[Harp-L] Re: combs made by plastic 3D "printer"

[patpowers <patpowers@xxxxxxx>]

As an engineer, all the 3-D printers I've worked with produce parts with a very grainy surface.  This is due to the multiple passes required to build up the material.  I guess if the comb were layed-out flat, you'd could get a fairly smooth finish on the top and bottom, and then could sand the front and back down smooth, but I would still be concerned with warping, coplanarity, and maintaining tolerances for tight fit.  All said, I think it would be very difficult to create a comb that would be would flat, smooth, straight, and airtight. 

Right now, I think 3-D printing technology is suited (and intended) for prototyping only, but perhaps if the technology advances these concerns could be addressed and the technique could be used for production.

Just my 2 cents!


Best Regards,
Pat Powers


----- Original Message -----

I see now, I am a late arrival to this topic.

Another harp list already has Tom and Greg (among others) weighing in with
assessments of the potential technology. Still exciting. I will be watching
with Google Alerts.

Your Royal Dukeness
Robert

On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 10:26 PM, Robert Hale <robert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> This evening I witnessed a 3D printer building up shapes, and immediately
> wondered if this could be the answer to custom combs needing more than 2
> dimensional sandwich cuts.
>