A first in Space

[rareboy]

So the astronaut needed a wrench.

NASA designed it for him and sent the file to him.

He then used a 3D printer to manufacture the wrench.

Seems like a tiny thing. But it really is monumental.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/3Dratchet_wrench

 

[peeonme]

I am glad that you shared this, being able to "manufacture" tools and components by 3d printing in space is a huge asset to space exploration.

 

[Cormac135]

I read that they're using 3D printing to vastly hurry up the completion of the Sagrada Familia.

 

[LeicsDom]

I am glad that you shared this, being able to "manufacture" tools and components by 3d printing in space is a huge asset to space exploration.

Or anything.
Just think how useful it is to email the spec of something from UK to Australia rather than transporting it. And cheaper probably

 

[peeonme]

Or anything.
Just think how useful it is to email the spec of something from UK to Australia rather than transporting it. And cheaper probably

Definitely, we can save a lot of energy this way. The neat thing about space is that in the event of some emergency the risk of being stranded in space is greatly reduced.

 

[Willie Boy]

I wonder if they're capable of printing a replacement space suit helmet, should damage occur.....

 

[Rickrock]

I think that this technology is wonderful, but I did wonder how it works, so I went online to see videos of it. It apparently prints in layers with plastic or some material. They are even talking about metal or living tissue, instead of paper. I guess that you have to have the material on hand and a 3-D program of the object. I understand a little better now although it is still a little fuzzy.

 

[Paradigm]

3d printing is neat technology. But I think in some cases people are getting a little carried away with their expectations. There are not a lot of things which you can make that are composed of one easily malleable material. And right now it is not a quick technology - even printing a small piece on an industrial grade machine takes hours. I wish more people got excited about subtractive manufacturing - 3d milling machines for instance.

Shameless plug - if you want to play around with 3D printers look online to find your nearest Fab Lab or Maker Space - I bet your local community college or arts group has one.you can go play with them and make stuff, often for free! And they usually have a whole bunch of other cool machines, like laser cutters and milling machines.

 

[Willie Boy]

I think that this technology is wonderful, but I did wonder how it works, so I went online to see videos of it. It apparently prints in layers with plastic or some material. They are even talking about metal or living tissue, instead of paper. I guess that you have to have the material on hand and a 3-D program of the object. I understand a little better now although it is still a little fuzzy.

You don't really need a program, merely a 3D image or diagram of the item to be printed.

 

[rareboy]

Or anything.
Just think how useful it is to email the spec of something from UK to Australia rather than transporting it. And cheaper probably

In 2001, the sink in our kitchen was sketched out on a piece of paper, turned into an autocad file that was sent directly by the distributor here to the manufacturing equipment in Mekal's Brazil plant...stamped out and shipped within 8 hours. It arrived in Toronto 2 weeks later.

 

[Rickrock]

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I hadn't paid attention to 3-D printing until now and I am glad that you introduced this topic to me. I think that it will be an important facet of our lives in the future.

 

[peeonme]

3d printing is neat technology. But I think in some cases people are getting a little carried away with their expectations. There are not a lot of things which you can make that are composed of one easily malleable material. And right now it is not a quick technology - even printing a small piece on an industrial grade machine takes hours. I wish more people got excited about subtractive manufacturing - 3d milling machines for instance.

Shameless plug - if you want to play around with 3D printers look online to find your nearest Fab Lab or Maker Space - I bet your local community college or arts group has one.you can go play with them and make stuff, often for free! And they usually have a whole bunch of other cool machines, like laser cutters and milling machines.

Additive and subtractive both have their place, most tooling, details etc. are designed for subtractive manufacturing, with cnc in mind.
3-d printing is a new wrinkle, just as cnc was when I was in my 20's. I worked for a large boring mill manufacturer, we just knew that nothing could do what our machines did. We were wrong.

 

[Willie Boy]

Additive and subtractive both have their place, most tooling, details etc. are designed for subtractive manufacturing, with cnc in mind.
3-d printing is a new wrinkle, just as cnc was when I was in my 20's. I worked for a large boring mill manufacturer, we just knew that nothing could do what our machines did. We were wrong.

If the mill was so boring I hope the shifts were at least short. There's almost nothing worse than a long boring shift!

 

[LeicsDom]

I think that this technology is wonderful, but I did wonder how it works, so I went online to see videos of it. It apparently prints in layers with plastic or some material. They are even talking about metal or living tissue, instead of paper. I guess that you have to have the material on hand and a 3-D program of the object. I understand a little better now although it is still a little fuzzy.

They already use it to print body replacement parts like bone

 

[Paradigm]

I wish!

Yes that is a place to start, but to get any kind of useful .stl file you need to do a lot of tweaking. Even the ones you download from Thingiverse or the like often have lots of problems, and they only show up hours after you have started printing.