Hello 71835
I checked out the MicroMark website, I was able to find the Dremel Idea Builder 3D Printer. Thanks for sharing the information.
G BEAR
God Bless
I see MicroMark has one for sale, along with supplies to support it. I think the future is now. I also think that over not too much time they will become less expensive and more user friendly. I am not a high tech. kind if guy, but I do like my TMCC locos!
Hello SotaPop,
Thanks for sharing the information on 3-D printing. We are looking at getting a 3D printing machine for our home. It will be in one of the buildings here at the home. I can't wait to see what we'll be able to make. I will hopefully be spending some time on it, trying to make things that are train related. There are some videos on YOUTUBE regarding 3D printing, one video showed LIONEL making a sand dome for a steam engine. In a magazine, not train related, there was this man who built a small car using 3D printing to build most of the car for $5,000. Not sure of the engine or drive tran. It was a neat looking car. It will be neat to see where this technology will take our hobby. Thanks again for sharing.
I just recently purchased my first 3-D replacement parts. The part is a bearing cap for a large scale train. The company that made them went out of business and I've searched for a couple of years, but wasn't able to find them. I jumped over to the Garden Railroad forum (Thanks Bob Keller for suggesting this) to get some expertise on where I could find some. If you open the link below and scroll down - you'll see them.
http://glxscalemodels.com/aristocraft-3d-printed-replacement-parts-/
They should arrive shortly and I'll let you know how they look!
One thing about trains: It doesn't matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on.
I just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone for the feed back regarding 3D printing and how it may effect our hobby.
It's all leading up to replicators. You know, those little boxes on the wall in the galley of the U.S.S. Enterprise? They're already printing candy and cake decorations. It won't be long before dinner can be printed. Which would be extremely valuable if you're living on Mars.
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
We've had a 3D printer available at the corporate office for a couple of years. I have used it mock up some of the tooling I work on. We've got one coming for our local office this fall. I am looking forward to playing, er working, with it when it arrives.
3D printers are not plug & play like laser printers. There are a lot of tricks and techniques that need to be put into play to get a good 3D print. The surface finish on the prints that we have been working with is definitely not a 'class A' finish. To get there, the print would have to be sanded, then painted.
At the Train show in Kansas City earlier this year, there was one guy with a 3D printer doing HO scale buildings and scenery pieces like barrels and crates. With the small size of those items, the surface finish did not look to be an issue. Then again, this guy probably was printing stuff that he had gotten de-bugged.
The application of technology is limited only by our imagination and as more are exposed to the technology the more inovations we'll see. My trains are all conventional, from the 40's through the 60's. When we were at Don Baker's playing on his layout I was amazed at the control driven trains.
In the same way it is hard for us to use our existing lens to see what will come. I see replacement parts more accuratly made, precise fitting that you order from a vendor and they send an electronic file to which you download onto your own printer and there, you have your part.
So where you may not be creating the part from scratch, but it will expand opertunities to more without the skills and equipment to mill out there own pieces.
There will be oppertunities we'll see where it goes. The future will come faster than we realize
Jim
Over forty years ago as lasers became a subject of interest, many stated that they did not know what the future would bring or the potential uses. A laser was used to bust up my kidney stone last year.
Just saying.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
I guess I have mixed feelings about 3D printers. While I admit there is certainly a lot of applications where they would be very useful, I also think there are disadvantages as well. I enjoy building models, especially structures for my layout. Scratchbuilding a model also provides a feeling of accomplishment that I don't think I would get from a 3D printed model. Personally, I would have a certain sense of pride in a model I built, rather than one in which I programed a computer and the computer made it. This is obviously just my opinion and I am usually willing to change my viewpoint if needed.
I'm a copier repairman by profession, and in the business we've heard, not a lot, but some things about 3D printers. We haven't seen anything local yet, have no idea when and if we'll see them in the immediate future at all, much less home versions of the same.
At this time I can't see them having any use other than at the industrial level, but who knows what the future may bring. I'm just not holding my breath at this point.
I've been thinking along those lines ever since I saw a home remodeled on This Old House a few years back. The homeowner worked at a firm that manufactured 3D printers and he made a fiull mock-up of his house with complete interiors (paint, wallpaper, flooring). The model also hade removable parts so that you could see the house in different configurations.
At that time the printers were massive industrial machines and home printers were not yet available. But it got me thinking that by 2025 you may be only buying motors, wheels, trucks and electricals from manufacturers and may be able to custom print loco shells and car bodies at home. Since 3D printers can do moving parts without the need for later assembly, complete cars with plastic wheels and knuckles would be a possibility. Not to mention all the structures that could be made available for download that you would buy the patterns for. There's a lot of possibilities.
I just wanted to say thank you for the feed back on the LIONEL Lionchief+ Steam Locomotives. In the last few days on YOUTUBE I have seen some videos on 3D printing regarding the future of this technology in our hobby. One video showed how model making can become very customized. I can see the different makers of model buildings creating new goodies for our layouts. There may be the day when you could send in a request for a very unique building or a home and have it custom made. Just my two cents.
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