On Sat, 25 Aug 2001, Tony Duell wrote:
Yes, I know it's nice to be able to make replacement parts (one day
there will be no more spares), which is why I intend to investigate
injection moulding at home.
If only we had Star Trek's replicators!
I'd say that personal manufacturing is bound only to get easier and less
expensive. Some day, even before the advent of replicators, it will be
feasible and cheap to build most any replacement part. I would expect
that to have a revolutionary effect on many fields of old stuff
collecting.
Within another ten years, surplus stereolithography machines (and other
"Santa Claus" machines) will be available to us. Good ones go for $250k,
but a friend of mine and I thought we could engineer one to sell for about
$25k, and others are likely having the same idea...
For those you you who aren't familiar with these, think of them as
"3d plotters". Some carve away at a block of material until the object
of desire remains; others deposit tiny beads of metal that are sintered
(?) together; my favorite uses a polymer fluid and a UV laser; the laser
draws a cross-section on the fluid, which hardens the polymer; a tray
under the first cross-section lowers slightly, the laser draws the next
cross-section, and so on, until you have The Object. I think another
spews plastic beads in a fashion similar to the sintered metal.
Anyone have any hands-on experience with them? I could watch, but they
wouldn't let me touch... ;-)
-dq