On 26/12/2014 17:58, Theo Markettos wrote:
wrote:
On 25/12/2014 20:09, Brian Gaff wrote:
The thing is though, How does one get the data about the part into the
system? Is there a 3D scanner as well?
Brian

There certainly are 3D scanners. However, I suspect that a lot of items
are designed in software and that design simply put into a form that a
3D printer can use.

True. But what's the chance of getting the CAD file forthat thing in my
20 year old dishwasher? Or the 'funny clippy bit' on my bike? Call up the
manufacturer and ask?

CAD is the biggest problem IMHO. It's fine to design simple objects, but
most of the things I want to build with a 3D printer aren't simple. The
'funny clippy bit' has a particular rounded shape in order to clip, and I
can't just duplicate that with cubes and spheres and extruded outlines.


Chances are that if you're making a replacement 3D component, it won't
have that many critical dimensions. So measure the important bits of the
broken one, and design something which is functionally equivalent
without worrying too much about how pretty it looks.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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