Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post - 3d printing: The reality of the handy dandy home replicator

35NCO · 10-29-2017, 19:43

Tomahawk, I got into the Autodesk side earlier, but there are a lot of great 3d modeling programs. I like Fusion because it's free, but you are right, solidworks is awesome too. Especially with some of its simulation visualizations. I had never heard of Rhino, I will look into that.

TR, I agree with your points on the future of manufacturing and innovation. It is really troubling how we are short on machinists and CNC people right now. General mechanical knowledge is poor too. What's worse is all those amazing teachers that knew all the tricks before CNC was around are a few less every day. It is indeed the time to learn and then teach. Someday most of that will be gone. There are things that were mass made in WWII that today we already forgot how they made them!

I should stress 3d printing in general, FFT or SLA do not replace machine shop or machine skills. Printing is another tool. It is the difference between additive and subtractive manufacture. There are crosses to both where machining or printing makes the other easier or more efficient for various reasons to use or learn. G code (sorta) and 3d design are common between them. The CAM, feeds, speeds, offsets, and tooling are different. Thinking about how to machine or print a part are very different.

Flagg, We have "MakerSpaces" here too. Alot like that.

10-29-2017, 19:43	#7
35NCO Guerrilla Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: CONUS Posts: 403	Tomahawk, I got into the Autodesk side earlier, but there are a lot of great 3d modeling programs. I like Fusion because it's free, but you are right, solidworks is awesome too. Especially with some of its simulation visualizations. I had never heard of Rhino, I will look into that. TR, I agree with your points on the future of manufacturing and innovation. It is really troubling how we are short on machinists and CNC people right now. General mechanical knowledge is poor too. What's worse is all those amazing teachers that knew all the tricks before CNC was around are a few less every day. It is indeed the time to learn and then teach. Someday most of that will be gone. There are things that were mass made in WWII that today we already forgot how they made them! I should stress 3d printing in general, FFT or SLA do not replace machine shop or machine skills. Printing is another tool. It is the difference between additive and subtractive manufacture. There are crosses to both where machining or printing makes the other easier or more efficient for various reasons to use or learn. G code (sorta) and 3d design are common between them. The CAM, feeds, speeds, offsets, and tooling are different. Thinking about how to machine or print a part are very different. Flagg, We have "MakerSpaces" here too. Alot like that. Last edited by 35NCO; 10-29-2017 at 19:59.
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