3 ms·

This seems like a surprisingly bad idea. I would think the vendors' engineers would be able to identify the parts that qualify to be 3d printed, given how well

This seems like a surprisingly bad idea. I would think the vendors' engineers would be able to identify the parts that qualify to be 3d printed, given how well the expected material characteristics match what the printer could produce.

ehutch79 6y ago
If nothing else, they could provide the cad files. These arn't irregular shapes. You can draw them from the part if you need to
MR4D 6y ago
From the article: “But digital models simply don’t exist for vast inventories of older parts, some dating back decades.” I presume that this has something to do with their approach.
- FPGAhacker 6y ago
  Seems amazing to me that this method would be more cost effective or even just plain effective vs scanning and interpreting paper drafts/blueprints.
  - grandinj 6y ago
    Because actually finding blueprints that reliably match what the helicopter is actually using can be a real problem that can take far longer, will __still__ require you to cross-check against the part because of human error :-)
varikin 6y ago
That would be the most economical, but it might be bureaucratically easier for a general to tell a unit to figure this out all in-house than deal with the vendor which may need new contracts to ask for these details.
neckardt 6y ago
My guess is that this might be a way to get spare parts for a helicopter in case they break. A family friend who worked on antique cars would often run into the problem where a specific piece broke and he needed to find it replaced. Finding the exact part for a 1970s Porsche is not only difficult, but also incredibly expensive. Having a 3D model of the specific part and just printing it would have been not only far faster but orders of magnitude cheaper. The exact material could just inferred from the broken part or a stronger material could be selected out of caution. I hope their plan isn't to 3D print safety critical parts like the rotor blades, that would certainly end poorly in the way you mention.

ehutch79 6y ago

If nothing else, they could provide the cad files. These arn't irregular shapes. You can draw them from the part if you need to

MR4D 6y ago

From the article: “But digital models simply don’t exist for vast inventories of older parts, some dating back decades.” I presume that this has something to do with their approach.

FPGAhacker 6y ago
Seems amazing to me that this method would be more cost effective or even just plain effective vs scanning and interpreting paper drafts/blueprints.
- grandinj 6y ago
  Because actually finding blueprints that reliably match what the helicopter is actually using can be a real problem that can take far longer, will __still__ require you to cross-check against the part because of human error :-)

varikin 6y ago

That would be the most economical, but it might be bureaucratically easier for a general to tell a unit to figure this out all in-house than deal with the vendor which may need new contracts to ask for these details.

neckardt 6y ago

My guess is that this might be a way to get spare parts for a helicopter in case they break. A family friend who worked on antique cars would often run into the problem where a specific piece broke and he needed to find it replaced. Finding the exact part for a 1970s Porsche is not only difficult, but also incredibly expensive. Having a 3D model of the specific part and just printing it would have been not only far faster but orders of magnitude cheaper. The exact material could just inferred from the broken part or a stronger material could be selected out of caution. I hope their plan isn't to 3D print safety critical parts like the rotor blades, that would certainly end poorly in the way you mention.