Hi Dave..
big thing on tv showing Jay Leno's 3-D Printer machine  a while back.
Amazingly, it reproduces any physical object you ask it to copy..
including something with moving parts, such as a crescent wrench.
What it produces comes out of the machine with assembled moving parts (
though they are not 'assembled' ..they are built intertertwined and
functional. )

It doesn't make that wrench  in metal though ...makes it in plastic,. I
believe.

I saw such a machine locally ...the guy said it was tricky to get
aligned and cooperating ..
just like my stupid computer printer !
He was going to use it to make frames for glasses - a perfect
application I'd think.

It has to be on Wikipedia ..here..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_Printer

lot to read there ..keep ya occupied for a while.

Scott

On 7/8/2012 9:11 PM, Dave Mcneely wrote:
> Does anyone know more about this than I do?  I don't know much, but have read about it and heard a report on NPR.  A year or so ago I read about a couple of guys who were rebuilding a vintage vehicle who had to fabricate their own parts.  They printed them on a 3-dimensional printer.  A day or so ago, NPR had a report about printing parts for washing machines, fishing reels, and cars.  Evidently, if you already have the printer and can program the printing, it is cheaper by far than buying parts.  According to the NPR report, software is now available free or inexpensively.
>
> Perhaps suitable for individuals to make their own parts, or more likely, entrepreneurs could print those no longer available Vanagon parts we all need.
>
> --
> David McNeely
>