>If I had an unlimited budget
well Wayne this depends on what you do with most of your models....
without this knowledge then simply buying a machine based on dollars won't
work.
I realized as I started this note...when we got our SLA machine....you
could only write a check to one company... 3D Systems which made our choice
easy. I wonder what our choice would be today.........
If I did castings then I would consider
sla---- accuracy and qcast
sls--- polycarb, wax, sandform (better material selection)
sanders--- small tiny precision parts
fdm--- less accurate small parts
actua--- faster, less accurate
if I did inject molding then my list would be different as with any other
usage.
You will have facility changes to deal with, post cleaning area,
temperature and humidity concerns... as well as disposal requirements for
your state and company.
Try and get a daily operations needs list such as for SLA( wipes, mats for
soaking resin, alcohol, containers, gloves, masks, aprons, lab coats, other
cleaning tools such as picks, dental drills, hammers, putty knives, etc) I
also use dental aprons, long bamboo skewers( to pick stuff off bottom of
vat), funnels, trays, ultrasonic cleaners, bead blaster, UV oven, UV gun,
vacuum, mops....gosh I could keep going........
You will have personnel to consider.... to hire or educate... either as a
direct employee or user... Plan for education to be most active part of
lab activities. The better educated people are the better the lab will
function....either plan to take vendor classes as quickly as possible and
on a continuing basis( I do not recommend shortchanging this one). I know
it's expensive but ignorance can sink the ship.
You will need to consider CAD, computers, and networking support if this
lack in any way then the impact can be significant. Also plan to budget for
on-going ANNUAL maintenance cost for both RP system, CAD software, and
computers. This can add several thousand dollars to an already expensive
operation.... Yearly operation budgets can begin at $50k and go well over
$1M depending on throughput. Lasers, build materials can eat huge
dollars......quickly.
did I forget anything........
elaine
*******************************************************************
Opinions, suggestions, and other controversial matter VOID where prohibited.
******************************************************************
Elaine T. Hunt, Director
Clemson University Laboratory to Advance Industrial Prototyping
206 Fluor Daniel Bldg. Clemson, SC 29643-0925
864-656-0321 (voice) 864-656-4435 (fax)
elaine.hunt@ces.clemson.edu
http://rafiki.vr.clemson.edu/credo/persall/persall.html
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
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