Additive Manufacturing

I have always been fascinated with present technology allowing us to create physical 3D objects within minutes of conception on the screen. My first experience with additive manufacturing was in an engineering and design class during my high school years. We were fortunate enough to, in 2004, have a 3D Systems printer right there in our classroom for us to utilize and learn from. My mind was running with all the fun projects we could print out with our new printer! Years down the road I was ecstatic when we got a call from a client stating that they needed some historic cast iron parts replicated on a project in Galveston, TX. My gut feeling was to do a 3D scan and in then reproduce the originals in a long-lasting ABS plastic that would be sealed and painted. Initially we had priced what it would cost to have a specialty cast-iron company come down and make molds of the existing product. Due to the scope of the project it was simply cost-prohibitive to go this route. I then decided to estimate what it would take to scan, print, assemble, and install these pieces all in house with a 3D scanner and printer. The numbers spoke for themselves being less than 1/4 the cost of traditional methods. I utilized a 3D Systems desktop scanner to scan in an existing molding piece. Using Autodesk Inventor I was able to modify the scanned solid and model it in a clean symmetrical print file that would then be sent to a WASP Turbo 2040 3D printer. In the field the pieces were all fitted together, epoxied into place, sanded, painted, and sealed. The end result is a product that will never rest and is should last longer than the original cast-iron piece.