Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
CNC is so 20th century. 3D printing is the future.
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Yes, but we're talking about a 20th century problem.
Back when I graduated, my senior project was a composite (carbon & Kevlar) mountain bike. They basically didn't exist then, and are common now. The composite transmission case in that electric Porsche article is the direction I would go if I had infinite resources. In fact, the beauty I saw in the Ferrari museum's F1 displays was a huge eye-opener to using appropriate technology. ( Forged and machined aluminum or titanium, carbon fiber, etc)
The problem I see with 3d printing is accuracy and strength. Yes, they can do metals, but there is a big difference between forged metal and cast metal. I'm positive the same issue of grain structure exists with 3d printed parts. Regarding accuracy, it seems a final (probably CNC) machine job would have to be done to get the accuracy required by bearings. When I owned a CNC shop, certain bearings would require within 0.0003" tolerances. We actually had to monitor the CNC lathe's bearing temperatures to hold those numbers. I have serious doubts when people claim those accuracies out of much less accurate equipment.