International Door & Operator Industry

MAY-JUN 2013

Garage door industry magazine for garage door dealers, garage door manufacturers, garage door distributors, garage door installers, loading docks, garage door operators and openers, gates, and tools for the door industry.

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TechnicAL by Jack Ginther Jack Ginther has been in the door industry 40 years. Jack can be reached by e-mail at ohdoors@comcast.net. Remember dot matrix printers? Remember how little you missed them when you upgraded to a LaserJet? Even though we're in the 'dot matrix' era of personal 3D printers, there's enough interest to know that they'll continue to be refned and further improved until we enter a 3D printer 'LaserJet' era. Despite being decades old technology, 3D printing is still in its infancy with mass adoption in the not-too-distant future, and a potential household appliance. design your own models with a free 3D modeling program like Google SketchUp. Third, you can use a 3D scanner which works similar to a CAT scan, which takes sliced images of the human body, layer by layer. Once you have the fle, send it to your 3D printer and wait for it to appear. If you don't have a printer at home, you can send a drawing fle of the object you've designed to a 3D printing company. They will then send you the fnished piece. Cornell University A 3D printer is a machine that builds physical objects. The has been busy developing software to change 2D to 3D images. printer takes a spool of plastic, then melts it through a heated Let's say that your 3 year old just fnished his or her frst real nozzle, and bit by bit, layer by layer, builds thousands of 2D drawing, and you want to immortalize this special event paper thin layers of the material into a three dimension object. since you are convinced that your family is directly related to Commercial versions of such a device can cost tens (or even Michelangelo. Figure one shows the fnished 3D result which hundreds) of thousands of dollars, and can use metal materials in will sit on the Fireplace Mantle forever, and shown on special addition to plastic. Devoted hobbyist groups have continuously occasions to guests. tinkered and optimized the device, reducing the cost to less than $2,000, and in one case, just a mere $400 for a household printer. There are many 3D supply websites. Here's one that has a good selection of necessary items and good prices. www. inDimension3.com. Once viewed as a gimmick, 3D printing is becoming a game changer. 3D printing is bringing with it a wealth of possibilities for marketers, designers, artists, architects, educators, aeronautics, engineering, construction, recreation, decoration and health services, and is relevant to just about everyone. The technology is also being used by NASA engineers to develop model parts, including parts for the Mars Rover 'Curiosity'. The makers of the new James Bond movie 'Skyfall' printed off three replica (not full scale) Aston Martin DB5s for destruction during flming. If you Google "3D Model Repository", or "Free 3D Model images", or use similar words, you will see a lengthy list of websites that offer free 3D model downloads. Here's just one of many such websites. www.thingiverse.com. Second, you can 32 International Door & Operator Industryâ„¢ Figure one The idea of creating your own plastic objects using a 3D printer is very cool. Imagine being able to print gifts at home. Looking for a special toy? No need to visit the toy store when you can download that race car design fle from a library of toys on the Internet and send it to your 3D printer. You could even customize the downloaded Internet model by importing it into your 3D modeling program, (Google SketchUp), and add personal touches. My frst 3D project was replacing the existing plastic drain cover in the shower stall. Next project will be printing out a new lens cover for the electric opener, drive gear, hinges and pulleys. Also, I just noticed that the end tables in the Family room are getting old looking, so I need to purchase some spools of brown plastic flament and print a set of matching end tables. All this sound far fetched ? This technology is here now Folks, so imagine what the next few years will bring.

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