Quote:
Originally Posted by SlowOne
Dream on! The material used for stereo lith is nowhere near the strength we need. Most of our plastic parts are re-enforced with fibres. Stereo lith cannot do that.
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It's not stereo lithography, it's 3D printing. 3D printing has been around a few years, and the price of 3D printers has come down to
under £15,000 although if you want to make your own for under £1000 have a look at the
Reprap.
3D printing works like an inkjet printer but uses plastic, most commonly ABS, instead of ink. You can even use different coloured plastics to self colour the objects and create objects made of several components ready assembled. If you want to see what a 3D printer is capable of, watch the second part of this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggvzcGdZsTc Yes, they did print out a working adjustable spanner in one piece.
There are companies who will take your cad file and print out the model for you, although if you are planning on doing that for rc car parts for one offs it would be better getting them machined in nylon or aluminium through
emachineshop.com