Decline of non-etched details

[C855B]

Nowhere did I see on the website the resolution of the layers.  That is an extremely important variable in the equation, regardless of the scale of the part being rendered.

You had to dig for it, Bryan. Under "Process", it specifies X/Y of 686/in and a Z of 800/in. So the minimum voxel is .0015" x .0015" x .00125". That's pretty good, and means you could spend less time designing around aliasing. The primary limitation I noticed was the resin, which by their admission is fairly brittle. I would conjecture that small N detail parts would be hard-pressed to survive cleanup handling, but it would be quite interesting to try a carbody or loco hood.

I've been following http://www.shapeways.com, which according to the samples in the gallery, a couple of guys in Europe have been producing carbodies and building details in N. Their machines are still too coarse, IMO, and you would spend a lot of time (and money) tweaking your artwork to the limitations.

[DKS]

I still think there is potential here: http://www.shapeways.com/

Evidently some modelers are taking advantage of it. I was giving it some serious thought, but the time required to learn modeling software was incompatible with my work schedule.

Edit: was typing this out while the prior post was made.

[bbussey]

... Under "Process", it specifies X/Y of 686/in and a Z of 800/in. So the minimum voxel is .0015" x .0015" x .00125". That's pretty good, and means you could spend less time designing around aliasing. The primary limitation I noticed was the resin, which by their admission is fairly brittle. I would conjecture that small N detail parts would be hard-pressed to survive cleanup handling, but it would be quite interesting to try a carbody or loco hood....

Not good enough.  Mark Gasson or Robb can confirm this, but I believe the PerFactory renders down to .0006" layers.  The firm I use locally, RedEye, also renders to .0006" on their PolyJet resin.  The PerFactory acrylic resin, due to the process and material, has a softer blend between layers and therefore appears finer than the PolyJet.  But both are twice the fineness of the Printapart process, and sanding still is required (always on the PolyJet, provisionally on the PerFactory).  For a carbody or diesel hood, you're far better off with the PerFactory process.

[C855B]

Hmm... the PerFactory (Standard) specs 35uM for minimum XY voxel, and that's .00135" unless my conversion math is whack. Mark?