Finally bought some steppers and drivers for my X2 Mill

[kylemp]

One of the guys I sharethe shop with has a USB stepper controller that has a plug in for Mach to allow it to work. There are more and more usb controllers out there now, I think they may cheat a bit and send information prior to the prior gcode completing to create a buffer, but that's just a guess.
Let's stop mentioning the glue machines now.. I hate them, it's like fake machining.. And people think it's just sooooo coooool

 

[Alexander]

I hate them, it's like fake machining.. And people think it's just sooooo coooool

Haha thanks for saying it. I laughed alot, I think it destracts people from becoming actual makers. Instead they invest allot of time in plastic. I wish machining was what people aspired to do not printing these low quality shapes and trying to tell me its the future.

 

[kylemp]

That's exactly how I feel.

 

[PeterT]

I admire geeks from all corners of our Geek Nation, be they metal geeks, plastic geeks, steam punk geeks, hacker geeks... It takes skill, knowledge & perseverance to become any kind of geek! But I must admit, after watching Print the Legend on Netflix (great documentary btw), it confirmed a lot of my own personal bias & suspicions. The current 3d kits 'might' be analogous to what Altairs were to personal computers according to the hipster revolutionaries. But personally, I've decided to watch from the sidelines for now. Wait & see if at least an Apple II comes out. And I want to print METAL dammit!

 

[Alexander]

Print the Legend on Netflix (great documentary btw), it confirmed a lot of my own personal bias & suspicions.

Im watching this now becaus im interested and deffinatly keeping an open mind. I dont dislike 3d printing im just not impressed by the current tecknology

 

[kylemp]

They've got metal printing coming, it was pretty cool to see how it was done.
There's also a stainless granual deposit system that the use for 3d printing then they cast the metal into it, makes it more useful for one off castings I suppose.. Video below.

It's not that they're completely useless, it's that they're massively over hyped for a technology that doesn't have a whole lot of real applications and I keep hearing from the uninitiated that it's somehow going to be the end of our craft. It's not going to (probably ever) replace subtractive machining as it's slow, not nearly precise enough and currently cannot utilize the range of materials machining can, as well as issues that will arise like porosity in castings, alloy stability, etc.
Don't tell me that one day you won't need to drill a hole because you can just print it. Ain't happening.. And what machines build the 3d printer components? I have yet to see one make a stainless bearing rail for one.