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Comment Re:Kill dogs, why not people??? (Score 1) 179

And if you reread your parent's post, it was specifically pointed out that in the studies animals are either injected or they ingest the chemical as part of the studies.

I have no idea as to the medical or biological results of those studies, but I would think that a dog grooming themselves would be sufficiently covered during testing by injecting and/or ingesting it.

Comment Re:Oh, for Pete's sake. Not again! (Score 2) 170

That's the technical truth, although it is qualified. Judge Dale Kimball was the primary judge that heard the consolidated cases. There were 4 other earlier cases against RedHat, AutoZone, and DaimlerChrysler that were initially heard by other judges but didn't go anywhere in SCO's favor. There was at leats one magistrate judge I thought that dealt with some procedural and "lesser" matters on Kimball's behalf. There is also a federal bankruptcy judge and then this new judge. There's even more if you include appeals court judges that told SCO to STFU.

Comment Re:Sped up videos. (Score 1) 95

No, it doesn't say it will replace injection molding. It says it combines it:

In theory, it could combine the flexibility of 3D printing with the speed and strength of old-school injection molding

FDM printing is very flexible since molds don't have to be made, but quite slow in the actual production due to slow speeds and layer by layer construction makes them not as strong. Injection molding is very inflexible due to molds having to be made, but once they are made, very fast in production and strong.

What this is, in theory is somewhere in between the two extremes. It prints much faster than FDM, but not as fast as injection molding. It's as flexible as loading a new file so almost anything is possible as quickly as you can design it without any expensive molds.

No, it's not going to be as fast as injection molding for creating a single tooth brush. But what if you wanted to custom mold a bunch with a dentist's name? Or maybe the technology expands and it can produce 100 or 1000 at a time so it expands better than injection molding. Or it's a very complex shape that's not conducive to injection molding.

A more real life example was my company wanted to make some flash drives in the shape of our product that has a distinctive wave on it. Quotes came back in the $3000 range just for the mold, and then individual costs of about a buck for the actual plastic. We needed about 250 of them. Even if it took a little longer and the cost was 10 more, we'd still be cheaper off with this type of a manufacturing technique.

Comment Re:Sped up videos. (Score 1) 95

For something for rapid prototyping, the printer is going to be a fraction of the cost to buy and to operate. The mold alone for an injection molder can easily be multi-thouands of dollars and that's for a relatively simple mold.

I can't comment on this printer but I've used other 3D and SLA printers. Maintenance consists occasionally replacing a build plate or reservoir if it should become damaged. Maybe a bit of water or cleaning solution and a rag to wipe it down, and a bit of lubricant for moving parts. Pretty much the same requirements that a hand operated injection molder would have, and far less than a mechanical injection molder.

The problems with making a 3D printed mold for used as an injection mold is that the 3d printed object won't withstand the pressure and heat that a machined mold would tolerate. It would be like asking to make an ice cube tray out of ice. There are 3D printed molds similar to lost wax or foam casting. 3D printed parts often aren't as smooth and polished as a machined mold to produce a very smooth final product.

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