[rp-ml] Fwd: Testing of Artificial Lures made via a 3D RP Process

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Chatham Research has designed several fishing lures using 3D RP processes.
We thought that this experience might be of interest to some of the members of
this list.
 
We have been using a combination of 3D rapid prototyping processes to design
and fabricate several lures that were intended to be used to catch Striped
Bass (also known as Rockfish). More than 10,000 lures have been made this way
and we wanted to update you on the results to date, since we have not heard
of many lures being designed and produced this way.
 
1. The basic design was done with SolidWorks
 
2. The prototype masters were made using a ZCorp system and a 3D systems
Invision system from suppliers found on this list.
 
3. Silicone rubber molds were made using the RP masters.
 
4. Low volume production (less than 20,000 pieces) was done by pouring
plastisol into the RTV molds.
 
The steps above are not very unique, but what we found was quite interesting.
 
1. Most CNC machine shops could not translate an STL file into a format
suitable for their CNC systems.
2. The cost of manually translating an STL file into a format that can be
used by a CNC system varied by a factor of 5 to 1.
 
Testing has taken many months because we needed to get the lures into the
hands of both amateur and professional fisherman to get meaningful results.
 
We are particularly pleased in the test results that are coming back to us.
These results can be found at the following address:
 
_http://www.stripers247.com/phpBB2/showthread.php?t=13348&highlight=gotstryper
_
(http://www.stripers247.com/phpBB2/showthread.php?t=13348&highlight=gotstryper)
 
 
 
Doug,
 
 
Chatham Research
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Received on Mon Jul 14 16:10:25 2008