3D Printing - how long before I can print a boat out?!

[David M]

If your boat only needs to be made from one material with a relatively low melting point then it might work.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Just to make clear - my "knowledge" of 3D printing doubled from simply googling up those links!, so am not claiming it will be the answer to everything. Just IMO wayyyy cool - and the possibilities make my brain hurt (leaving aside that progress is no doubt required).

Would also be kinda cool to see some of the abominations proposed by our new (and usually shortlived) Members actually hit the water - even if only briefly before settling on the bottom..........

[hellosailor]

Sure, the same technology will work with metals. You start with metal dust, then use a high power laser to sinter the dust into a solid "casting". A little slower maybe, a lot more expensive, and oh, do try to keep the family pets out of the way while it is operating.<G>

[Maren]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Although I had heard about 3D printing for a while - I hadn't realised that the technology has advanced quite so far .

can now get home printers for around £1k (well, according to last night's TV program!) - obviously the commercial end somewhat more..........plus folks are starting to work in metals and even concrete! (albeit not sure how commercial those are yet).

What caught my ear was the comment that could printout a ship in a bottle!

Me head hurts just thinking about how that technology could radically change our world! ashore and afloat! (quick!, print me out a liferaft ).

I am sure that others hear know a tad more than me about the subject.........

You didn't say this this but I would think the ultimate challenge is printing a boat, so my comments are directed there. I built my own 3d printer (a Mendelmax) for about $700 US and I've done some papers on high tech manufacturing methods. So I have a bit of experience in this but I its not my profession.

In short a small one can be built right now. In fact it has. But I think you're wondering more along the lines of a boat that's fair and pretty much complete. Now you could print at a much finer resolution but that's so much slower and the result would still take a bit of buffing at the minimum. To print a completed version where no other finishing would be needed would take a different method. It just so happens such a method is out there already: photopolymerized resin similar to this. There's a big problem with this method of construction. The resin is way too expensive for a build this size. Also Brittleness is a concern. But I expect over time we might end up with a method that add some material on the inside, perhaps with a chopper gun. Or perhaps an exterior skin and an interior skin with the space between a structural insulation of some sort.

For me though, there are two giant (literally) questions. First the space required for the print. Unless the pieces are going to be joined you need a printer bed as long as the object, so how big of a boat would you like? Also, you can be 100% certain that you will need a entirely enclosed space either for contaminates in the resin or keeping an extruded plastic warm enough to fuse and not delaminate. On the right side of the attached photo is blue bit of extruded plastic which looks a bit stingy. That's the sort of delimitation I am thinking about. Wouldn't want that to happen when it might have to do with keeping you of the drink.

The other giant question is about the stresses involved. To me this says bulkheads out of differing material, perhaps epoxy coated plywood. It's basically an engineering question so I don't think this at all insurmountable. Ultimately though, I don't this this a practical for a home builder.

What I do see as easily practical for a home builder is similar to what minaret said. 3d panel routing of plywood. It would take a good deal of human labor but would greatly reduce the amount of time. Basically you would be making your own kit boat. Of course, the cost -- in terms of time and space -- would make you wonder why not just buy a kit. Now, I'd like to have a router that size and certainly wish I had cut out my latest project (a Seaclipper 20). That would have saved me tons of time in terms of sand lines fair, alignment, easing edges, etc.

Well, that was long but at least it rambles

[harmonytek]

I use 3d print services for parts in my business. I don't own a printer yet, but may buy one for really quick prototypes.

There is no real limit to the materials you can get printed.

I get parts printed in Plastics, various types, but also
Titanium which is laser sintered from a powder,
Stainless Steel which sintered from powder and oven infused with bronze,
Silver which is actually printed in wax and cast using a lost wax process,
Glass and Ceramics which are powder form, printed with a binder and fired in a kiln.

I have not used, but have heard of carbon fiber print machines which roll out a fiber coated with resin through a 3d path to make a part. I think this would be the one for printing out a boat, maybe if the print file of a Gunboat were on line someone would set up a large scale machine?

[Therapy]

Popular Science magazine had this and another article that showed a company designing a large printer to print houses.
3D Printing Is A Game Changer: [Sponsored Post] | Popular Science

And there is this.
HP Designjet 3D Printer Now On Sale, Churns Out Solid Plastic Objects From the Desktop | Popular Science

What I have found is that humans dream of things (flight, communicators etc) and then collectively work toward fulfilling those dreams.

Who knows eh?

DOJ gets to test sail the first prototype around the Horn.

[Anonymous7500]

I imagine all of the doubters of the technology sailing along in their old wooden boats. "Plastic boats will never work!"

Not understanding a technology is not a valid reason to dismiss it. There are large and complicated machines that produce amazing products that a few years ago were virtually unimaginable.

Astraeus has a machine tool that can machine three sides of a large windmill hub at the same time. Watch the slides at the top of this page as an example: Welcome to Astraeus Wind

Or spend some time here with the automatic fiber layup machines: Composite Technology - Camozzi Group

There is no way of knowing the limits of a future technology. Simply saying that the machine would be too large to be practical is simply naive.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I guess size of the Printer would be an issue - at least for now.

But if someone decides that "growing" cars or concrete construction stuff works then not so much of a stretch to get up to boat size. Obviously I am no expert!, but seems that the technology would allow the hull, bulkheads, interior and deck to be built in once piece (and maybe not even neccessarily of the same materials?)......a true monocoque construction rather than a collection of bits stuck together.

Me is going to make some hover boots! and a Teleport.........