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A while ago I was watching the Discovery channel and saw a program in which some scientists somewhere were building plastic models using a computer. From what I understood, there's a big vat of molten plastic which cools and hardens as it rises out (...) (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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I've seen the same footage. As I understood the narrative, it's an epoxy-like resin that is hardened by the laser light. The laser is computer-controlled to build the item in question a layer at a time, as the item is lowered into the resin bath. As (...) (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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Recently Mike Stanley posted about doing some homemade pitchforks. Don't know if he posted the results of his experiment, but it sounded awfully intriguing to make your own special pieces. TJ (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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Kevin Maynes <ERASETHISBITkmaynes...surfr.com> wrote in message news:FMt8uu.33r@lugnet.com... (...) epoxy-like (...) computer-controlled to (...) the (...) manned (...) not be (...) couple (...) cheap (...) Some decades?..Even here in Turkey, (...) (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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Selçuk wrote in message ... (...) I think Kevin was trying to say that it would be some decades before this method would be used to produce consumer goods (or even specialty parts for lower volumes). Frank (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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(...) It is a low grade plastic tat is used extensively in the US Auto industry for prototyping, etc. Each unit costs between 100,000USD - 500,000USD. Very expensive, but it can take CAD data from Unigraphics or whatever, and make a part from the (...) (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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Michael Horvath wrote in message ... (...) From (...) hardens (...) to (...) attached (...) The process is called Stereo Lithography. At least one of the processes... It is a laser-hardened low grade plastic that acts as a 3-D plotter for CAD (...) (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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(...) That's it! I could not remember the name. (...) Yes, and the problem of securing at least $175,000!!!! Scott S. (...) (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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(...) I believe he process uses an ultraviolet laser that cures a liquid resin into a solid form. I know LEGO uses this to prototype parts - in last year's catalog the first images of Darth Vader's helmet you could see the horizontal lines from the (...) (25 years ago, 16-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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(...) I am at art school and we have just won a grant to purchase one of these units at around the $200,000 mark (Australian) Previously we had to send our files away for production at a cost of around $1000 (Aus) per item depending on size. The (...) (25 years ago, 17-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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We've (Well, I should say the development guys at IBM) have started using this process to make some of the plastic parts in our servers. Needless to say, unless you've won the $1 Billion powerball and have a few bits of cash floating around in the (...) (25 years ago, 19-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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| | Re: making your own LEGO parts
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(...) The nearest 'practical' equivalent I can think of, are the 'micro' CNC milling machines, these allow surfaces to be very accurately milled, and start at anout 10000 dollars. I have access to one used for making 'one off' prototypes of stuff, (...) (25 years ago, 19-Dec-99, to lugnet.general)
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