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As someone with a mechanical engineering background, i feel that a sensible path to covering the basics would be to take an online course in manufacturing and m

As someone with a mechanical engineering background, i feel that a sensible path to covering the basics would be to take an online course in manufacturing and materials. There is so much more to manufacturing than printing and injection molding, but you will have to design with the process in mind. For metals alone you have several "chapters": milling (in several axes) Sheet metal (cutting,bending) Welding (in so many ways) Forging Casting (different processes) Brazing Sintering (for special cases) Etc.. My prototypes are usually made by using off-the-shelf brackets, profiles, fasteners etc where the most complex tools you would need are just for cutting, drilling, and tightening bolts. You may find that you can't get around needing a weld sometimes... Usually you can find local workshops that can weld simple Al or steel profiles together according to your drawing. Note: their feedback and experience is usually worth a lot (and given to you essentially for free when you order work). Best of luck.

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convolvatron 5y ago
i kinda of disagree. i would certainly try to pick up basic welding and machining in the background. you shouldn't be thinking of this your future full time job, but its immensely useful to understand the processes involved intuitively. posting really to highlight this recommendation of trying to get involved with a local small-volume fabrication shop. you should be prepared for a certain amount of rejection (you're unlikely to represent a good return on time for these people), but if you can establish a good realtionship they know _alot_. not only will you learn an immense amount about processes and materials and costs, you'll learn about how to deal with that whole world.
- dcanelhas 5y ago
  https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-fundamentals-of-manufacturing-processes-7224 https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-fundamentals-of-manu... I think it would be unreasonable to expect much more than an intuition from an intro course. But you make a good point. :)

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convolvatron 5y ago

i kinda of disagree. i would certainly try to pick up basic welding and machining in the background. you shouldn't be thinking of this your future full time job, but its immensely useful to understand the processes involved intuitively. posting really to highlight this recommendation of trying to get involved with a local small-volume fabrication shop. you should be prepared for a certain amount of rejection (you're unlikely to represent a good return on time for these people), but if you can establish a good realtionship they know _alot_. not only will you learn an immense amount about processes and materials and costs, you'll learn about how to deal with that whole world.

dcanelhas 5y ago
https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-fundamentals-of-manufacturing-processes-7224 https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-fundamentals-of-manu... I think it would be unreasonable to expect much more than an intuition from an intro course. But you make a good point. :)