My wife brings up this possibility a lot.  Some biology labs have
3d-printers to print out basic components on the fly.

While its true that you can print metal-based objects now (some sort of
epoxy, metal mix) I think you're still going to have trouble with material
properties in most cases.

But I don't know.  Apparently there are cases where this could work?

Certainly it would work for all the brown plastic interior parts we're
missing.

Don't try to print any pistons though.  I guess the question should be:
does it work for the thermostat housing?

On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 12:11 AM, Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@cox.net> 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
>