shapeways.

kickboxer · Post by **kickboxer** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 4:18 pm

Jonny wrote:file size is to large to email i'll try work something out. are you going to aws redding?

no

im going to the one in pontefract.
but still thats a long way a way

Pongo1471 · Post by **Pongo1471** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:50 am

theres upload sites you can dump files on, most want u to join first some done, with braudband the way it is if ur sending via msn or something its only realy gonna be limmited by ur upload speed as its often loads slower than download

first site that comes to mind is http://www.2shared.com/

personaly i love using sketchup, its easy to use, as acurate as you need it to be and as 3D moddling programs go its learning curve is minnimal (tho there all complicated) google even have a list of video's to show you how things are done ^_^

tempted to make my 3rd robot on there in some months time..

Rhys · Post by **Rhys** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:48 pm

Just a quick question for the people who have ordered from shapeways...

How stiff and how heavy is the strong and flexible white plastic? It says it is flexible, but apparently it's similar to nylon, which isn't that flexible. Is it more or less flexible than polycarbonate?

Also the data sheet says it is 0.45g per cm^3, which seems very light, less than half the weight of polycarbonate, can anyone confirm this?

josh · Post by **josh** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:33 pm

I think it is about .7g/cm3 it's very porous which makes it very light, I would say it is slightly more flexible than polycarbonate but it does return, it doesn't really hold it's shape very well when you bend it. It's very strong, and yeah it is a nylon 22 material I think.

razerdave · Post by **razerdave** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:33 pm

Its a bit more flexy than polycarb at 1mm thick, hence I added ribs to the underside of Baby Hell. Its fairly stiff when its built up, there is no give in Saint Jimmy's chassis, the barrel is 2mm and doesn't flex.

Marco Roberts · Post by **Marco Roberts** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:34 am

Oh em geee, its duff!
On subject. I noticed that shape ways are doing stainless steel now. Any one tried this or done any more research then I have. I know the accuracy is a bit low. I think its 1mm tolerance so maybe not the best for spinning weapons.

Rhys · Post by **Rhys** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:58 pm

Cheers for the advice guys. I have to say it's pretty addictive stuff. I sometimes used CAD to design my robots, but I'm pretty lousy with tools, so they never came out anything like the design..... Hopefully this will change things. Look out for 4 shapeways built robots from me at the next AWS

Marco, I think the tolerance is 0.1mm, not 1mm, so it should be ok for discs. Stainless steel from them is really expensive though. About ?60 for a disc.

Remote-Controlled Dave · Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:23 am

I hate all this shapeways and 3D printing stuff! May as well just get someone else to build your robot for you

Rhys · Post by **Rhys** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:00 pm

I dont know if its quite that bad Dave. I'm using it mainly because I can't cut in a straight line. I'm sick of having wonky robots! Plus there's still a lot of work to be done after the chassis has been built.

Marco Roberts · Post by **Marco Roberts** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:25 pm

And of course the time designing the robot in the CAD software involves no work either.

3D printing is a tool. Just like a lathe, knifes or scissors. It all depends how you use it.