Jay Leno’s 3D Printer Replaces Rusty Old Parts

[markopolo]

Very interesting article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/prin...20759?page=all

Jay Leno has a lot of old cars with a lot of obsolete parts. When he needs to replace these parts, he skips the error-prone machinist and goes to his rapid prototyping 3D printer. Simply scan, print and repeat.

If you had a one-off Ferrari engine, you could scan each part and then re-create the entire motor. Right now, we're scanning a Duesenberg body. It's a classic example of high tech melding with old tech. There are cars sitting in garages around the country, and they haven't moved in years for lack of some unobtainable part. Now they can hit the road once more, thanks to this technology.

Just amazing.........

[markopolo]

Found a video of this:

[youtube:ro3b4ib9]7ZrJsrTT4EA[/youtube:ro3b4ib9]

[markopolo]

Parts made of metal

[youtube:2r0sufqs]zQnvfoQMgjM[/youtube:2r0sufqs]

[markopolo]

I can see this technology benefiting RVers.

You could have a plastic part that you'd like to replace with metal. Scan the plastic part. Send the scan to a company that prints in metal and they ship the part back to you.

It could be used to repair the actual RVers too! I watched a show on TV yesterday. They printed an ear, the structure of a finger and a liver out of cells. They mentioned it might be 10 years before they actually use these item in humans. They also mentioned that by using your own cells to build these items then your body won't reject them. Really is amazing.

[markopolo]

A guy on the RT Yahoo Group designed and printed a part in ABS plastic for his Roadtrek: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/roa ... sage/89237

It is a cover for the table pole-hole to keep the dirt out.

Photo links:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2873/9620 ... 886b_c.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/9624 ... 8b12_c.jpg

Imagine the possibilities using this technology!