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How do I make a Star Trek replicator?

Janger

Janger

(John)
Vendor
Premium Member
I want a star trek replicator. To scan stuff, accurately enough, and then 3D print it. What is required? what is the process? What software is needed? How much for various options? Does it take forever? Can I measure and model it in CAD faster than the actual process of scanning, cleaning, printing?

See this holder for hex shaped bits? I want more of them. How can I scan this with some sort of scanner? Then model it up and print it with a 3-D printer.? If I can do that then I have a 2023 version of a Star Trek replicator.

Somebody on the floor must be doing this. Tell us about your scanner in the process and how much the scanner will cost.
 

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Stop! Guys! Rabbit holes! :) ::p:cool::oops: I want to scan stuff in general. and then print it. The hex holder is just an example of the kind of problem. So how do we do scanning? and then how do we fix the scanned model? and then we can print it?

Scanners have a huge cost range and capability range. From your iPhone! really! and some iphone apps. to hundreds, or thousands, or tens of thousands. handheld systems, systems that use a little automatic lazy susan, laser units mounted on tripods like a laser level. It's just amazing. We had a processing plant scanned at work, inside and out,. You can fly through the whole thing and see everything including colour, dark corners, dirt. It's like a video game. and tens of GB in size. You can't move the data over wires you need to mail hard drives. You could research this for days.... and I have. Somebody who knows tell us! we need an article.
 
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I'm just trying to get the printer put back together, so I can turn it on! I don't how to run it yet! Scanners, very much new stuff.
Seems like a " Matt-Aburg" or the fellow that was doing the boat scanning question.
Check with "DavidR8", he may have found something and is buying it as we type.
 
Yes, Matt is doing it and has such a scanner.

If you can scan with a phone, I have not seen it. If it does exist, it's probably only gross dimensions without any practical machining capability.

For example you can take several photos from different angles and turn that into a virtual reality image that you can rotate or manipulate. But as far as I know that can't yet be printed with any useful resolution yet.

That said, I have seen camera based scanners that can do this through active real-time Calibration. Photo scans are taken and edges are physically measured simultaneously. Generally speaking, even this method requires a skilled operator like Matt to clean up the results and fill in data gaps, and then convert that into useful 3D CAD models.

It's an evolving technology that will get more affordable and more sophisticated as time passes.

@David_R8 has one on order that should be arriving a few weeks ago. He just has to sell his old one first.
 
Janger said:
I want a star trek replicator. To scan stuff, accurately enough, and then 3D print it. What is required? what is the process? What software is needed? How much for various options? Does it take forever? Can I measure and model it in CAD faster than the actual process of scanning, cleaning, printing?

See this holder for hex shaped bits? I want more of them. How can I scan this with some sort of scanner? Then model it up and print it with a 3-D printer.? If I can do that then I have a 2023 version of a Star Trek replicator.

Somebody on the floor must be doing this. Tell us about your scanner in the process and how much the scanner will cost.
Click to expand...
I've watched Clough 42 do several scans of various objects and frankly non of it looks even close to point and shoot yet. Let's get a decent tricorder before we start asking for Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
 
Do you know any dentists? They have a scanner thingymabob that they use to scan your teeth, I had this done when I was in to get a cap for one of my teeth made. I watched to on the big monitor that they have on the wall, very impressive.
 
Raygers said:
Do you know any dentists? They have a scanner thingymabob that they use to scan your teeth, I had this done when I was in to get a cap for one of my teeth made. I watched to on the big monitor that they have on the wall, very impressive.
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Not all dentists have this. It's VERY expensive. My dentist was the first in Ontario. They featured him in the area newspapers including the Globe and Mail. My dentist asked me to be the patient for the article because he trusted me to say the right things to the journalists.

There I sat on the front page of the Globe with my mouth wide open while an attractive technician shoved a big camera into my mouth. I got ribbed about it for months. So I don't need any ribbing from you guys.....

It works very well but is a long process. It works the way I described above with images taken at many angles from right up close to your teeth. The technician fills in the scan with more photos or manual surfaces. The resulting "surface" scan is sent to a specialist who cuts your onlay or crown to fit your tooth and your bite.

I had something similar done to my whole head when I was visiting SGI in California.

As far as I know, none of this stuff is suitable for hobbiests yet.
 
Doggggboy said:
I've watched Clough 42 do several scans of various objects and frankly non of it looks even close to point and shoot yet. Let's get a decent tricorder before we start asking for Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
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Hmm let’s try that.
 

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Seems to me, @Brent H was importing photographs into a CAD/CAM package and generating drawings of lathe parts (he was going to make a taper attachment). I assume once you have a drawing the 3D printing step is trivial. I don't recall which CAD/CAM package he was using.

Edit... Looking back through his posts he appeared to be using AutoCad.
 
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Degen said:
3D Touch probe on your mill to digitize and now transform it into a printable.
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Yes, that is CMM. Again very expensive and designed primarily to do single points for quality control. I think what @Matt-Aburg does is WAAAAY more sophisticated and costly.

YYCHM said:
Seems to me, @Brent H was importing photographs into a CAD/CAM package and generating drawings of lathe parts (he was going to make a taper attachment). I assume once you have a drawing the 3D printing step is trivial. I don't recall which CAD/CAM package he was using.
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I don't think the step from 2D drawings to 3D is trivial. But maybe with a human using sketches from a drawing to 3D Solid to a 3D print would be feasible and reasonable. Might be faster to just measure the part and make the Fusion Model though.

But who knows, maybe I'm already sleeping in a coffin and the world outside has left me behind!
 
Susquatch said:
I don't think the step from 2D drawings to 3D is trivial. But maybe with a human using sketches from a drawing to 3D Solid to a 3D print would be feasible and reasonable. Might be faster to just measure the part and make the Fusion Model though.
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I think the process was photo to 3D to 2D. He described the process in one of his posts.
 
Degen said:
3D Touch probe on your mill to digitize and now transform it into a printable.
Click to expand...

Maybe you could also do something like that with a touch probe in the mill spindle and a DRO to take most of the measurements. Then make a 3D design in your favorite CAD program from that.
 
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