Since about a year I am working with a system from Germany (
http://www.eos.info/en/about-eos.html) that laser sinters a co cr material
in all forms and shapes that you can imagine. ( I make crowns and bridges
for dentists .... - it is not my machine, but I have access to one) Our
main office in Germany made some special turbines for a satellite .... It
is amazing - so to answer your question - "does it work for the thermostat
housing"? I can imagine, it will.

Martin

On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 10:06 AM, pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@gmail.com>wrote:

> 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
> >
>