Hello All,
Here is part 2 of the "Thoughts and comments message"...Maybe this will help
get us back on to RP!
First, having gone through the frustration of being at the wrong end of the
wrath of the RP-ML ---- KEEP THE PERSONAL STUFF PRIVATE! ---- while I have
a great deal of respect for most of you folks out there in RP land I some
times wonder what it is you people really do all day! If you don't like it
don't read it! The rude comments that get dispersed via this list are
precisely why a majority of us in the industry are afraid to voice an
opinion or even bother joining!
Enough said...
Second, a clarification, the company behind the UV silicone that was at the
show was:
ZySys, Inc. 2790 Skypark Drive, Suite 201 Torrance CA 90505
Third, my apologies - my first email on this topic only covered the booths
that stuck in my mind and I should have pointed out some of the others as
well so here goes...
At the 3D Systems booth they had an Actua and an SLA5000 running. They of
course ran well! And for those of you that have been following the
Aeroflex/3D System battle I must tell you about one of those pivotal moments
in history that few are privileged to witness... While watching the machine
building at the Aeroflex booth a couple of us that have been around and know
others in the industry saw a principle one company come up and address the
principle of another! I'll leave out names as well as what was over heard
and yes it was VERY cordial ). Just know that there were two or three
industry old timers there with our jaws wide open! Which brings me to...
Areoflex - I watched in anticipation for the laser to draw a part so I could
see for myself just how fast this machine really was...To my surprise they
were building a part that appeared to be about an inch square in X and Y.
It was good to see them displaying the machine though.
On Keltool - I know first hand that 3D Systems has stated that they will NOT
guarantee the success of at least a Sanders part if used for making a tool.
I called on several occasions and was told this every time! I wonder what
other RP methods will NO LONGER work with that process now that 3D Systems
owns it?
On Sanders - They had one of the new MM-II systems running a part and it
seemed to run well. The part I found neat was a rather large turbine that
had to be around a 10" diameter (sorry if it's not exact) and 5 to 6 inches
tall. I asked how long and the representative said about a week build time.
Sounds like Sanders is on their way to not only making very detailed but
faster large parts. I will be sending a file out to be run on this new
larger machine ( I think this is the one that is called "bigfoot") that will
ultimately be investment cast I'll keep you posted.
Express Tool was there and it's always a great thing to see and speak with
Paul Jacobs. He gave a talk on random noise in the tooling process and I
would highly recommend that you call Express Tool or SME or Paul and get a
copy of it. It makes sense and will open your eyes to some possibilities.
I would not recommend that you call and ask Paul about it over the phone
unless you have a really, really cheap long distance rate as Paul loves to
talk about it! It was great to see the Express Tool process being talked
about and displayed at the show.
Stratasys - I guess this would sum up my visit to the Stratasys booth...
COOL! The Quadra is complete and FAST!
Helisys displayed several materials and they even had a several gallon fish
tank with a propeller made of their plastic material spinning in it. There
was also a sculpture that Mr. Rees did and although I don't get it, my hats
of to you Mr. Rees! I hope that Helisys is over they woe's as it would be
sad to lose this technology. Now that there are more materials being
introduced I hope that it will help solidify the standing that they have
acquired.
DTM was of course there and I must admit that I did not get a chance to get
close to the machine nor speak to one of the MANY persons they had manning
the booth. I have however been keeping an open dialog with one of our local
SB's ( Conceptual Reality LLC) and Drew tells me that he loves the two
machines that he has.
MCP Systems had a new "combo" machine on display and although it was just a
display unit it sparked my interest in that it had the vacuum chamber
(mixing and pouring), resin heating chamber and mold curing chamber all in
one unit. I was told it would sell for around 20k. I was also told that
they had devised a way to pour investment casting wax into silicone molds,
if the molds are stiff enough, for some parts this may sound promising.
Soligen was also on hand displaying an ever increasing number of castings
and they are getting more detailed and intricate every year.
I hope this along with my first email gives you a more complete picture of
the show.
Karl R. Denton
Advanced Technology Consultants LLC
4778 Greenview Ct.
Commerce Twp., MI 48382
Phone: 248-363-1478
Fax: 248-363-7488
Temporary Web Site: http://www.dentonco.com
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
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