a standard RepRap software/hardware chain rather than commit to a LinuxCNC-driven traditional 3-axis mill because I saw controlling the deposition process as being the hard bit. I didn't want to tie up perfectly good machinery while I worked my way up the learning curve. Since I want this to be a learning experience also for my grandkids, CNCing blocks of plastic isn't in the cards. I can do that to make the parts for the 3D printer, but they are still learning how to drill a hole (I know too many high school kids who haven't learned that the first tool you pick up is not the drill!). I want my grandkids to be able to design and produce recognizable artifacts without having first to learn all the intricacies of CAD/CAM/CNC/machine tools. If you want really elegant DIY output, check out what's happening with photo-initiated polymer resin-based printers, for example, http://b9creator.com/ Regards, Kent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
