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General discussions. For specific printers / electronics / fabrication methods / softwares, please see other sections.
Re: Real Value - 16 years ago
Service job or machinist? When the job becomes to manufacture a unique item, that will be proudly displayed for maybe a week before the owner gets bored and has another made, was it manufacturing or service? Is a web page a manufactured item? Or is it the result of the service industry? Is a ringtone? Is it still if the wealthy demand one of a kind versions for an evening event, only to recycleby Roach_S - General
Library is editable again - 16 years ago
I noticed they turned editing back on for the object library wiki. Already seventeen pages got spammed, some of them twice. Time to be vigilant again.by Roach_S - General
Re: Real Value - 16 years ago
Okay. Four points. First of all, haven't you noticed most people don't last long after retirement? Certainly, some of it is people tend to retire when they can no longer manage to work, but I believe slothful people quit living. If you're not doing anything to engage yourself, you age off faster. My belief. Second of all. I'd probably be one of the less productive. I have no illusions. Iby Roach_S - General
Re: file-sharing network - 16 years ago
I'm for a .torrent style system, or maybe even freenet, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet). Perhaps better would be to rig the modeler to run with a filename as an argument, then the program can be made the default program for certain files. Then it doesn't matter how you get the file. Doubleclick on it, (or select run within the browser options for an unknown filetype,) and it'd send it tby Roach_S - General
Re: RepRapper Titles? - 16 years ago
Yeah. Those who have built machines, or are running stores, or websites, or are doing chemistry and physics experiments.by Roach_S - Reprappers
Re: Tips on what to work on until you have the space to do "real" work - 16 years ago
Hmm. Maybe RRRF could take pre-orders for future versions? It'd give them the flexibility to buy stock, and commit money toward a project when the hobbyist can't afford, (for time, space, or sufficient funds reasons,) to do it all right now. Of course, if those interim versions don't sell...by Roach_S - Reprappers
Re: World-wide reprap printing webstore - 16 years ago
I'd say who cares? Provided they don't corner the market, and control the price. If we make it, and everyone gets it for next to nothing, we win. If HP, IBM, and Xerox all make it, and everyone gets it for not quite next to nothing, we still win. If they try to make the things for $50, but sell the filament for $500, all we have to do is release aftermarket kits that allow you to void that warraby Roach_S - General
Re: 3D modeling legal issues - 16 years ago
On the other hand, can't you patent a design? I seem to recall there were something like three types of patent, and a design was one of them.by Roach_S - General
Re: Gettin Started - 16 years ago
Remember that this is in the experimental stage.by Roach_S - General
Re: Single Arduino Question - 16 years ago
Actually, you've hit the design pretty much head on.by Roach_S - General
Re: 3D modeling legal issues - 16 years ago
Odd. I thought that "name" was a government applied designator.by Roach_S - General
Re: Stratasys and Dimension machines - 16 years ago
Then perhaps they use some solvent? Does the thing outgas? Is the filament different in some way from the final plastic? I could see mixing the stuff with a softener that'd cook off during the heating. Perhaps blend the stuff with paint thinner and pull a filament from that? Sort of like why you add salt to water when cooking.by Roach_S - General
Re: Stratasys and Dimension machines - 16 years ago
I've been wondering how they'd achieve the speed. Anyone who's seen a stratsys up close, yes I know it's built in an oven, but I'm wondering, does the thing pressurize? Would that even make a difference? Will ambient pressure effect the fluidity of the plastic?by Roach_S - General
Re: Small-scale Etching - 16 years ago
No. Victor has already done so. I'm thinking more of a component system. I fantasize about a reprap able to fab electronic appliances from scratch.by Roach_S - General
Re: Small-scale Etching - 16 years ago
I'd say achieving a vacuum would be a reasonable requirement if it allowed you to fab/mill IC's that were comparable to commercial product, if slower and possibly more costly to manufacture individually.by Roach_S - General
Re: very offtopic - making Aerogel at home - 16 years ago
I'd like to get some of this stuff to put in my walls... Maybe in my windows too... That said, I think I'll refrain from pressurizing flammables. I don't know what alcohol will do, but I've heard horror stories, (or rather interesting anecdotes, the teller had all his fingers,) about oil and air compressors.by Roach_S - General
Re: Off topic for the site but cool anyway! - 16 years ago
Might be easier if it has a "seed" of behavior to build off of first though.by Roach_S - General
Re: Deviant Behavior - 16 years ago
Sorry, I misspoke Shrinkwrap is like saran, only designed to shrink up under heat. It'd actually probably be lousy. Shrink tubing is what I intended to say, but I work with shrinkwrap nearly every day. (Heat sealer at work.) shrinkwrap won't just get brittle if you keep applying heat. It'll burn through.by Roach_S - Reprappers
Re: Off topic for the site but cool anyway! - 16 years ago
No, the crime of reading books...by Roach_S - General
Re: Maker Faire Bay Area 2008 - 16 years ago
I'm out, way too far to drive. I believe the bay area is the home territory of Make Magazine, and the original faire. If Austin was good, San Francisco should be great.by Roach_S - General
Re: Deviant Behavior - 16 years ago
Have you considered shrinkwrap? I know the stuff gets brittle after you've deformed it, at least if you keep applying heat, and I don't know how much resistance to torsion it'd have, (probably not much,) but it might work for you.by Roach_S - Reprappers
Re: Hi Temp Extruder Barrel - 16 years ago
Actually...what I meant is you could lay down filament and intentionally not cook it enough AS the support material.by Roach_S - Mechanics
Re: RepRap Silicon! - 16 years ago
I understand the acronyms. My confusion is how PROM was explained to me. I'm starting to see a difference, but to me a PROM, E, EE, or whatever, holds a truth table and nothing more. Would it be safe to say a FPGA is an EEPROM with memory?by Roach_S - General
Re: Hi Temp Extruder Barrel - 16 years ago
You could lay the plastic down in an unheated state, then cook it with a concentrated beam of something, laser or maser perhaps. Actually, if you can turn down the temperature fast enough on the existing extruder design, you've perhaps solved the issue of a support material.by Roach_S - Mechanics
Re: RepRap Silicon! - 16 years ago
I am still confused about the difference between FPGA and EEPROM.by Roach_S - General
Re: pcb-home etching // home printing? - 16 years ago
I should have tried that. Black sharpie doesn't work well with Copper Chloride.by Roach_S - General
Re: Getting Started - 16 years ago
Personally, I doubt the darwin design will ever be able to fabricate all the darwin parts. The goal, as I understand it, is for future versions to be able to handle more and more of the fabrication. Perhaps the Watson, Crick or Wilkins model will be able to fabricate guide rods, then again, perhaps that model won't need them. One issue is rigidity. The Darwin design isn't, supposedly, stiff eby Roach_S - General
Re: Getting Started - 16 years ago
Prototype largish items? Are they one-piece? If they're smaller, and you're going to have to put them together from components anyway, then the size you need is, potentially, slightly larger than the largest piece you're planning to make. Consider the Darwin design. Part of the design criteria is it can make its own parts, or a good number of them. Granted, much of it, particularly the rods,by Roach_S - General
Re: pcb-home etching // home printing? - 16 years ago
Should be able to lay down the existing material AS the etch resist, and peel it off afterwards, assuming it will adhere to the copper plate.by Roach_S - General
Re: RepRap Silicon! - 16 years ago
I've long thought a souped up LCD monitor could be used as a photomask, maybe with a prism arrangement so the same section could stand in for every area of the wafer. Alternately, there's x-ray lithography. And, no, I don't know how big that'd make it.by Roach_S - General