Jay Leno Mainstreams 3D Printing
By Jordan Ross
I could hear the Jetsons theme playing in my head while I wrote this — the future is here. In a video on his website, Jay Leno demos a consumer-level 3D scanner, showing how it can be used in real-world applications such as automotive restoration. He scans a broken steam valve and sends the data to a 3D printer for mock-up and to his CNC machine to mill the final part.
I was amazed that the 3D printer can even make models with moving parts. Jay shows a wrench that was printed with perfectly moving parts already in place, just like the original metal one!
3D Printing [Jay Leno's Garage] via Fabbaloo
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
The future is NOW! So, all we need is a 3d scanner, a 3d printer and a CNC milling machine. I’ll be right back.
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I want one of these so bad.
The reprap project is an interesting attempt to make a DIY ersion of the 3D printer: http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome
I don’t know of any DIY scanners, but I’m sure there must be some out there.
March 2nd, 2009 at 7:58 pm
3D printers really are a ton of fun for rapid prototyping ideas.
at school we have a zcorp that alas doesnt get too much use since it requires the learning curve of doing all one’s modelling in 3d from the start.
but man, if i had 20 or so thousand dollars id far prefer to have a my own 3d printer than a car.
next stop, a 5 axis mill!!
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:11 am
I’ll take 2…they’re small!
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Yeah I would say this is a little pricey, but way cool. I did this when in a engineering department. 3-d scans to autocad to pro-e to mold deisgn straight to cnc or and SLR……what a great world we live in
March 4th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Holy shit it prints objects consisting of multiple integrated and moving parts in one pass.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:03 am
[...] Jay Leno Mainstreams 3D Printing I could hear the Jetsons theme playing in my head while I wrote this — the future is here. In a video on his website, Jay Leno demos a consumer-level 3D scanner, showing how it can be used in real-world applications such as automotive restoration. He scans a broken steam valve and sends the data to a 3D printer for mock-up and to his CNC machine to mill the final part. [...]