Last weekend I went out with a few of my friends to the Ritz Carlton for the annual Festival of Speed car show. If you’re not familiar with it, think high-end expensive cars all over the back yard of a hotel. Sprinkle in some concepts, classic Chevrolet’s and Fords, and a few bikes and a few tall models and you’ve got a pretty interesting afternoon. Take a look at some of the shots below and see for yourself.
Last week we talk about the benefits, concepts and development of 3D printing. We learned that:
Today we will talk more about this topic, we will see one of the cases that are trending in the 3D printing arena.
Industries and big companies are taking advantage of 3D printing. We all know that this is a decades-old technology that has increased in popularity over the past few years as the prices of printing machines and materials have come down. A big, solid company like Ford is using 3D printing to cut costs and production times during the prototyping phase.
The “rapid manufacturing” process has played a key role in the production of the Explorer and its EcoBoost engine. It uses software to render photos into designs that can “print” physical objects.
Ford uses the technology to create prototype parts like:
Production time for one type is cut down from four to five months to three in some cases, shaving 25% to 40% off production time. Earlier casting methods required that the mold be cut from sand; 3D printing allows Ford to skip the cutting process and pour the metal directly into the molds.
With 3-D’s rapid evolution, including possible home use, Ford aficionados can dream of one day custom-making their own creative part in their garage or home office. Ford believes that in the future customers will be able to print replacement parts for their vehicles at a local 3D printer in a matter of hours or even minutes.
How cool will be to be able to print your own car parts? Would you do it?
There was yet another car show here in Orlando a week ago. This was from the car enthusiast organization of Festival of Speed and personally I thank them for continuing this road show of high-class, high price cars from local owners and enthusiasts. I took advantage of a Living Social deal and packed my Nikon and got shooting. Below are some of the photos.
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